Extra root stock question - how best to use this season

[William Grote]

I have about 20 whips of M7 root stock that were left over from my grafting class, I planted all of them into small pots and they are taking off well.

In an effort not to waste opportunity

Should I plant these this year in a location that I want trees next year, and then next spring top graft them with the pruning / scions from my other established trees?

Is there a way to graft or bud anything on to them this year that will grow this season?

Thanks

William

[Claude Jolicoeur]

Le samedi 24 juin 2017 13:13:15 UTC-4, William Grote a écrit :

I have about 20 whips of M7 root stock that were left over from my grafting class, I planted all of them into small pots and they are taking off well.

Should I plant these this year in a location that I want trees next year, and then next spring top graft them with the pruning / scions from my other established trees?

Is there a way to graft or bud anything on to them this year that will grow this season?

I have grafted this late in the season before.

Don't expect as much growth as if you had grafted earlier, but if your wood is well dormant, it should take.
Claude

[Andrew Lea]

Here in the U.K., apple tree budding is done in summer. I think it's much more widespread commercially than is spring grafting, which is now regarded as rather old fashioned? 

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=400

Andrew 

Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
www.cider.org.uk

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[m...@htxcider.com]

As is the case in the US as well.  It's easy and you don't need to have saved dormant wood.  I would just leave them in the pots assuming they aren't too small.  However, if you do have dormant scion wood for what you know you want, then I would try grafting now since you probably would get to production slightly quicker.  And...I suppose if the top graft doesn't take, then you can still go ahead and chip bud them later this summer.  

[Farmer Paul]

Good plan and great advise here....

Spring budding/grafting gives you the most growth (2-5ft depending on your timing, region, variety), but does require dormant wood logistics. A couple varieties started pushing buds as our fridge got a little warm. We like to plant extra rootstock in the row (final resting location in orchard) or in a nursury row at the edge of the orchard spaced a foot or two apart.

Summer/Fall budding is next best. We will chip bud the remaining rootstock around July 15th and redue any that don't take in late August/September.

Summer/Fall chip budding is great to just grab buds from nearby trees. Don't pull, but clip off the leaves, then fall budding is pretty much like spring budding. They do make small curved needle nose clippers for clipping, but pruners work fine. I don't have great knife skills, but posted a video on FaceBook @CiderAuction showing Neo who budded our orchard the last couple years. Neo said he chip budded a million trees this spring (with some help from his crew).

I'll try to find some more videos to post of chip budding; way more efficient with buds than bench grafting. We double bud for bi-axis or multi-leader trees, but it also doubles our odds of success. We have some pictures on our start-up orchard @CenturySteepCider. It's been super busy this spring, so I'm behind.

Happy to talk more; Just email or give me a call (pa...@ciderauction.com). We are still learning, but really like chip budding in the row. We've made a fair share of mistakes too as you know....

Best of luck!
Paul

[William Grote]

Thanks for all the replies and advice!

[77grundy]

Thanks for this post! I had a couple of varieties not take this spring and this post reminded me to check the fridge. I still had dormant scions of some of those varieties which I had completely forgotten about! Grafted them this morning as have lots of spare rootstock, so worth a try. Thanks!
Dan

[77grundy]

As a follow up, I only did 5 of these late grafts on June 29th and 3 of them took and have put on a few inches of growth. Very pleased that I didn't have to wait until next year to try grafting these varieties again. However I have read of the possibility that they might not harden off sufficiently before winter. Is that a problem anyone else has come across and is there a way to encourage hardening off?
Thanks, dan.

[CiderSupply.com]

Hardening off can be achieved by reducing watering and eliminating all fertilizer. If the soil is heavy and retains moisture well then completely stop watering around the last day of summer or just right before the fall growing the fall growing period begins. Apple trees will naturally have a growth spurt in Spring and slow down in summer and then resume in fall. The whole idea is to discourage this fall growth spurt not encourage it. You can also bag your trees if not too big to protect them from freezing drying winds if you're worried about about them not being completely hardened off.

If the trees are not possible to cover with bags you can also spray them with water and to encase the limbs with ice to protect them from the severe cold periods. Ice serves as a good insulator.

Chris Rylands