Looking for some input on what be occuring on the graft union of this Opal plum. The tree isn’t showing any illness and is otherwise normal.
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Scion likely more vigorous than rootstock.
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I’ve seen worse graft unions on trees over the years.
I had trees that did that. It was not a problem.
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The bulge will likely get more pronounced with age. Nothing to worry about. The opposite often happens with pears on very vigorous rootstock. The union looks like the “shoulder” of a bottle.
Bought this CHE from Cliff at Englands orchard in 2020.
It is grafred to osage orange. Looks like the rootstock may be a bit more vigorous than the CHE top.
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Agreed, it’s differential vigor. I see it a lot on the tall spindle trees at the local apple orchard.
Normal for certain grafts. Plums seem to be more pronounced in my experience.
I like how the bark patterns are perpendicular. I would be tempted to play around with that for ornamental reasons.
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Yeah me too. I’m always looking to add ornamental value to my edible landscaping.
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The bark on your Che portion of the plant looks different than the bark on my Che. Mine is older and I purchased mine from Edible Landscaping at least 10 years ago.
I honestly thought it was infected with borers or something as the bark has been peeling and falling away for years now. I’ve expected to lose it the last 3-4 years, and its late leaving out doesn’t help, but it surprises me each year.
Yours almost looks like cherry bark.
@Chills … i saw a CHE scionwood list from Englands Orchard this winter… and never knew there were actually so many varieties.
Mine is his California dreaming seedless CHE.
I wonder if different varieties have perhaps slightly different bark.
Twenty year old Golden Delicious on M9. Surprise is not the graft union it’s that it’s still alive with 80% of trunk bark dead.
Second tree is apple on M26. It has 30% dead bark above the rootstock and has been cut way back and turned into a multigrafted tree.
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Having had issues with apple scion-rootstock incompatibilities (see the Problems with Geneva Rootstocks thread) I might stake your tree in that situation.
But it also might be fine. I’ve seen pictures of pecan on hickory roots that look like extreme versions of this and are absolutely fine.
