Rootstocks and grafting in the nursery

In short

• A seedling rootstock grows from seed: vigorous, deep roots, long-lived. A clonal rootstock grows from a stool bed: uniform, with a known vigour.
• Seed for rootstocks has to go through stratification: 2–5 months in damp sand at 2–5 °C (36–41 °F), or autumn sowing outdoors.
• A rootstock is ready for budding when it is as thick as a pencil 5–10 cm above the ground, usually in August a year after planting.
• Bench grafting (January–March) is done on lifted rootstocks with a whip-and-tongue graft; the graft is then kept cold until planting.
• The graft union always stays above the ground, otherwise the variety roots and the rootstock loses its purpose.
• Scions only from healthy, labelled mother trees. A virus in one scion is a virus in every young tree.

What's inside

Chapters

1. Rootstocks: from seed or from a stool bed
2. Seed for rootstocks: collecting and stratification
3. The seedbed and the seedlings' first year
4. A stool bed of clonal rootstocks
5. The nursery bed and budding in rows
6. Bench grafting with a whip-and-tongue
7. The graft's first year in the nursery
8. Mother trees and plant health
9. Common mistakes
10. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Rootstock nursery calendar
• Stratification
• Seed and materials calculator
• Nursery bed plan
• Nursery grafting log
• Row and graft labels