Grafting Apple Trees
Valentine's day marks the time of year in this part of the country to take care of your tree pruning duties. It is also a good time to propagate fruit trees by grafting cuttings (scions) to harvested root stock.
I went back to our apple grower friend Mr. Smith's house this past Saturday to collect the cuttings that I would be grafting. The weather was getting colder so I opted to wait a few days to graft the cuttings. This is not a problem if you wrap the cuttings in a plastic bag and keep them in the refrigerator. On Tuesday the temperature was around 50 and quite pleasant so I left work a bit early to pursue more fruitful responsibilities. With the help of our three year old little man, I was able to get the job done in only twice the time it would have taken me alone. I wouldn't have it any other way.
There is actually nothing very technical about this process. I used modified cleft graft technique that is described very well here. After cliping the top of the root stock to expose the green core and cutting about a 2" slit in it, simply whittle the scion to a taper the same length and wedge the two together. I finished the job by wrapping each graft with electrical tape - sticky side out. That helps to prevent damage to the delicate bark.
The root stock that we harvested a couple of weeks ago was collected by using a shovel to cut the volunteer shoots that are sent up by a mature tree. Typically the root stock is about the diameter of a pencil. Keeping that in mind, I collected scions in that same diameter range. The reason you want to do this is so that the cambium will line up on both sides thereby improving your odds of a succesful graft. This picture shows how to line up the cambium on one side when the diameters of the root stock and scion are different.
We'll know later this Spring if the grafts took by taking note of which scions start to bud out. If they don't take we'll keep the living root stock and try again next February.
Keith
I went back to our apple grower friend Mr. Smith's house this past Saturday to collect the cuttings that I would be grafting. The weather was getting colder so I opted to wait a few days to graft the cuttings. This is not a problem if you wrap the cuttings in a plastic bag and keep them in the refrigerator. On Tuesday the temperature was around 50 and quite pleasant so I left work a bit early to pursue more fruitful responsibilities. With the help of our three year old little man, I was able to get the job done in only twice the time it would have taken me alone. I wouldn't have it any other way.There is actually nothing very technical about this process. I used modified cleft graft technique that is described very well here. After cliping the top of the root stock to expose the green core and cutting about a 2" slit in it, simply whittle the scion to a taper the same length and wedge the two together. I finished the job by wrapping each graft with electrical tape - sticky side out. That helps to prevent damage to the delicate bark.The root stock that we harvested a couple of weeks ago was collected by using a shovel to cut the volunteer shoots that are sent up by a mature tree. Typically the root stock is about the diameter of a pencil. Keeping that in mind, I collected scions in that same diameter range. The reason you want to do this is so that the cambium will line up on both sides thereby improving your odds of a succesful graft. This picture shows how to line up the cambium on one side when the diameters of the root stock and scion are different.
We'll know later this Spring if the grafts took by taking note of which scions start to bud out. If they don't take we'll keep the living root stock and try again next February.
Keith
posted by The Bradshaws at 9:53 PM
2 Comments:
This is so fascinating! We mean to put in a small orchard of apples, pears, and peaches on our property but are relatively ignorant about the process. Now, if you don't mind helping someone to whom this business is totally new and foreign (just pretend you're talking to your 3yo!).....what exactly is the purpose of grafting?
Emily,
I am far from an expert, so you may want to double check my facts. Basically, you are trying to get the best of both worlds in this process. You select the root stock best suited to you soil/climate and spacing constraints. If I am remembering correctly, we are using MM111 root stock which is semi-dwarfing (height limiting) and will tolerate our occasional droughts fairly well. You select the scion to produce the apple with the characteristics you desire. In our case, it is a Golden or Yellow Delicious. However this locally grown variety is completely unlike what is available in the store. We may add some Stayman apples (a tart red all purpose variety) in the future, but we will use the same root stock.
Keith
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