My bench grafts are growing great in my garage but when I move them to my nursery bed they seem to stop. Should I give them more time out there (it has only been about a week)? Should I be using a shade cloth? My garage gets plenty of sunlight through windows so their leaves are not yellow at all. Is this normal? They were making noticeable progress each day but the ones that were moved have fallen behind the rest. Thanks
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last year i had a few late may transplants. They took a growing brake. But catched up decently with the rest. I think it’s mainly the root damage during transplant. And plenty water (but not every day) and some shade might help em recover faster.
Also try not to transplant when it has to many leafs.
I imagine it’s a lot cooler at night (and maybe during the day) outside than in the garage. Plants grow at night, too, and the cool overnight temps slow them down. I grafted some pears this spring in pots and some outside. The pears in pots would come in overnight until about a week ago. They had all grown about a foot, whereas the in-ground pears (on same rootstocks) are barely past bud break.
Last year I transplanted out some fully leafed out grafts (apricot, peach, apple) in June when things were decidedly warmed up. They were growing vigorously and never slowed down. Even when I went a little too long without watering them once and they were severely wilting (they bounced right back). That being said, I do think it’s a good idea to gradually acclimate them to outside sun, wind, temps. All these grafts had been living outside full time for over a month at that point, just in pots.
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Sounds like it will be alright. Maybe I will try a bit of shade cloth
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Yeah, temperature plays a huge role in plant metabolism and growth.
I moved my tomatoes from upstairs where it was averaging 75°F and a low of 70°F to the basement where it was averaging 65°F and a low of 60°F the growth rate was nearly cut in half, even showing a bit of shock by way of curling leaves. I then moved them outside again where its averaging 60°F but nightly lows of 45°F and the same thing happened.
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No need for the shade cloth. They are just adjusting to the new environment. You will see significant growth from about mid June going forward.
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Yeah after thinking about it more I concluded that I probably don’t need to use a shade cloth. Thanks for your advice it makes me feel more confident in my decision.
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I do move my tubs outside on sunny days before I plant out my bench grafts, just to harden them off a bit. In fact, I’ve moved my tubs outside permanently and would have had these all planted, but I’ve been busy transplanting from the nursery bed to the orchard.
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