What is the difference between “4th leaf” and 4 years old, or does it mean the same thing?
Leaf is generally used to talk about grafting. For example if you cut down a male persimmon tree an inch or two in diameter and bark graft a female persimmon scion to it in the spring. Presuming the graft takes, the scion will leaf out and grow. That season is the “first leaf”. If things go well you can expect fruit in the third leaf. The original tree before grafting may have been 8 years old.
For seedlings, folks typically talk about years. Saying a seedlings is 3 years old means it has been through 3 growing seasons.
There are also some odd situations where one wakes up a containerized tree early growing it indoors or forces dormancy artificially.
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When talking trees, leaf refers to the year the tree was planted. I have a number of 2nd leaf trees that were grafted and planted spring of ‘15. I also have some large (12’+) fruit trees that I bought in pots and planted in '15. All of those trees just finished their second leaf growing season, and all will be 3rd leaf trees next spring.
The large potted trees were likely 4-5 years old when I bought and planted them in '15. The rootstocks I grafted scions to in '15 were likely 1 year old.
So you can see that some of my next year’s 3rd leaf trees will be 3 years old and others will be 6-7 years old.
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Thank you, I was not clear about that phrase.
Got it! It makes sense. Thanks.
I take it as how many growing seasons it’s been planted in it’s current location. So maybe calling it 1st, 2nd, or 3rd root would be more accurate.
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When talking trees, leaf refers to the year the DECIDUOUS tree was planted.
For banana plants (they are monocots), the number of leaves before fruiting.
For evergreen dicots, the term is meaningless.
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Also something else I would mention. Indian Free peach is one of the very first hybrids. Jefferson grew it, so if we still have the true Indian Free, the trees are well over one hundred years old. Propagated by cloning/grafting, so the wood can be traced back that far. (It is a hybrid, not true to seed, not stable). Reminds me of the fact that Bamboo flower about every 120 years. 95% die after flowering. About 10 years ago a very popular bamboo hit that 120 mark, and thousands of clones throughout the United states flowered and died. Young plants, small plants, big plants, old plants. All the clones flowered, the wood knew it’s age!
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Okey dokey.
I consider the terms “leaf” and “year” the same thing.
What I find important to distinguish is whether a tree has been grafted or transplanted.
I often talk about how my trees are so many years (or leafs) old “post-transplant.”
Who knows how many years the tree grew in the nursery before it was grafted, purchased, shipped, and transplanted.
Grafts can fail, but if the understock is still viable, it can be re-budded.
Old trees can be pruned and transplanted (not advisable, but it can be done).
I once transplanted a rose bush of my late grandfather’s. That bush grew at his place in Pennsylvania for at least 40 years before I moved it to Maryland. It grew in a nursery before that. It was likely cloned from a cutting once upon a time. Now it’s been in my backyard for a few years.
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Good job, from what I understand they do not transplant well.