Grafting Update. 5.27.2021

 I'm happy with the grafts so far.  All are growing.  A couple of the black cherries seem a bit slow, but the third of those is growing faster too.

These are third tiers for espaliers.  The most vigorous is Gala grafted onto Honeycrisp, then Rubinette grafted onto Zestar.  The red leaf apple is Otterson, grafted onto Calypso.  Otterson bloomed at every bud. I cut off the flowers.  Now it has a growth shoot, so it looks like it will grow OK too.

Grafting Results So Far. 5.4.2021

 These are a few of the grafts that I did in March.  I wondered if the unseasonable warmth last week would be an issue.  Maybe for a few.  Most seem OK so far.  They are at that stage where, the scions are obviously alive and getting some nutrition, but growth isn't yet sturdy enough to say, yes they took and are home free.  Close, getting there, but not quite yet.

Chestnut Graft, Primato I think.

Another Chestnut, Bisalta III

 

 

Apples that I grafted to make the top Espalier tiers.

 

 The Otterson looks like it tried to bloom.  I've had that happen with other grafts, then the vegetative growth began.  Otherwise, it could be a dead end.

There are also grafts on some of the larger apple trees, a wild / domestic black cherry, and apples on smaller rootstocks.  All look about the same.

Grafts Progress Notes. Apples and Chestnuts. 4.16.2021

 Grafts look OK so far.  It's early to see much growth, but the buds are swelling.  These are the top tiers for the espaliers.

These are the new chestnut grafts..  So far so good.

 

Completed Grafting. 3.19.2021

 I enjoy making new grafts, a lot.  It still feels like magic, taking a stick (scion) from one tree and adding it to a rootstock or shoot of another tree, and having it grow and become one with it's understock and make fruits.  So I look forward to when the weather and season are right.  I plan ahead, collect scion wood and refrigerate it over the late winter, and order from sources such as Burnt Ridge or Fedco.  This year I ordered a couple unnecessarily.  I was over enthused.  Blame the pandemic.  Even so, all of the grafts are done now.

Apples -

I started converting the Jonathan multigraft back to mostly Jonathan.   Some of the older grafts were not appealing for me (Keepsake and Granite Beauty) so why keep them?  I got to test them out, which is good, and they didn't pass.   Porter, on the same multigraft tree, is very good.  I want to keep it, but it is too vigorous on a Jonathan, so I started the process of cutting that back.  I have a minitree started for Porter which probably won't bear for a few years.

So I pruned off Keepsake entirely.  Granite Beauty had a graftable small shoot that I grafted with scion from Jonathan, then removed the rest of that branch.  Granite Beauty was also too vigorous for that Jonathan.  I also pruned back about 1/3 of the Porter, and grafted two small lower shoots of that with Jonathan scion.  If they take, I hope there is still some good structure and I can get the tree mostly converted to Jonathan.  It will be interesting to see what happens. My scion in the fridge was a little mildewed, so I cut new scion from the Jonathan, seeking stems that had buds that had not started to open yet.

That leaves Priscilla, the rest of Porter, and a large branch of Airlie Red Flesh on that tree.  I want them to bear this year, then reevaluate for whether to leave any of those on or go 100% to one variety in the next year or two.  Priscilla is OK, is disease resistant, and bears well, same vigor as the Jonathan, but doesn't seem too special.

I'm not that crazy about the Airlie Red Flesh now.  It's a decent apple but tends to get scab.  I also have a branch of that on another tree, so that might be enough.  They seem to keep - I had some this week, so at least few kept in the garage to March and that was better than the famous super-keeper, GoldRush.

Pears - I grafted "Dana Hovey" onto a branch of "Rescue Pear".  Fedco describes Dana Hovey as "Small...  rich golden-yellow russeted pear. Possibly the best eating of all winter pears. Keeps extremely well."  That tree needs some pruning and shaping. Pear grafts usually take very well.  I thought a winter pear seemed like a good idea.  Usually a lot of the summer pears spoil on the tree.

