A fruit tree’s rootstock controls primarily the tree’s size, precocity (how early the tree bears fruit), cold hardiness, and partly its disease resistance (such as fireblight). In order to grow a reliable and high quality fruit tree, growers graft the scion, which is above the ground and responsible for the fruit’s characteristics and disease resistance, onto the rootstock, which is underground. Grafting is a horticultural technique growers use to combine the tissues of two plants so that they continue to grow together with certain desired characteristics. However not all trees are grafted. Seedlings are trees grown from seed and aren’t grafted. Moreover, in general seedlings grow to be larger than grafted trees, stronger, more hardy, and more likely to survive frosts.

From our experience growing in New York, we have found the Budagovsky (Bud), Geneva (G), and EMLA series to be great options since they are reported to be virus free and produce very healthy trees. Learn more about apple rootstocks in this article.