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.

Grafts That Didn't Work. 7.11.2020

The vast majority grafts this Spring worked fine.  The apple - on  - apple were all successes, except for Pristine on Geveva 222. 

Pears on odd rootstocks generally didn't work out.  It looks like Bartlet-type on Chinese Haw will be OK.  The same pear on Serviceberry, Bud-9 with Winter Banana Apple, or Aronia, did not take. 

I grafted 3 chestnuts cultivars onto the Marisard seedling.  It may be too soon to know, because there might be delayed graft failure.  They all grew.  When I unwrapped Marivale, it still looked OK, but when I unwrapped Marigoule, the graft fell off even though there was a foot of healthy looking growth.

Cleft Graft of Small Pristine Graft, onto Geneva 222.  There was good growth, but it fell apart when unwrapped.  7.11.2020

Whip & Tongue Graft Marigoule Chestnut onto Marissard Seedling Chestnut.  It grew well but fell apart when unwrapped.  7.11.2020

Whip and Tongue Graft of Marivale onto Marissard Chestnut Seedling.  Looks OK.  7.11.2020

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

Apple Grafting Progress Report. 5.27.19

Columnar Apple Grafts on Bud-9 Rootstock.  5.27.19

Some of the new fruit grafts were quite stressed by recent hot weather.  They were not ready for it.

These grafts are columnar apple trees on dwarfing rootstock Bud-9. They had the advantage of being bench grafts, growing in containers.  I moved them to the shade when it became hot.  I wondered if a couple would make it.  They are looking good.  There is some slug damage, so I gave them some slug bait. I think all of the grafts have healed together, and actual growth is commencing.

Grafting Update. 4.17.19

First Growth, Northpole Apple on Bud-9 Rootstock.  4.17.19

First Growth, Northpole Apple on Bud-9 Rootstock.  4.17.19

This is the update for tree grafts that I did this late winter.  Almost all have pushed out buds.  As is usual for me, all of my grafts this year were whip and tongue grafts.  I like how straight-forward the method is, once I knew how.  I think any method with good cambium contact, and with good strength, will work.  By using whip and tongue method, if there is a good match in size of scion and rootstock or understock, the cambium heals all around and new bark forms, so there is no bare wound remaining.  The method would not work so well if there is a big mis-match of size between scion and stock, in which case cleft grafting or bark grafting would be better.  But for me, it's almost always whip and tongue.

This year, all of the plum grafts are looking good.  It's only 2 varieties, 3 grafts - two for Black Ice and one for Beauty.  I'm glad to get to try Black Ice, but have some doubts.  Black Ice is an American x Asian plum hybrid, and most of the ones I've grown, so far, bloom but don't set fruit.  I read they need American Plum as a pollinator.  I don't know why Asian plum, which I have a lot of, won't work.  But so far, only Toka has produced.  And that one is almost gone from a canker infestation.  These are grafted onto a tree of Ember, another Asian x American plum hybrid that has never fruited.  The tree also hosts a seedling variety that bloomed this year but doesn't appear to have set fruit.  This tree was created as a graft I did about 6 years ago, grafting Ember onto a cutting of Hollywood plum. 

It's interesting to see one of the Bud-9 (Budagovsky 9, a cross of M.8 x ‘Red Standard’ AKA Krasnij Standard) rootstock pushing some leaf buds on the columnar apple tree grafts that I made.  Apparently Red Standard is also called Red-leafed Paradise or Bud 9, pruduced by Michurinsk College of Ag, Michurin, Russia, in 1946.  I'm guessing there is some Antonovka in there somewhere.

Regardless, it's interesting to see the growth.

Kiwis are more difficult.  The stems are hollow, with a delicate pith center and thin layer of wood with delicate cambium.  I struggled to get these to match, and wrapped firmly.    The other challenge is knowing which way is up.  I don't think they will grow if grafted upside down.  I did some one way, and some the other.  Looks like a couple of those took.

Fuzzy Kiwi Male Whip and Tongue Graft.  4.17.19

Beauty Plum Whip and Tongue Graft.  4.17.19

 I think this growth is more than the small amount of sugar stored in the little kiwi stick can support.  Therefore, I think this graft took.

It will be interesting to see if any of that growth on the quince multigraft, is a precurser to flowers.  Of course, I won't let the grafts produce any fruits.  But one of the branches was left ungrafted, so I can allow that to make a fruit if it blooms.

I'm very happy with this method of wrapping the grafts.  As described earlier, I used strips made from freezer plastic bags, and over-wrapped the scion ends with parafilm.  They are all looking good.

