karaman wrote:
hallo,

have some old apples and an apricot tree in garden. they all throw up
shoots from the roots under the soil. moving house, would like to take
both with me to new garden.

Question:a) is it any use digging up these shoots to take with me -
are they likely to be the same as the parent - have no idea what
variety they are, so cant just go buy one. b) is it any good
nurturing one of these shoots so that it takes over from the parent
when it dies? c) if the answer is no to above, then why does the tree
throw them up anyway? and should i cut them down?

thanks

karaman
the spirit never dies
+++++++++++++++

Propagating the shoots is only useful if they are the same tissue as you
want to bear fruit. This will be the case if these trees are not grafted or
if the shoots are from above the graft. You can frequently tell by
inspection. Mostly shoots from around the base of a fruit tree are from the
rootstock (ie below the graft on a grafted tree) and not suitable. If they
are from under the ground they are from rootstock and have probably been
stimulated to grow because at some time the roots have been disturbed by
over enthusiastic cultivation, mowing or traffic.


David