M9 has worked great for 40 yrs in west Texas. Tough dry growing conditions. Trees about 8-9ft tall. I've staked with a single T post and never had one fall over. Bear young and have large fruit.

Currently trying 111 but don't like it nearly as well and amazingly hasn't grown well so far.

M26 will eventually be strong enough to stand free if you are growing a reasonably vigorous variety on it. It needs water to get through dry spells though.

If you are in an area with a lot of fireblight you would probably be better off with an equivalent sized Cornell rootstock. They can be hard to come by but you can try Cummins Nursery.

My workhorse is 111, but I like to grow trees- not bushes. However, M26 takes much less work to prune if you can keep it alive and bears fruit much sooner.

You might want to try the interstem Bud 9 and M111 root. This will give you some of the best traits of both. This method seems more practical for a backyard grower like me who enjoys grafting. A few nurseries sell these that are ready to plant. I am only going into the third year with this method but it looks promising. Good Luck, Bill

I like mm111 myself but remember it depends on your soil type. Read descriptions here http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/rootstock-information-2/ MM111 is for clay / loam like I have. Here are some other root stocks worth considering http://www.cumminsnursery.com/rootstocks.htm. Those that you stake produce faster.When I make a large order I typically go through lawyer nursery https://www.lawyernursery.com/category.aspx?categoryid=75&openid=75.

Thanks for the replies. I live in a climate where fireblight is a huge problem. We get so much rain. M111 works good here but I want something smaller so I don't have to climb to reach the fruit due to my trees are planted on the side of the mountain on pretty steep ground. Flat ground is hard to come by here.

Mine are all on M26. Good size, no taller than ten feet, easy for pruning and picking. Mrs. G

I've settled on M7 as my rootstock of choice. It is free standing, hardy and fairly manageable. My more dwarfing stocks (M26, B9) require support, and are much more susceptible to borers. M26 has also not proven to be fully hardy in my climate.

Now that we know you have hill ground that changes things. I know no one likes staking any more than I do but if my situation was yours I would get the root stocks from cummins nursery and stake them and not mm111. I will attach a link with additional information on why I would go that way in your situation. That hilly ground I know can't be picked with a latter and picking with a stick is not much fun either. Geneva rootstock are both Fireblight resistant and dwarf but they will need a stake the first couple of years. You will want to call cummins nursery because he can give you better advice than I can.

Here is a link that might be useful: New apple rootstocks

This post was edited by ClarkinKS on Sat, Jan 17, 15 at 16:53