Thompson & Morgan
Fruit Rootstock Guide

Fruit Rootstock Guide

What is a fruit rootstock?

A fruit tree rootstock is the stump of a related species which already has an established, healthy root system, and to which a separate fruit tree is joined by grafting or budding. The resulting fruit tree will be stronger, quicker to establish and will take on the desirable features of the rootstock itself. The join between the fruit rootstock and the main fruit tree (also called the scion) is easy to identify. It will appear as a bulge or kink just a few inches from the bottom of the stem where the wood has knitted together.

Why use grafted fruit trees?

If allowed to grow naturally, most fruit trees will easily reach heights of at least 4.5m (15ft). Such tall fruit trees would be difficult to harvest as well as being far too large for most people’s gardens. To overcome this problem, most fruit trees are grafted onto the roots of a related species that has a more compact habit, or some other particularly desirable characteristic such as vigour or disease resistance.

So we can limit the height of a fruit tree by grafting it onto dwarf rootstock which will allow it to be grown in a smaller space than if it were grown on its own roots. Such dwarf fruit tree rootstocks will reduce the ultimate size of the tree to such an extent that they can even be grown in large (60cm/2ft diameter) containers on your patio. However, it is worth noting that the container itself will also restrict the growth of a patio fruit tree. Therefore most miniature fruit trees will reach an approximate height of just 1m, but will grow into taller trees if they are not grown in containers.

One great advantage of dwarf rootstocks is that they have no influence upon the size of fruit itself, so a dwarf patio fruit tree will produce the same sized fruits as a large orchard sized tree.

tree rootstock heights

Rootstock varieties

When buying fruit trees online you will often see a rootstock described by a name or code such as M27. This can be particularly important when deciding what sized tree is most suitable for the space available. Take a look at our table of fruit trees to check that you have the right fruit rootstock for your garden.

Fruit RootstockRootstock nameRootstock typeUltimate Height
AppleM27 (Similar to: P9)Extreme dwarf1.2m (48")
 M9 (Similar to: Pajam 2, Pajam 9, P2)Dwarfing1.8-2.4m (6-8ft)
 M26Dwarfing2.4-3m (8-10ft)
  M6Semi Dwarfing3m (10ft)
 MM106Semi Dwarfing3-4m (10-13ft)
CherryGisella 5Semi Dwarfing2.4-3m (8-10ft)
 Gisella 6Semi Vigorous3-4m (10-13ft)
 ColtSemi Vigorous5m (16ft)
Peach, Plum, Apricot and Nectarine St. JulienSemi Vigorous4.5 (14ft)
  VVA1Semi Dwarfing2.5m (8ft)
  Torrinel 24Semi Dwarfing2.4-3m (6-10ft)
  MyrobalanSemi Vigorous5m (16ft)
  FerlenainSemi Dwarfing3m (10ft)
  Mont ClareSemi Dwarfing3m (10ft)
PearQuince ASemi vigorous3-4m (10-13ft)
 Quince CSemi Dwarfing2.4-3m (8-10ft)
 Quince AdamsSemi Dwarfing2.4-3m (8-10ft)
CitrusPS Dwarfing2.4-3m (8-10ft)
WalnutJuglans regia VigorousOver 6m (over 20ft)

Quick Links:

    Fruit tree grafting

    Fruit trees are joined to their rootstock by grafting.

    Grafted tree trunk

    The graft appears as a bulge or kink towards the bottom of the stem.

    Thompson & Morgan fruit offers

Sue Sanderson

Written by: Sue Sanderson
