I haven’t seen any images of this method while on the forum so I figured I’d share my proof of concept so far.
This is a trunk notched with a razor blade on an Redlove Era apple in Z7. The initial notch was done around March 5th with the follow-up on March 24th. Its hard to tell from the first set of photos but the bud swell was very similar up the stem. I tried to get a second bud into the photos for comparison.
Initial notch:
Increased bud swell:
I use a hacksaw blade. I think it is a successfull technique.
There isn’t much to see for now, but wait until the growing season really takes off. You will see the difference.
So far so good. Multiple people have noted the technique but I didn’t note any images.
@Masbustelo, last year I did two tests with a hacksaw but the trees closed the wound so fast that I didn’t see any affect. Could have been timing or me not being aggressive enough with the blade. I don’t remember when in the season I did it aside from early. Using a fresh razor I was able to control the cut a lot better with cleaner wounds. I’m sure both methods are viable but I’ll probably lean to the razor for future efforts.
@jeremybyington, Sorry you profile is blocked so I cannot private message you. You don’t by chance have family that grew up in Spokane Wa do you? I knew a Jenny Byington in high school that spelled it the same way. I know it’s a probably not, but the older I get I find it’s a small world after all.
