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OK, I've had several Austins growing in my new beds and I feel that the grafted bushes are doing better than the ownroot. Has anyone else noticed this?
Specifically, I have six Pat Austins--one of which is grafted and the rest ownroot. The grafted is far outstripping the ownroots as far as growth, vigor, and to a lesser extent flower production. I've noticed the same with Molineux. In fact, I can't seem to get an ownroot Molineux to live past one year. Oddly, I have a grafted one that is doing just fine. I also have The Pilgrim ownroot and it took a full three years to really get some growth and even to produce flowers. And, believe me, I have plenty of composted cow/donkey manure to feed them all!
I'm not asking about ownroot vs. grafted in general. Just specifically the Austins. I realize that the Austins typically start slow anyway and I've gotten used to that. But when I place a grafted and an ownroot of the same variety right next to each other the grafted always seems to win. What's up with that? The above mentioned are all three years old. Has anyone noticed if the ownroots catch up at some point?
I've noticed some folks have mentioned in passing that they have wondered the same thing about one specific Austin. I'm wondering if grafted is better for all Austins.
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