One of my apple trees, a Pink Lady, refuses to go dormant. tip leaves of branches are still green and resist being stripped. lower leaves are yellowing and strip easily. I am proceeding with pruning, but would like to take scions for grafting. How will this affect grafting if I take scions now?
Our winter has been very mild so far. Temps have only briefly dropped below freezing and an ealy spring looks quite possible. I am concerned about chill hours on my stone fruits.
This is mid winter. You should cut the scion wood soon. Chilling can affect the growth of the scion after grafting. But if you cut it now and store in the fridge it will get much more chilling than outdoors in a warm climate. So I’d say cut and store at 35-40F.
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The lack of dormancy won’t hurt the tree. Our Pink Lady and Granny Smith tree never do go completely dormant, the new leaves just push the old ones out in the spring and they flower and fruit normally.
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