Studies on Rootstock, Scion and Interstock Growth Interaction in Apple

The fruit cultivars generally do not come true to type when raised from seed and must, therefore, be propagated through vegetative methods. Majority of them are difficult to establish on their own roots and are normally budded or grafted as scions either on seedling or on vegetatively raised clonal rootstocks. In the composite tree, the two components, i.e. the rootstock and the scion, because of their different genetic constitution, exert a great degree of influence on each other affecting their performance throughout their life period. The main characteristics of rootstock-scion inter-relations have become apparent from the earlier studies and it is well established that rootstock influence on the scion is much greater as compared to the scion influence on rootstock.