Grafting. 3.12.19

This is the first step of wrapping the graft with plastic strip.  Knot tied.

The strip is flattened, wrapped tightly up, then down, and tied again.

Finally, the scion is wrapped to avoid dehydration.  I used parafilm this time.

Today I grafted new scions onto a number of pre-existing apple trees.  I'm comfortable with whip and tongue grafting, so that's what I do.  These trees are young but starting to have some size.  They are dwarf or semidwarf size trees.    For one, a large, mature  branch of Pristine broke due to graft failure, so I'm not grafting Pristine back onto that tree.  There is a small "water sprout" branch near that location, so I grafted a new variety to that branch as a replacement ("Bob's red flesh, a small apple with red flesh throughout).

I thought I would show my current method.  It's much easier than the older methods that involved grafting wax and string, or sticky tape.  I use strips, about 3/4 inch wide, cut from gallon-size "Ziplock" plastic freezer bags.  After experimenting with stretching, I can get a good firm tight binding, without breaking the strips.

The cutting and fitting of the scion and understock is as usual.  I didn't do as fine a job as last year, but apple is fairly forgiving, so I think they should take.  Once the whip and tongue graft scion and understock are fitted together, I tie a strip of plastic strip below the graft, with one end being short and the other long.

Then I flatten the strip, and wrap up, then down the graft.  I pull the plastic strip as firm as I can, without stretching to the yield point where it loses it's stretch and tears.

Then I tie the end of the strip back to the original knot.

I wrap the scion with either a thinner plastic strip, or this time, parafilm.  The goal there is to prevent dehydration but allow the buds to grow

This method gave 100% take last year.  I'm hoping for a good result this year too.

I grafted -

That "Bill's Red Flesh".

A local crab apple variety from an HOS member, "Hi Jack".

Pristine.

I also bought some Bud-9 rootstock at the HOS show, and grafted Northpole apple onto that rootstock.  I want to see if I can better limit the height, and make a much more compact columnar apple tree than I have with the original Northpole.


And quince varieties, to the quince tree that I'm reworking, adding Limon and Crimea Quince cultivars.

Also, onto a plum branch, I added one branch from an ornamental, fastigiate red plum (Scarlet Sentry?) from elsewhere in the yard, for pollination purposes.  That goes both ways - I'm curious to see if those plums are larger or better set, when pollinated by more proximal plum varieties.

Collecting scion. And a Graft failure. 12.4.18

 Today I collected some scion for late winter grafting.  In this case, it was Pristine apple.  Pristine is an excellent PRI (Purdue Rutgers Illinois) disease-resistant apple, early season, really delicious with a delightful flavor. 

Unfortunately, this branch basically fell off the tree this summer.  It managed to hang on by a small amount of bark on one side, apparently living bark.

Today I removed some scion to try

 grafting late winter, onto another tree.  It appears viable.   I wrap in foil, then place into zip-lock bag and refrigerate until some time in March.

 I will remove this branch some time this winter.  There isn't much holding it onto the tree.

From the wound, it's obvious that there was never much connection.

There will be some more scion to collect.  I also want to collect some from North Pole apple.

A graft failure.  "Pristine" apple.  Unknown Semidwarfing Rootstock.  12.4.18

Apple Scion Order for Spring 2019

One of the great things about multigraft trees is, if you do't like a variety, you can remove the limb or graft others onto it, and still be ahead of removing or replacing a whole tree.

I'm not happy about Chehalis, which for me has given large, tasteless apples and not many, despite the branch being very vigorous.   I also have doubts about Akane, which has not produced apples despite other branches on the tree being productive.

So, next Spring I want to cut those two branches short, and graft something different.  I'm choosing mainly disease - resistant, PRI varieties.

PRI stands for "Purdue Rutgers Illinois" apple breeding program.  They interbred exce;lent apple cultivars with a disease resistant crabapple species, Malus floribunda, then crossed other apple cultivars, and tested them extensively.  Most of these are scab resistant, although there is change happening in the scab disease so that is not as sure as it once was.

Regardless, I've grown Priscilla and Pristine, and they were both excellent apples.  The Pristine branch broke, but is still partly connected to the tree.  So I will see if that has some viable scion for grafting in the late winter.  Most, but not all, PRI varieties, have the letters "P", "R", "I" somewhere in their names.  Often consecutively, such as in Priscilla and Pristine. 

Meanwhile, I want to try others.  I chose:

Prima - Early Fall, red disease-resistant apple. 

Goldrush - despite no "PRI" letters, except "r", a PRI variety.  A long keeping golden, disease resistant apple.  Heavy cropping, has Golden Delicious and Rome Beauty in its ancestry. Sweet, very late season, keeps 3 months.

Williams Pride.  Mostly red, disease resistant apple.  Early maturing, tart fruit.

Honeycrisp is also scab resistant.  Most people know Honeycrisp.  I have a tiny tree on ultradwarffing M27 rootstock.  The tree is 3 feet tall and had 5 apples this year.  I want to add that to a more vigorous tree.  I have other grafts of Honeycrisp but jot far enough along to harvest more scion.  I think Honeycrisp is not very vigorous anyway, so needs a more vigorous rootstock. 

