Its always been my opinion that the sooner I plant something the less I regret it later. Even if I don’t get the rootstock grafted i plant it. The sooner the roots are in the ground the closer we are to fruit. If its 3 years until you graft them your trees will get much larger and well established by then. What are your thoughts?
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I prefer to bench graft, so apples and pears are done that way. Everything is grown in my nursery for a year or two after that. I started experimenting with stone fruits last year and those I may have to resort to grafting in place.
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We purposely put in ungrafted rootstock and let them grow in for at least a year. Its one of the tricks that we have learned, especially on cherry to get them to push hard thru their first summer after grating and get them established quick. The established vigor of the the rootstock can overcome alot of environmental difficultly. Cherries planted bare root here often die in the first summer, but grafted on established root they are bulletproof. On peaches we can graft in spring to established rootstock and by the next spring have a fully grown 2" caliper 7-8 ft tree thats ready to produce.
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That jibes with my experience. I’ll take an established tree and a scion any day over a bare root or potted transplant.
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I grow out most of my rootstock, bench grafts in nursery rows before transplanting to permanent spots, but I figure I loose about a half season’s growth due to that transition. Planting out directly skips that setback, for me I need to size up my stock before setting it out or else they tend to get ‘lost’.
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