I had some rootstock left over from last year, Geneva-222 that had a graft of Fuji Beni Shogun that didn't take.  I think the Geneva wood was too thick and hard at the time for a whip-and-tongue.   It was still alive so I cleaned it up and put on a new graft with William's Pride.   This time, a cleft graft.  The William's Pride scion was skinny, so we'll see.   I don't know what I'll do with it if it takes.  There are usually some trees that die or I give up on them, so there will be a replacement ready.

I also added grafts to two of the Chestnut trees.  One goes on the "Marissard Seedling".  I planted that tree about 4 or 5 years ago before I understood that a chestnut seedling may not bear for many years, compared to a grafted tree, and that it may not make pollen (that variety), and that there is no assurance that it will even make nuts.  That tree is upwind of the 3 other chestnut trees, so I want it to make pollen if nothing else.  Last year I grafted the four lower branches with Precose Migoule, Marigoule, and Marivale.   That way, if one or two are not compatible, there are still the other(s).  Those all seemed to take.  This year I added Primato.   Primato is reported as early ripening, which would be good here in WA State.  The branches are so high, I stood on the bed of the pickup truck to graft it.  That scion was more than pencil thick, and hard.  I don't know if it will take.  I also bought scion of the variety "Bisalta #3".  I added that to the Easternmost tree, the Precose Migoule. I thought it might be useful some time in the future to take over the tree if that one continues to have nuts that are (a) quite a bit smaller and (b) fall from the husk, allowing animals to eat them.  If nothing else, two of the four chestnut trees now have potential pollen producing branches within the tree, so wind direction and insects are less of an issue.

I also added one more black cherry graft to the North Star pie cherry tree.  That's a sad looking tree, due to a giant maple fell on it a month ago.

That's all of my Spring Grafting for the year.  Apples, Pear, Cherry, Chestnuts.  Mostly some whip-and-tongue but also a couple of cleft grafts.

Grafting Apples and other Fruits. 3.14.2021

 Yesterday I grafted a few scion.  For the miniature trees, after reading about the old variety "Winter Banana" not being that good, I grafted Fuji Beni Shogun to replace it.  So now, that minitree will be Bud-9 rootstock, Winter Banana interstock, with the Fuji Beni Shogun as the top.  I also grafted Rubinette to make the third and, possibly fourth, tier of Zestar.   The Zestar is rather vigorous, so I think that will do well.  This puts the Rubinette into a location where I can pamper it.

I also grafted some wild black cherry onto the North Star pie cherry tree.  That got knocked over by a falling maple, but there are some graftable branches.  Last summer I tried budding that same black cherry onto that same pie cherry tree, and they didn't take.  But that was 2020 and that year sucked for countless reasons, so maybe it was just 2020 and not the grafts.  

I want to remove the Granite Beauty and, if there is a graftable stub, replace with Jonared which is the base tree for that.  I can also replace Keepsake and Priscilla, which are nothing special.  That will make that a mostly - Jonared tree.

I have been thinking about cutting back on varieties, and decreasing the number of multigrafts.   On the other hand, last winter before I decided that, I ordered some scion from Fedco.  Which came yesterday, so now I need to make some decisions.

So what do I do now?

Since ordering these, I actually replaced another tree with Honeycrisp, for Espalier.  So that scion is redundant.  I might stick it onto something else, if there is a space.

Otterson - reportedly the reddest of red flesh, but more for adding color to cider or sauce or pie, than eating.  Will not need a whole tree.  Add to something else.

Gala - I like Gala.  It's modern,  a very good variety.   I have two extra Bud-9 Rootstocks from last year.  I'll graft Gala onto one of those.

Opalescent - a very good heritage apple.  Use the other spare Bud-9 for this one.

William's Pride - replace something else with this modern, disease resistant variety.

Duchess of Oldenberg - replace Baldwin with Duchess.

Hovey is a winter pear - I can graft onto another pear tree.

