Fruit tree suckers...

[nao57]

So... I'm sure some of you know what I mean when you would go to say an apple tree on your yard or someone else's and you'd see it growing little tiny sucker tree seedlings around the base of the roots. We have a tree that does this, that's an apple tree. And we also occasionally get a plum tree that will do this.

Some types of apple trees do these a lot more than others I think. But our other apple tree doesn't do suckers as much as the younger tree. (Not sure if the age of the tree affects sucker traits.)

When I see those suckers, I keep thinking there's got to be a way to separate them from the mother tree without damaging them.

I'm not sure what the best way to do that would be. But I wonder if people have worked out how to separate those well enough to get them to be completely separate new baby trees?

Curious what you think on this?

 

[oneeye]

So... I'm sure some of you know what I mean when you would go to say an apple tree on your yard or someone else's and you'd see it growing little tiny sucker tree seedlings around the base of the roots. We have a tree that does this, that's an apple tree. And we also occasionally get a plum tree that will do this.

Some types of apple trees do these a lot more than others I think. But our other apple tree doesn't do suckers as much as the younger tree. (Not sure if the age of the tree affects sucker traits.)

When I see those suckers, I keep thinking there's got to be a way to separate them from the mother tree without damaging them.

I'm not sure what the best way to do that would be. But I wonder if people have worked out how to separate those well enough to get them to be completely separate new baby trees?

Curious what you think on this?

The apple rhizome sprouts are not good for growing good trees.

 

[tomkat]

So... I'm sure some of you know what I mean when you would go to say an apple tree on your yard or someone else's and you'd see it growing little tiny sucker tree seedlings around the base of the roots. We have a tree that does this, that's an apple tree. And we also occasionally get a plum tree that will do this.

Some types of apple trees do these a lot more than others I think. But our other apple tree doesn't do suckers as much as the younger tree. (Not sure if the age of the tree affects sucker traits.)

When I see those suckers, I keep thinking there's got to be a way to separate them from the mother tree without damaging them.

I'm not sure what the best way to do that would be. But I wonder if people have worked out how to separate those well enough to get them to be completely separate new baby trees?

Curious what you think on this?

That works for strawberries but I dont think it would work on an apple. You would have to cut off a chunk of the roots the sucker is growing from. Even then the apples would be from the rootstock and probably not fit to eat. By the way I allowed a branch from my peach tree's rootstock to grow last season and it's pretty big now but no peaches on it. But then again there is no peaches anywhere on the tree this year because of the warm winter we had last year.

 

[cpp gardener]

If you leave the rootstock suckers they can inhibit the grafted variety so it’s better to remove them when they are small.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

I get those at the base of my star magnolias, pain in the neck, always clipping them off. then little ones on the truck lines.

 

[roadrunner]

The first question seems to me is: Is the tree in question grafted? If so the Sucker won't have the same characteristics -- what you get is totally pot luck.

We have Live Oak trees here that produce Suckers and you can distinguish them from the seedlings, because when they're small they're much harder to pull out of the ground, since it's connected to the mother's root system. Funny thing is that not all Live Oaks produce Suckers -- I guess that has something to do with its genetics.

I would imagine you could take the Sucker and transplant it with minimal damage to the mother's root system, especially if it's in dormancy. And then there are other plants, like the banana where you don't really have to worry about damaging the root system.

Sounds like you have to do a little trial and error.

 

[Logan]

Have trouble with 2 plum trees that sucker and more robust than the grafted ones, have to keep pulling them up.

 

[Gemma]

I get those at the base of my star magnolias, pain in the neck, always clipping them off. then little ones on the truck lines.

I grow my Magnolias in shrub form so I don't have to deal with suckers...but I do have a huge issue with my crabapples

 

[oldigrow]

So... I'm sure some of you know what I mean when you would go to say an apple tree on your yard or someone else's and you'd see it growing little tiny sucker tree seedlings around the base of the roots. We have a tree that does this, that's an apple tree. And we also occasionally get a plum tree that will do this.

Some types of apple trees do these a lot more than others I think. But our other apple tree doesn't do suckers as much as the younger tree. (Not sure if the age of the tree affects sucker traits.)

When I see those suckers, I keep thinking there's got to be a way to separate them from the mother tree without damaging them.

I'm not sure what the best way to do that would be. But I wonder if people have worked out how to separate those well enough to get them to be completely separate new baby trees?

Curious what you think on this?

if this a grafted tree it is possible that the suckers are from the root stock . this may not grow out into the tree that you have.