On 10/4/2011 2:23 PM, nfr wrote:
I'm looking into the posssiblity of raising some new apple trees from my
old trees, and have a specifc question about propogating / increasing
rootstock.

Lets forget the grafting of the scion for a moment.

The question is, lets suppose I can get hold of or buy a small quantity
of rootstock, would I then be able to increase this stock myself. Put
another way, if you plant some rootstock without grafting onto it I'm
assuming it will grown into a bush / tree? I'm then assuming you could
take cuttings / layering to increase stock.

Is this practical? I'm assuming one of the disadvantage is you need
time (several years) on your hands for the rootstock to estabish to the
point that it can be used to produce further stock?



The traditional method for reproducing a rootstock is to make a stool bed.
http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/apple72.html