I did 31 grafts earlier today and it felt like a lot
I haven’t done that before, but am planning to. I saved some wood, instead of attempting to root everything.
I also planted out the first tomatoes the other day- I still have a bunch sizing up under lights. I just finished planting the last of the potatoes today.
I don’t think I could be a farmer- I’m pretty wiped out by just 8-9 hours of grafting, pruning, planting, weeding, etc. To do it from dawn to dusk each day would be tough to maintain.
I have a few that i started in a 2nd round, and they need to size up some yet. [quote=“BobVance, post:444, topic:10100”]
I just finished planting the last of the potatoes today.
[/quote]
I put out half, the other half, the potatoes are not ready to plant, waiting for some sprouts to develop.[quote=“BobVance, post:444, topic:10100”]
I don’t think I could be a farmer-
[/quote]
With you there! I used to take all kinds of photos, i started selling some, and it became work, i hated it, and sold my camera. Selling took all the fun out of it.
Here is my Winter Banana Apple graft from last month. It is showing signs of take.Looks like it’s going to bloom. I don’t have any other apples in bloom for pollination. Don’t think neighbors have either. Should I leave the blooms be since it’s unlikely it’ll become fruit? Or is the graft better off concentrating on leaf growth without wasting energy on blooms?
Winter Banana has been a heavy bloomer for me even when the wood looks like it is a leaf bud. The right thing to do is to pinch the buds off. I don’t always do the right thing if I have other scions that look good.
It depends entirely on how big the roots you’re putting it on are. If you are putting it on an established tree, one or two fruit is fine, most likely. If it’s a rootstock whip, you can’t get away with that.
Susu,
It won’t get any easier, believe me, even on an established tree. Yesterday I thinned off maybe, 65-70% of the flowers of this Harrow Sweet pears. I will also thin the fruitlets later.
On a new graft like yours, the sooner you pinch the blooms off, the better. I know you probably are tempted to see what the flowers look like.
I have had many failures in colder weather. Peaches callous much faster in the 60-70F range. That doesn’t mean its impossible though, if other factors are good it can work.
One of the peach trunks I topworked this spring I had removed all the scaffolds but one a month earlier to try to not have so much stuff in the way. When I grafted a few weeks ago I removed the one scaffold left and took a few inches off the ones I had pruned a month ago. The grafts on the newly-cut scaffold did really well but things did not do well at all on the stuff I cut a month earlier, I only got one take on it. Also some other scions I had were from trees on their last legs from borers, those also had lots of failures.
So, the best combination for peach grafting is vigorous healthy scionwood, a vigorous waterspout to graft to, and plenty of 60-70F weather (i.e., high in the 70-80 range). But you can still have success outside of that.
How come you thin the flowers? I thought people usually thin fruit after they form? If you thin the flowers wouldn’t it minimize the amount available for pollination? Or that’s usually not a concern?
Fruit trees often bear far more flowers than the trees could handle. If nothing is done to those flowers, they will turn into fruitlets. As you know, too many fruitlets will result in poor fruit quality and possibly a biennial problem.
Taking off flowers is just one way of preventing those issues. The sooner you get rid of those flowers, the sooner you help your tree save its energy.
Most people probably prefer to see beautiful blooms first. And like you said, let them attract pollinators. I have enough apple and pear flowering in my yard so I am not concerned about a cross pollination issue. I also see bees around.
I did a second wave of grafting today.my tree have flushed out so much and are putting on so much growth it’s more difficult to graft. Mainly because its difficult to see some of the trees structure and also there are a lot of leaves to contend with and obstruct my work. Most of today’s grafts were backups of some of my earlier grafts. I only have one earlier graft that has not showed signs of life and that is Rich May. So I grafted it again. I also added heavenly white, more glenglo, and more Rogue Red and Harrow Delight.
Wait, so if the tree is established, I can let last month’s grafts bloom and maybe even fruit? Because I have a medlar branch that looks like it’s going to make a blossom, and I’ve never had the fruit before.
I would not do that. As Danzeb stated the weight of any fruits would put tremendous strain on any graft union. Maybe you could do a few cherries but I’d never let an apple, pear, or anything other stonefruit grow on a new graft.
I don’t think medlar are typically very large or heavy. It would be best to wait a year because I don’t think that bloom will be productive and the graft needs the energy the fruit would take. You can brace the graft with bamboo etc. to strengthen the branch. Many branches under their own weight are heavier than a medlar due to leaves and branch growth. Many grafts break off because off that weight.
