I was hoping fruitnut or Konrad would give me an opinion. ?

I m not as experienced as either Konrad or fruit nut, but I do grow a lot of grafted apples. I don't use Bud 9 anymore as it has not proven reliably hardy for me.

That said, I think that the main problem is that the root mass that Bud 9 is able to produce never grows large enough to reliably support the amount of top growth the apple attains in later years.

But I hope you get a few more answers, maybe you are on to something.

Thanks for the response. I'm going to try it on my own planting since they are just a science project anyway. Zone 2a must be tough. I used a unknown flowering crab as rootstock....and it survived better than Siberian crab, antokova, and some big box store semi dwarfs ( unknown zone 4 on label) during the winter from hell 2013. We are in a low zone 3 river valley.....but I still try. Thanks again.

Good luck, zone 2 is a challenge but I still try anyway as well

Thanks. I graft higher on the stem than most nurseryman. If the scion would root if I planted it that deep, why will the shaft of the bud 9 not root when buried deep? I believe they are stooled when cloning rootstock? I'll see if I can add a pic ....

Here is a pic for sample. Notice the graft location. I hope plant it deep without burying to the scion. I grafted with fruiting wood as a test with great success, but that's another topic.

Yes the B9 "stem" will root when buried. It doesnt make for a stronger root system though. If it did commercial orchards would have been doing it for years.

I mean just structurely, not stronger growth wise. Like driving a stake deeper, it should hold up to the wind better. As my gramma says......time will tell.