So:  removing Winter Banana, Baldwin, Priscilla, Keepsake, Granite Beauty.  Converting Jonared + 4 into Jonared + 1 (Porter).  (Long term, when mini Porter is bearing, remove that from Jonared which will then be all Jonared).  Making 3 minitrees, one already done (Fuji Beni Shogun).  New upper tiers on two or three Espaliers. 

This is a lot of grafting.  We'll see how far I get.

Apple Grafting Update. 9.29.2020

 During late winter, I did a grafting project to create the mini-trees for what will be my mini-orchard.  This is part of my plan to be able to continue gardening and growing fruit, with lower maintenance and no ladders.  From ground level, I can prune, spray, pick, inspect, putter.  I can also grow multiple varieties in the safety of the deer fence.  But first, I need the mini-dwarf trees.  To create those, I used scion from my existing apple trees and highly dwarfing rootstocks bought via mail order.

I did the grafting March 16th.  Most were whip-and-tongue, done as shown in this vintage woodcut print, noted as by Dr. John A Warter in 1867:

 

 

I grafted most onto the highly dwarfing but sturdy rootstock, Bud-9 (short for Budagovsky-9). After grafting them, I wrapped tightly with 1/2 inch wide strips cut from zipper lock freezer bags, potted them in the usual potting medium and they looked like this.

One of the grafts was Co-op 32, generic name for the early bearing, disease resistant hybrid apple "Pristine™".  I liked this one a lot, but the mature branch had fallen off of it's multigraft stock about 4 years ago, held on by a tiny bit of cambium and bark.  By the time I removed the branch, there were tiny growths of stem that year.  I kept one, and grafted it onto another multigraft the following year.  It didn't do well but survived and added a few inches.  This time, I removed that and grafted it onto some Geneva 222 rootstock - still very dwarfing but maybe a bit more vigor than the highly dwarfing Bud-9.  There wasn't enough to graft as a whip-and-tongue, so I did a cleft graft, matching up one side's cambium layer and hoping that was enough.

I also did some weird, cross-species grafts that will be described in the next post.

Here is how the mini-trees look now.  All are whips about 2 to 3 to 4 feet tall.  I did keep them in a spot where the pots would be shaded but the tops were in full sun; watered almost every day; gave some Miracle Grow a couple of times.

The graft unions healed nicely.  In a few years, this area won't be visible except with looking very closely.

That Co-op 32 apple cleft graft, which I was prepared to write off, did quite well too.  As well as any other.  That tree is also about a 3 foot whip now.  I'm very happy to have rescued that variety.  So I still have the original scion, in a way.  It's just on its own roots now.

 By the way, this is the lineage for Pristine™ (Co-op 32) apple, developed in 1975 by the PRI consortium and labeled Co-op 32 in 1993.

Next, these will need to be planted in the apple garden.  That can happen as fall and winter proceed.  Two raised beds will need to be removed, which might be after a frost.

I'm not certain yet about spacing.  I have a Liberty apple on M27 highly dwarfing rootstock, which at 20 years old occupies a space about 5 to 6 feet wide.  With closer pruning, it might be ok with the 5 feet spacing.  The wider the spacing, of course, the fewer I can grow and the more room they take, but I want them to have the space they need.

Doing this is inspired by the late Gene Yale from Skokie, Illinois, who had a very nice miniature tree orchard that he created over the years.  This was him in his back yard in 1997.  He used various distances between his trees, and pruned some smaller than others.

Apple Grafts. Progress Report. 7.4.2020

These are the apple varieties that I grafted onto either Bud-9 or Geneva-222 highly dwarfing rootstocks.  Most are on Bud-9 but I tried to use Geneva 222 on ones that I thought might have too little vigor.  On taking of the tape, there was slight constriction of stem girth but not severe, and not girdling.  Going by memory, which isn't perfect, here is a list.

