Are there any guidance on grafting multi apple trees? How old the tree should be, how high up the rootstock you should start? I grafted a bunch of apple trees and of course a number are bound not to take. I was thinking about turning those into multi grafted trees later on.
For whatever reason here in Alaska they are grafted pretty high up the rootstock, 12~18 inches, and me monkey-see-monkey do actually do them that way. That means that the rootstock that don’t take start putting branches from that level.
There’s so many ‘right’ ways that give satisfactory results.
But, apical dominance should be kept in mind…things grafted to side limbs far from the main trunk are not going to become major players.
(But, if the dominant branches are headed back then this can be remedied.)
I do have a seedling tree I removed the central leader and grafted in the top at about 8 feet off the ground. Around 3/8 to 1/2 caliper whip&tongue graft. Amazing…in 3 years that particular graft has shot up at least 12 feet!
I think your best approach is to wait until the tree has reached a height where your lowest scaffold is about 4-5 feet high with 4-5 evenly spaced scaffolds that complete the full circle above the lowest one. Train the angle for a strong connection to the trunk. Then you can whip and tongue a new variety onto each scaffold close to the trunk as well as the central leader.
On an older tree you can get more varieties added by bark grafting each scaffold and the central leader. The larger diameter scaffolds can handle 2 grafts usually. There really is not limit to age as far as I know.
Dennis
Kent, wa
There is no height at which a tree would be safe. This past winter I posted a few photos of trees whose bark was stripped close to 10 feet off the ground. We have the largest moose in the world, coming up to 7 feet tall at the hump. The neck and head probably gives them another 3 feet of reach. What they can’t reach they just bring down by biting on the branches and pulling.