Black Ice Plum Whip and Tongue Graft.  4.17.19

Quince Whip and Tongue Graft.  4.17.19

Quince Multiple Trunk Tree, Multiple Whip and Tongue Grafts.  4.17.19

Grafting Update. 4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Beauty Plum.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Black Ice Plum.  4.7.19

 So far, almost all of the grafts are looking good, have broken dormancy and started to grow.  While some scion wood will grow for a short while even without the graft taking, that is short-lived.  I think we are well on the way.

Interesting observations.  Interesting to me, anyway.

Beauty Plum (From Home Orchard Society), already had flower buds before I picked up the scion at the scion fair.  Even so, and even though they bloomed - weakly - and the petals fell off, the growth points remained viable and are growing.

I could not tell which way was up for the kiwi grafts,  So I did about half one way, and half the other way.  Sure enough, only about half of them are growing.

Whip/Tongue Graft of Male Fuzzy Kiwi.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Male Fuzzy Kiwi.  4.7.19

 For Pristine apple, I saved scion from living growth of a failed graft.  Since it was only holding on by a thin strip of bark and cambium, the 1 year growth was very spindly and thin.  I grafted some of those, and some second year growth that was thicker.  Both seem to be taking OK.

Pears and Quinces seem to take off and grow the fastest.

Non-Grafted Bud of Kiwi, Breaking Dormancy.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Raja Asian Pear.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Pristine Apple.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Pristine Apple.  4.7.19

Grafting Followup. 3.28.19

Quince Graft.  3.28.19

It's still chilly.  In fact, there was a slight freeze, ice on fence although thermometer registered 34F.  Regardless, this growth on the Quince graft is promising.  Even prunings can grow a little, sometimes, so it does not prove the graft took.  But at least, it's alive.

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.

Grafting Apple Scion. 4.1.18

 It was a somewhat chilly and drizzly day.  I had a packet of scion from Fedco.  Earlier this Spring, I didn't have much chance to collect my own scion, due to events beyond my control, but I still like doing some grafting each Spring.

I've been wanting to add some Honeycrisp to the young Winecrisp (plus Milo Gibson plus Sweet-16) tree, so here it is.  I also haven't liked the Rubinette branch on another multigraft (originally Rubinette + Queen Cox + Pristine, but now with a deer-damaged King David + Dolgo + Goldrush + a puny Hawkeye branch).  Rubinette is reputed to be among the best tasting of all apples, but in my hands the apples are misshapen and disease magnets, while other varieties on the same tree are fine.  So I did some pruning and added Prima, another King David to replace the deer damaged branch, and  Fameuse.  I also had a rootstock taken from an underground sucker off an old semidwarf tree, and grafted Fameuse scion onto that as well.

 Over the years, I've dispensed with using wax or Tree-Kote on apple grafts.  I've seen some videos shoing grafters using ribbons cut from plastic bags, which worked well for me last year.  It takes some practice to stretch them tightly around the graft union without displacing the graft, but once in place the plastic ribbons make a tight bandage for the union to heal nicely.  I also wrap the entire scion, but not as tightly.  I do have to watch for growth, so the plastic does not restrict new growth and expansion.

 For the cut, I use a Felco grafting knife.  A lot of modern grafters like using box-cutter utility knife, which can result in a clean sharp blade each time.  I see the attraction but stick to my old Felco.

I cut tags from roadside beer can discards.  I rinse them with lysol in case the people who generously provide the cans (by throwing them out of their cars) have some sort of communicable disease, then cut with kitchen shears and use a paper punch to cut a hole.  I fassten them to the branch, using a loose zip tie.  I watch the tree so growth is not girdled later when the branch expands.  That's not a problem.  I putter around these trees all of the time.

These labels work as well as any mail order label.  I use a ball point pen to emboss the name of the cultivar and date of the graft.

Prima is a Purdue-Rutgers-Illinois hyrid, originally bred to be scab resistant although scab has evolved past that property; best eaten fresh.  Per Fedco, resistant to Fireblight, cedar apple rust, and mildew.

King David is an older variety, info here is from Fedco:  "thought to be to Jonathan x Arkansas Black... 1893. Intensely flavored... Pineapple, tangerine, lemon, sweet, sour, tart, sharp, aromatic and spicy all rush around simultaneously. The medium-sized roundish fruit is very dark solid maroon—nearly black. The fine juicy flesh is firm yet tender and distinctly yellow."

I already had Honeycrisp on M27 rootstock, which restricts growth so much it's never been more than  2 feet tall and has had, maybe, one apple in 5 years.  So I'm trying it on a larger growing multigraft semi-dwaf size tree.