Here are the varieties that took and grew quickly:
Jonagold - most vigorous. (Bud-9)
Jonared - less vigorous (Geneva-222)
Gravenstein -less vigorous (that was a surprise) (Bud-9)
Winter Banana - very vigorous (Bud-9)
Black Oxford - very vigorous (Bud-9)
Macoun - somewhat vigorous (Bud-9)
Beni Shogun Fuji - less vigorous (Geneva-222)
Porter - quite vigorous. (Bud-9)

I tried a tiny graft of Pristine on Geneva-222.  This was the only cleft graft.  The growth was vigorous, but when I removed the binding tape, the graft broke off.

I tried a pear on Winter Banana intergraft on Bud-9.  That grew a little but died.
I tried pears on Amelanchier.  Those failed.
I tried pear on Chinese haw - that appears to have taken and is growing somewhat vigorously.

Apple Grafts on BUD-9 or Geneva 222.  7.2.2020

Healing Whip and Tongue graft on Bud-9.   7.4.2020

Healing whip and tongue graft, apple on Bud-9.  7.4.2020

Apple grafts on Bud-9 and Geneva 222.   7.4.2020

Grafting Update. 5.11.2020

Most of the apple trees that I grafted this winter are here, on north side of a raised bed.  5.11.2020

 This year I wanted to create a mini-orchard of apple trees, grafted onto miniaturizing rootstocks.  The resultant apples will be normal size and flavor, just on miniature trees.  I can manage those trees without a ladder.  In general, when full size they will be 5 to 7 feet tall. Some apple cultivars are quite vigorous.  For those, I grafted onto the very dwarfing "Bud-9" rootstock.  For apple cultivars with a little less vigor, I used "Geneva 222" rootstock, which is still quite dwarfing but not as much so as Bud-9.

These trees will be in containers until this winter.  I can give them more TLC this way, and move them into shade if the summer is too hot.

I also did some more iffy experiments, grafting pear onto related species that might result in miniaturization.  I don't have experience with that, although you can find it on some websites.  I grafted pear onto aronia, serviceberry, and Chinese and Black hawthornes.  Also onto Winter Banana, which is an apple variety that supposedly is compatible with pear, so I grafted the Winter Banana onto either Bid-9 or onto an established apple tree, Winecrisp.  So far, it looks like the pear on Winter Banana on Winecrisp is taking, but maybe not too enthusiastic.  Ditto for the pear on Winter Banana on Bud-9, even less enthusiasm, and Pear on Chinese Haw.  The others don't appear to have taken.

To keep some Winter Banana, I grafted that onto a Jonagold Tree.  I thought the description sounded interesting.  I also grafted Winter Banana onto some Bud-9.  By the way, Bud-9 is short for "Budagovsky 9" which is a cold hardy Russian origin rootstock.  Winter Banana is an apple, not a banana, but somewhere along the line, someone thought it was yellow like a banana, or something.

This is a whip & tongue graft of "Winter Banana" apple onto a Jonagold tree.  5.11.2020

This is a graft onto a Winecrisp apple tree.  I grafted a "Winter Banana" interstock, with a pear scion.  5.11.2020

I also grafted all three of the chestnut cultivars onto the tree that I bought a few years ago, that was a seedling of Marissard.  Buying the Marissard seedling was a mistake.  Seedlings are unpredictable, may never bear, and if this tree is like its parent, might be pollen sterile.  Also seedling chestnut trees can take 10 years to bear, while grafted cultivars might bear in two or three years.   But it's too big to give up on, and who knows?  Maybe it will have decent chestnuts some day.

I decided to graft onto this tree, scion from my other three young, grafted cultivars.  Two of those trees have already produced first and even second year chestnuts, and the third has made male flowers with pollen.  The challenge is, I read that chestnut grafts often don't take on other chestnut rootstocks.  I used scion that I collected from Marivale, Marigoule, and Precose Magoule.  I had to climb on a ladder to graft these.  It looks to me like all took.  There can be delayed incompatibility, but so far, so good.  They are even producing male flowers.  The photos below show three of the grafts.  These were all whip & tongue grafts, wrapped / bandaged with 3/4" strips cut from zipper lock freezer bags and the exposed scion wrapped less tightly, with parafilm.

