Thanks. I really hate to cut it off too…
I had a mulb last year with another area of growth and the graft really took off after I removed the other branch. But that other branch was of rootstock so it wasn’t as traumatic as cutting off one of these!
One option would be to pinch the bud on that lower shoot ,allowing the leaves to remain until fall,
That will cause the top shoot to grow more.
Or just cut it off ?
What Mark said. I probably let two stay for longer than I should. But I normally keep the top one.
Hey, Bob. My potted apples are doing pretty well so far. I think we have a place for all 3 of them in the yard. My question: can we plant these in a few weeks after I’ve hardened them off outside? They’re all in 3 gallon pots, and I’m worried about them getting rootbound if I wait until fall when they’re dormant. If i do plant them soon, I assume I need to try to keep the soil/root ball intact, so I’m not planting them bare root?
Thanks.
Oh, and, are you geeked that Baker Mayfield will be returning to Ohio soon?? 
Nice looking graft. Where will you remove foils? I guess weather is warming up day by day.
I’ll probably check on them in a couple weeks, thanks.
You know… your message was really going well until you said, “BAKER MAYFIELD”… LOL
I’m not sure about having another Johnny Manziel type on the Browns… I hope not… but the planting the flag on the Buckeye 50 yard line is still in the back of my mind.
Are these rootstock you grafted recently or purchase bareroot trees? I don’t remember…
I don’t know if those will be root bound but as they are in 3 gal pots it is possible. I have a few that have gone a full year and were just fine when I pulled them out of the pot. I do use 5 & 6 gallon pots so they normally will go from spring to fall no problem, even spring to spring. When I do plant them I water them well and try to keep them in tact in the existing dirt.
My decision is always whether it is too warm to plant or not. It is still early in my area to plant so I would plant them and keep them watered… with that said… I do tend to wait to fall and not worry so much about them getting rootbound… also, I don’t always wait till they go dormant in fall, I just make sure it has cooled down enough not to stress them.
I know… that is probably more babbling than you wanted to hear… with all that said… it is never bad to get them in the ground if you have a space for them and still cool enough not to stress them.
Water well!
Thanks. These are the apples I grafted onto M7 rootstocks back in March. After I knew they took, I potted them up last month.
OK, I’ll probably hold off then, it’s been very warm and windy lately, so that’d stress them.
About Baker, a lot of folks who don’t watch him every game, think he is a Manziel type. But, he is a very good leader, a team player, and they rallied around him. Yeah, he’s cocky, but I think he just loves to play and is very competitive.
Manziel was into himself, and was just a general jerk. But, him being an Aggie didn’t help his cause either. 
I think Baker could do well, he’s super accurate, very mobile, can throw the deep ball well, and has the drive to get better. But, no offense, I do worry about him going to Cleveland, it seems a lot of good QB’s go there and they founder. But maybe he’ll be different. I was surprised, though, to see him be the #1 pick.
I hope you’re right!! Browns can only go up! I keep mine potted mostly because I can keep them by the water hydrant and in a location away from deer and rabbits. So I’m able to water daily and keep a close eye on them.
This is satsuma on top of Nadia. Nadia is showing green. Nothing on satsuma yet. I wanted to experiment and graft the two together. We’ll see if they both take.
Couple more cherry grafts.
Korean Giant on Moonglow. I bought a Korean Giant tree this year and prunred it half way when I planted it. I grafted part of left over piece to moonglow. It’ll be nice to see Asian pear on Euro pear.
I bench grafted 3 Ilona and 3 Tomcot apricots to Manchurian rootstock last night. I used side/wedge grafts as recommended by Bob Purvis. I found that side grafts are easier to do than whip and tongue, at least in my limited experience. The real challenge that I had was handling the apricot scions. The buds would fall off very easily when I was making cuts or fitting the grafts. It did not help that I was using 3-4 in. scions. Another lesser challenge was wrapping the scion with a crotch angle to work around. I would wrap through the crotch and pull too hard and cause my scion to shift. Despite the rainstorm that hit and the lack of light after sunset, it was a really enjoyable experience. Now I will just hope for a take or two!
I did some budding today for my first time ever. I did about a dozen or so. I actually like budding better than any other grafting technique. It’s pretty easy, and if it fails you still have your stock. I moved some buds from trees that got girdled by voles,and also did some Monty sour cherry buds. I put those on suckers that I dug up from under my Bing. I hope they work. I don’t know what rootstock the bing is on. It came from a box store. I didn’t need anymore sweet cherries. In fact I have three sweets that I made last year still in pots on K-5 That I changed my mind on planting, so I placed a bud of Monty on the rootstock below. I also placed a Monty on one of the main trunks of my Crimsons Passion. That way if it doesn’t produce I have a backup plan.
Here is a photo of Potomac, looking good, I’ve really been wanting to get this one . Second photo is clarks little yellow, growing , looks great
Yesterday, an absolutely fabulous multi-branched Tomcot arrived on Lovell from Raintree.
I carefully planted it in my backyard in a higgily piggily raised bed.
I amended my backyard loam with coarse perlite, sand, leaf litter, and pine bark mulch. I wanted this apricot tree to be pampered— to be well-elevated in a nicely-draining medium. During yesterday’s planting, it was 91 F and sunny. I was sucking water right out of the garden hose.
Today, I finally did my first pass of apricot grafts— all clefts except one saddle. I was fortunate to have on hand some lively and perfectly-sized scionwood provided by fellow forum members.
The Tomcot had enough branches to accomodate all of the scion varieties I obtained this winter… so I grafted them all!
Here is a photo of all of the grafts I set. Left to right: Florilege; Early Blush; OrangeRed; Moniqui; Hesse Weinberger (plumcot); Robada; Lasgerdi Mashad; and Hoyt. If these all take, then I’ll have nine (9) kinds of cots on one tree!
The finished product after some hefty mulching with sprigs of fraser fir and pine bark mulch.
I am seeing some bud break on pear and mulberry I grafted about a week ago . Fingers crossed . Hope they take . Waiting on persimmon to leaf out a little more before I graft them . Should be ready in a few days .
Sounds like a good sign. Carry on.
M
