Lots of people ask about growing ‘own root’ trees or ‘pitchers’. These are fruit trees which can root readily in the ground from a branch cutting and is a practice which was well used by farmers in times past for increasing stock for free. They were especially used for planting around the edges of orchards within hedgerows to increase the number of fruit trees, aiding cross pollination and for more crops.
There is not much to it in a practical sense:
Take a branch cutting and let it grow on it’s own roots by sticking it in the ground. This is very similar to propagating a blackcurrant bush by taking a cutting, or by taking a willow tree cutting in Autumn.
However, the downside – or interesting side if you see it that way – is you are unlikely to know how much vigour the tree will have, or what disease resistance, unless you know someone else who has done this for a particular variety. When you plant an apple pip in the ground, the resulting fruit that grows is likely to be very different from the mother tree, this is why fruit trees are usually grafted. ‘Scion wood’ from the mother fruit tree is grafted onto a rootstock (grown by commercial nurseries) which controls the vigour and disease resistance of the final tree.
Commercial horticultural centres of the past like East Malling in Kent and the John Innes Centre in London were funded in the early 20th Century to develop, over decades, commercially useful rootstocks with known vigour and that were resistant to pests such as woolly aphid. This allowed fruit growers around the World to propagate and produce good quality fruit on trees of a known size/vigour, it also helped provide rootstocks that come into fruiting production sooner which for commercial fruit growers was more important than how long the tree lives which is greater the more vigorous the rootstock.
We know ‘Sweet Larks’, a small Cornish pickling apple, creates quite a small tree when grown on it’s own roots, but it roots very easily and doesn’t seem to particularly suffer from any major pests or diseases. ‘Manaccan Primrose’ is another variety which roots readily on it’s own roots if you take a branch and put it in the ground, this is known to be a very vigorous variety and again seems to be very healthy on it’s own roots.
An unknown apple variety of poor taste growing at Tehidy Orchard (Nr Camborne), roots well from pitchers (branches) and has been used over the years by Andrew Tomsett & Peter Malidine for grafting onto in the Redruth area. This ‘pitcher’ tree, which is quite a vigorous grower, readily takes new varieties grafted onto it, so is good for use as a rootstock for other varieties after being in the ground for a couple of years as an own root.
How do you know which trees will root?
Often you can see aerial roots or burrs, as seen in the photos, on the bark around branch collars/where branches break out. Some trees like this unknown pitcher tree have huge numbers of these burrs all over the trunk, these are often evidence that the tree will root well from cuttings.
When is the best time to take cuttings for own root trees?
The best time is in Late Autumn or early Winter when the tree is dormant and will have time to focus on root growth before Spring arrives.
What size cutting to take?
We tend to take branches which are roughly the size of a young tree that you plant in Winter so around 2 – 2.5cm in diameter. Large enough to allow the branch time to root without drying out. We are not taking cuttings like fruit bushes where we take pencil thickness cuttings. For fruit trees we take them a little larger and longer. This also means they are a bit further on in their growing development. Push the branch deep enough into the ground that they have plenty of moisture whilst they root, a foot at least.
How long before they fruit?
This somewhat depends on the variety of fruit tree used, however, it also true that many rootstocks have been bred to bring the trees grafted onto them into bearing fruit sooner than they would otherwise, particularly the more dwarfing varieties. So it might take longer than trees on rootstock, but it does depend on the variety, as some are naturally more vigorous and others less so.
Benefits of growing own root trees
– Can increase fruit tree stock for free
– Quick & easy, no skill required
– There is no graft union – which could be considered a weak point on a grafted tree
Drawbacks to growing own root trees
– Unknown disease resistance (for e.g. the mm series of rootstocks have been bred to be resistant to wooly aphid which would be lost if on own roots rather than rootstock)
– Unknown vigour or final size of tree, some likely to be very vigorous on own roots
– Unknown when own root tree will come into fruiting compared to a grafted tree where you have a good idea depending on which rootstock you choose
Note that horticultural centres in other parts of the world are still developing new rootstocks that are improved versions of what we have. So long as funding for these research centres continues, this helps to ensure as new diseases/problems arise, new rootstocks are developed to respond. Not much research has been done on own root trees however.
Links to further information:
– Orange Pippin Fruit Trees Own-root fruit trees
– Hugh Ermen: Own-Roots Experimenter | unconventional stories from a tree crops farmer
– More on Hugh Ermen’s work on own root trees and coppice orchard system here: Cool Temperate – Grown In England
– And a video from Hugh Ermen here
– Useful information about rootstock development history, compatibility, disease resistance & trees on their own roots from Frank Matthews, commercial fruit tree & rootstock grower Rootstock – Background and History | Frank P Matthews