In the long run, it might be best to order some scion of other types to graft on other branches, and remove most of the top from this tree, other than the grafts.  We'll see what it does this year.

Chestnut Graft.  5.11.2020

Chestnut Graft.  5.11.2020

Chestnut Graft.  5.11.2020

Kitchen Garden Update. 5.11.2020

 Here are some photos of my current kitchen garden (potager).  About half is newly worked soil, formerly sod, which I treated during the winter with a cover of black plastic to kill the grass, then added dolomite lime, some compost, and eggshells.  That is not the tomato / eggplant / peppers / squashes / bean area.

The greens and snowpeas are in what was tomatoes last year.  There is mesclun from old seed packets, swiss chard and radishes, collard greens and turnips.  There were all 3 to 8 year old seeds.  The snowpeas were 6 to 8 year old seeds.

I now have a seven foot chain link fence, to keep rabbits and deer out.  I don't know if that will work.

 I set out the fresh eating tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants yesterday.  Also bush cucumbers in a raised bed, for pickles.

This strawberry pot is doing better than I expected.  Last month, I transplanted these strawberries from a raised bed, where they appeared to be dying off.  At least not thriving.  I wanted the space for cucumbers this year.  In the strawberry pots, they need better attention to watering. but I have them in fresh potting soil with some added osmocote.  They perked up almost immediately and started blooming..

 This bed is fresh-eating tomatoes, slicers and cherry tomatoes.  Down the center I planted radish seeds, which should not take up much room and will be done before the tomato plants reach much size.  Along one edge, I also planted a row of Roma II bush beans.

 This view shows the sauce tomatoes.  I gave all of the tomates some osmocote when I planted them, about 1 1/2 tablespoon per hole.

 These squashes may not have enough room.  Space is at a premium.  I may be able to direct the vines of the long vining types, into spare locations as other crops such as potatoes are done in midsummer.

Same comment as for squashes above.  This batch is in ground that was sod last year.

The soil temp is 74F at 10 am.  I've had readings as high as 80F and in early am, as low as 65F.  I think this is high enough for the squashes, tomatoes, peppers, to be planted.  Not sure about sweetcorn and bean seeds, but doing a trail of them now.  May 15th is my usual target date for that.  I also wonder about the eggplants, which need warm conditions.

These are the first three rows of sweetcorn.  They are outside the fenced area.  I have the seed rows covered with screening to keep birds from eating the seeds.

These are the bush cucumbers I planted the seeds a few weeks ago inside.  Now they are in the former strawberry bed, along with some dolomite lime and compost treatment.  I also have a row of dill seeds planted, now germinated, in there, and some cilantro from seeds saved several years ago.

 These are the grafted fruit trees, and oak seedlings.  The fruit trees appear to be taking nicely.  These are on the north side of the raised bed, to shade the pots a little.  I stratified the oak seedlings by planting acorns into these containers last fall.  There are white oak, from a magnificent tree in my neighborhood, and some other white oak from a location in Salmon Creek, and some red oak.  I'm not sure where I will plant them when they are bigger.

Grafting Update. 4.2.19

Quince Graft.  4.2.19

Pristine Apple Graft.  4.2.19

 Most of the grafts still appear to be viable and many are breaking dormancy.  It still amazes me that grafting works, but it seems it's just taking advantage of the natural healing capacity of trees, so when a graft is cut and assembled reasonably well, nature really does the work.

All of the quince grafts have broken dormancy, as have many of the apples, the Raja Asian pear, and some of the Kiwis.  I haven't checked the plums for a while.

The Pristine apple grafts were really tiny.  They were from a branch with graft failure, that was barely hanging on.  I'm surprised and pleased to see some growth.

Raja Asian Pear Graft.  4.2.19

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.