Fameuse is also known as Snow.   I already have a graft of Fameuse on another tree, but it doesn't amount much yet and I want to give it a good chance.  Fedco describes Fameuse as originating in Quebec before 1700. "The 1865 Department of Agriculture yearbook sums it up: “Flesh remarkably white, tender, juicy"…deliciously pleasant, with a slight perfume… Medium-small roundish ruby-red thin-skinned fruit." and possibly a parent of McIntosh.

Grafting Progress Report. 3.31.17

Variegated Plum Seedling, Graft.  3.30.17

So far, most of the grafts look OK.  None have dried out and none look dead.

The pictured graft was made from scion taken from plum seedlings that I grew in 2015.  The seedling leaves were a mixture of red and green.  The plums were purchased at a farm stand.  They had labeled them "Pluots" but I don't know.  They were dark burgundy red plums.  I grafted so that I would have a better chance of fruiting, sooner, if it is going to happen at all.

Other grafts that look like they are starting to grow:  Most of the Asian pears have swelling buds.  The Asian pears and Chinese Haw on hawthorne scrub, have swelling buds. 

Grafting Projects in Home Orchard. 2.19.17

New Pear Grafts.  2.19.17

Healed plum whip and tongue graft at one year, done in 2015

It seems seems early, but with buds already swelling, I wanted to get some grafting in.  I think I've done it this early in the past, mid to late February.  Most of the scions are refrigerated in plastic bags, and will keep for several more months if needed.  It's OK if the understock tree is already growing, and for some, that is an advantage.

My grafting goals this year:

• Preserve a few varieties from my old trees in Vancouver, so I have them in my new trees in Battleground.

• Make something more useful out some of the scrubby Hawthorn trees, by converting them into Chinese Haw trees.  This is an experiment.

• Add pollen sources to grow internally on some trees.  I've noticed that the tiny pollinating insects tend to go from flower to flower within a tree.  By having pollen sources in the same tree, maybe there will be better fruit set.

 • As usual, I want to add some novel varieties.  Those will be added as I receive scion, especially the apples from Fedco and possibly some from Home Orchard Society.

•  Seedling fruits may start to bear sooner if grafted onto a mature, bearing fruit tree.  That gives a chance to evaluate the seedling variety several years sooner than letting it mature on its own roots.

• By creating multigraft trees, I have more varieties in less space than I would if they were all on their own rootstocks.  You get pollenizing  varieties for better fruit set, and potentially widely spaced ripening times so that instead of bushels of one apple type all at once, you can pick various types from July to November.

• Taking scion from your own trees, they are free.  Buying scion is usually much, much cheaper than buying trees.  Scion from scion exchanges is also free.

Healed apple whip and tongue graft at 6 months, done in 2014.

Grafts so far.  All of them are whip and tongue.

1.  This week, I grafted pear varieties, I think Anjou and Bartlett, from the old multigraft.  Whatever they are, they are good pears, delicious, proven in this area.  I added both to both of the new pears in my Battleground yard, Rescue and Orcas.

2.  I have a tiny Honeycrisp apple on M27, which is way to dwarfing for that variety.  After maybe 10 years it is still only 2 feet tall and gets one or two apples a year.  I took scion from that "tree" and grafted onto a more vigorous Winecrisp apple tree, one year old on a more vigorous semidwarf rootstock.

3.  I grafted two variegated burgundy on green plum seedlings, from plums that I bought in 2015, onto 2 of the younger plum trees - Toka (onto a rootstock sucker) and Ember.  I grafted one onto the Sweet Treat Pluerry.  I also grafted an American plum seedling onto Ember plum, to see if that would pollenize that tree.   I also grafted some variegated plum seedling onto a higher branch on Methley plum tree.

4.  I grafted several Chinese Haw scions onto suckers or younger trees in the Douglas Hawthorn woodlot.  I hope they take and make those into something productive, and maybe also not grow so top heavy and fall over like the original trees have been doing.  Both are in the Hawthorn genus, Crataegus, so I imagine they will take.

5.  To the Maxie hybrid Asian-American pear, I added Hamese and Hosui.  Last year I added Rescue and unknown Asian Pear from the Battleground yard.   I may convert that Rescue branch into something else, such as Shinseiki or Nijiseiki.  I don't need a bushel of one variety of Asian pear to ripen all at once, and it's nice to have multiple types ripening at potentially different times.

5.  Pending:  3 apple varieties from Fedco, and if I am luck some persimmons from Home Orchard Society.  I have more apple varieties now than I need, so for the most part I'm not planning to add more.  If I'm up to it, I  might make more use of some of the Hawthorne seedlings / suckers as experiments.  Hawthorn appears to be closely-enough related to pears that some pears can be grafted onto some hawthorn rootstock.  Some do better than others.