Hello…not sure how it will perform on W. Sandcherry, I’ve done some testing on plums but abandoned several years later due to aborting graft down the road.
Planting sideways as you did with plum would be advisable IMO and hopefully the top will root, I’ve done it with some plums..some never rooted, think Mt Royal did, which one rooted for you?
Agree with you on hight of tree on Sandcherry..on its own roots only IMO.

Oh..and Mustang rootstock, I had one Apricot on Mustang from Whiffletree, it died out completely after the first winter..even when wrapping trunk, zone 3b in town, not even the roots came back lol, one needs more testing really but so far I conclude its better suited for zone 4 or better.

Best rootstock for apricot?
Not totally sure but so far grafting to a apricot seedling would be my first choice..second a wild plum, the only disadvantage on this one is the suckering.

Hi Konrad,

I emailed one of the people that bred the Arctic Dawn apricot I ordered, Dean Kreutzer, owner of Over the Hill Orchards. He says that his experience has been full sized apricots on the W. sandcherry, but I just don't understand how that works with such a small rootstock shrub! Anyway, I would think that it would blow over in a windy location and suffer in drought (like my yard) anyway, so it isn't desirable to me. I know it should fruit earlier on the sandcherry but I care less about that than longevity of the tree.

Ptitsin #12, Green Elf and Ivanovka were all on W. sandcherry and grew their own roots when layered, or whatever the method is called. I was kind of surprised, they didn't seem to suffer at all.

I'm planning to do the same with this Arctic Dawn and hope that I don't kill it!

As far as the Mustang roots go for Debbie's Gold - it ended up not mattering because Whiffletree doesn't have Debbie's Gold available this year, after all. So I'm going to wait and order Arctic Dusk and a new one coming next year, Arctic Twilight, next fall when the Prairie Hardy Nursery 2024 catalogue opens. They are supposed to bloom a bit later than Debbie's Gold.

Good thanks.
How can Dean know it’s full sized on Sand Cherry when it is only a couple of years old?
I would think it takes about 20 years. Maybe ask for a picture.

Debbie’s Gold to my surprise didn’t push later then others but then it didn’t flower.

I'm guessing he is referencing apricots on w. sandcherry rootstock in general, rather than his own experience with this cultivar. He bred these apricots with another guy that either did work at the U of S or still does; maybe they use w. sandcherry rootstock there..? But I'm just speculating!

Thanks for sharing your experience, Matt! After Konrad said I'd be OK with what I had for chums/plums, I decided not to order any chums or apricots from Whiffletree this year, so no Mustang rootstock for me.

That's interesting, regarding the western sandcherry. I didn't want to argue with Dean because I've only read about other experiences in regards to how it does long term and don't have personal experience to draw from. But the rootstock is a shallow rooted shrub, so I didn't see how it could be very good! It is definitely relatively shortlived, so it wouldn't make sense to me if it lived a long time as just a rootstock! I've never grafted (I do have 2 manchurian apricots coming from treetime, but I was planning to grow them just as ornamentals) in my life, so I think I'll try the layering method and hopefully get Arctic Dawn growing on its own root.

Thanks Matt…my gut feeling (and weeper’s) are confirmed!

What I found with leaking sap on any stone fruit is…it isn’t what most people think of a fungal infection called gummosis, in most or all cases its just simply a injury of any kind and most commonly is winter injuries/ freeze damage of bark ..especially more severe after a wet mid/late season when trees couldn’t harden off properly. The damage will show later, most often the second year with sunken bark/ cracking/ oozing sap.
When damaged a little the tree can heal the wound, if not, the trunk or branch effected dies off above.

I shared Matt’s information to a local breeder Thean, he grows allot in pots, this is what he said…

Thanks, Konrad for sharing your friend's experience. I budded a Capilano #1 onto sandcherry in 1997 and it is still alive. It was grown in the soil but dug and potted in 2010 and have been containerized since.
Peace
Thean

i did not know sandcherry lives that long . most online sources say 10 years from what ive experienced that was fairly accurate. perhaps there are some other conditions that enabled thean to have his capilano live since 97 on sand cherry .maybe its actually growing on its own roots. My conditions are also different than theans in the chinook belt in southern alberta on the far end of south calgary my trees start show cold damage exactly like how konrad described than trees slowly decline .

i agree with konrad on the apricot seedling as rootstock when i said manchurain roots are best for apricot this is what i meant . colect seeds from a rock hard strain like manchurian and siberian use those as roots .

mustang roots dont work here not sure if they are not hardy enough or did not like my conditions but like every hybrid plum sold in nursery for last 10 years was on them and i (had) and extensive collection maybe 12 trees and now have none ! My toka and blackice were cool trees they grew well back in 2012-2014 even made fruit in 2015 than by 2017 all were removed