For what it's worth, the PRI varieties have all been disease resistant in my garden, and the apples from each of those varieties have been very good to incredible (Pristine).    My Winecrisp tree, also a PRI introduction ("cRIsP" does have PRI in its name) has not borne a crop yet.

Fresh Fruit. 7.30.15

King Figs.  7.28.15

Petite Negri Figs.  7.28.15

Hollywood Plums, Oregon Curl Free Peaches, figs, Pristine Apples.  7.30.15

Apple progress note. 4.9.15

Prairie Fire Crabapple.  4.9.15

 Most of the apples are blooming.  The Prairie Fire Crabapple that I bought as a pollen source for other apples, is in full bloom.  Using the paintbrush to remove pollen from flowers, there is generous pale yellow pollen, plenty for all of the other trees.

Of the little columnar trees, Golden Sentinel has 2 flower clusters and Red Sentinel has about 6.  Not a lot of apples.  I should prevent them from fruiting so they get more growth, but I like getting a taste.  Karmijn is in full bloom.  The Jonagold, grafted last year onto M27 is 3 feet tall and covered with flowers.  I may want to keep that as a single cordon, looks nice.  Honeycrisp on M27 is blooming.  Honeycrisp is too slow growing for such a non-vigorous, mini-dwarfing rootstock.    I have a more vigorous rootstock start for next grafting year.

Of others, the 3-graft on M106 is blooming nicely.  Pristine is first, and most.  Rubinette is 2nd, then Queen Cox.   With the more vigorous rootstock, these have potential for a lot more fruit in later years.

In the Vancouver yard, North Pole has only 3 flower clusters.  Either due to overbearing last year, or over-pruning of spurs on my part, or both.  Liberty is in full bloom.  Liberty is in lavish full bloom, as is Jonagold.  Both are on M27.  Jonagold is about 8 foot tall, Liberty maxed out at 5 foot tall.


Jonagold 1 year after graft, M27.  4.9.15

 I played the honeybee and transferred pollen from Liberty to Jonagold and North Pole.  I used the meager 3 flowers on North Pole as suppliers of pollen for Liberty.  There may be neighborhood apple trees that I don't know about, to provide more.


Golden Sentinel Bloom.  4.9.15

 Of the apple grafts, in early March I top-grafted from a yellow columnar apple, onto the grafts I made last year from North Pole.  Both have started growing.   One in a container, which had only a tiny tuft of roots, is growing nicely.  The plan for these is a columnar tree with red apples on the lower couple of feet, yellow on the next couple of feet, then another type of red.  The trees would be self pollinating and colorful.


Karmijn on M27.  4.9.15

 The graft from Fedco, of Redfield, onto a home grown M27 rootstock, is starting to grow.  I kept these grafts inside for the past few days to see if I could speed them up.

The neighbor apple graft hasn't started to grow yet.  It is at Battleground.  I moved it into the sunroom.

Jonared at one year old does not have flowers yet.  This is described as dwarf, but the rootstock is not listed.  Given the number of grafts I added from Fedco, I expect at most a bowl or two of apples of each type, in a few years.  That's if the grafts take.  Currently they look unchanged, no sprouting but not dried out.

Liberty on M27.  4.9.15

Yellow Columnar Apple graft on red columnar.  4.9.15

Fruit Tree Shipment. Raintree Nursery. Apples, Jujube, Peach. 1.30.14

 The order from Raintree Nursery came today.  I've ordered from them many times.  As always, very well packaged.  The packing is shredded used paper, so environmentally friendly.  Compostable.  Based on this and other experiences, Raintree is AAA in my book.

The trees are very nice size.  I'm very impressed.  A little taller than the box, so bent over a little.  Not injured, straighten up nicely out of the box.

The miltigraft apple is Rubinette, Queen Cox, and Pristine.  Each branch is labeled.  All are listed as disease resistant.  In this climate, disease resistant is important.

When I get them to Battleground, I'll plant them and addend this post.

The Jujube looks many-times larger than the ones I bough 18 months ago at One Green World.  Those barely grew last year, so are still only about a foot.  This will need a pollenizer, but it's a start.

Now anxious to get out and plant.  Later today.  Good day for planting, overcast, cool, not pouring rain.  Yet.

The peach is Q-1-8.  Again, bought for reported disease resistance.  So frustrating to lose peaches to leaf curl.

Packaged Fruit Trees.

I take photos of the roots and newly planted trees, so there is reference I can look back too.  It helps me remember what I've done.

Q-1-8 is listed as peach-leaf-curl resistant, tested at the Washington State testing station at Mount Vernon "A sweet and flavorful semi-freestone, white fleshed peach. Great for fresh eating. Ripens early August. Showy blossoms. Self fertile".  Most peaches are self fertile.  Not that they would say one is not sweet or flavorful  :-)

Of the Apples, all 3 sound interesting.

Apple Roots

3-way Multigraft Apple

Q-1-8 Peach Roots

Q-1-8 Peach