Saturday, April 18, 2015

Apple Grafts. Progress Report. 4.18.15

Keepsake Apple whip.tongue onto Jonared stock tree.  4 weeks.  4.19.15

Apple varieties whip/tongue onto Jonared stock tree.  4 weeks.  4.19.15
 The apple Fedco whip and tongue grafts from last month look good.  Most have swelling buds with leaves still smaller than a mouse ear.  Redfield, Porter, Priscilla, and Keepsake all have evidence of growth.  Granite Beauty is not there yet but is also not dehydrated so there is still a good chance.  This will be my sampling  / experiment tree, with a branch of each variety.  Very pleased so far.

I looked at the Fedco scion list again.  They are not selling more this year.  There are a couple of apple varieties that look interesting for next year - a long way away, and who knows what will happen.  The ones that I liked this time were King David and Sweet Sixteen, for interesting sounding flavors and disease resistance, and for the stories.
Jonared Apple with 4 whip and tongue grafts.  4.18.15

Jonagold W+T graft on M27 at one year.  4.18.15
The Jonagold that I whip and tongue grafted last year on M27, and planted in ground late winter, has bloomed nicely.  I've played the honeybee and pollinated with other varieties, especially Prairie Fire.

The unkown apple from the neighbor, on M27, shows no evidence of growth so far.  The Redfield on M27 has leaves the size of a baby mouse ear, but I'm not sure the rootstock is viable so it may be lost.

2 comments:

  1. your scions looked rather short. Did you trimmed them or when they ship it to you was short to begin with?

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  2. They were about 8 inches long. Multiple buds. I cut them to about 4 inches, 2 or 3 buds each. The reason I did that, the longer cuttings seem more likely to have a bird land on them and break them, or catch the wind and twist, or dry out. I thing 2 or 3 buds are as likely to give growth as 8 buds, and usually only keep 1 or 2 for the new branch. Since they may grow several feet the first year, I don't think I lose anything by cutting back to 4 inches.

    The plums, I cut in half and used both halves, to double my chances of take. Plus I wanted more branches of each type.

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