Hi everyone, I’m a new member thanks for having me.
Can you please share your wisdom and advice to help me make an informed decision?
I have limited garden space, and was super thrilled to find a 5-in-1 stone fruit tree with every single fruit I wanted: Rainier Cherry, peach, plum, apricot and nectarine. I also found a 3-in-1 and while it’s not my holy Grail tree having everyone, the peach graft looks so strong and healthy compared to the little thin peach on the 5-in-1. The apricot on it has some dry twigs, the buds look alive but they are a bit slower to open than the other tree’s apricot graft, should I be concerned the apricot graft on the 3-in-1 might eventually die? The cherry, nectarine and apricot on the 5-in-1 look thick and strong ! Do you think the little peach graft on it will grow out just fine?
What tree would you choose, if you could only plant one? The holy Grail 5-in 1 with the thin peach, or the 3-in-1 with the apricot that may be ok and the really vigorously growing peach? Anything to consider regarding fruit yield? Are 5 too many grafts?
Should I just bite the bullet and get both trees, and if the little peach doesn’t take off on the 5-in-1 at least I have a nice strong one on the 3-in-1?
I’m in Toronto, zone 5b uphill spot about 1 km from a windy lake Ontario. I will plant it in a semi sheltered south facing spot but the peach is probably going to be tested by our winters. I could plant it North facing and will be completely wind sheltered by the house, but it won’t get nearly as much sun, since there’s 2 big trees that will shade it on and off.
Which would you go for?
Thank you again for your opinions!!
Photo is the 3-in-1 tree with colored tags: yellow=peach, brown=plum, pink=apricot with the questionable apricot graft
multi species trees look like the holy grail to beginners who often don’t have much space.
However they are more for people with more experience.
-The different species (grafts) can have varying degrees of vigor. So you need some pruning skill to keep the strong ones in check and help the lower vigor ones along.
-Different species often don’t pollinate each other. Your apricot will not pollinate your cherry for example.
A multi graft tree of the same species. (3-5 different apple cultivars for example) is a bit more beginner friendly.
Another thing you might want to look at is the rootstock. Since you say you don’t have much space the rootstock might be an important factor.
If your dead set on a multi species tree. I think it’s probably valuable to learn to graft. So you can graft extra cultivars on the tree to get pollination. And to replace branches/species that didn’t work out on the original tree.
however I’m in a different climate zone. And probably different continent. So not all my experience may apply to your situation.
Getting tree’s on dwarf rootstock and espaliering those tree’s might be a easier/better option to get multiple fruit species in a small place.
I’m not sure all of the fruit species on that tree will do well in a 5b climate. Hopefully some forum user in the same climate zone can comment on that.
i don’t have a perfect view on the picture. But sweet cherry is generaly not graft compatible with plum/peach etc. Maybe the trunk is of adara or something else that’s both plum and cherry compatible. But you would have to check lower for another graft union. Or check the rootstock.
Ranier Cherries and most sweet cherries are not self-fruitful. While yes they can be pollinated by the prunus family. It took 200 atempts to get 3 when the Nadia Chery x plum hybrid was created. Second Cherrys are not very graft compatible outside the cherry subfamily. To graft Cherry with other prunus usually use the adara a european Chery-plum that rejection resistant and compatible with everything. Usualy we do not know the rootstock at box stores. Chery-plum is common but if its not Adara that cherry graft might only live a short time.
Any graft that is 2x-3x larger then the smallest graft will need to be cut back 2x-3x as much as the smallest or your tree will grown unbalanced and you will loose the smallest grafts.
peachs(necterines) are generally self-fruitfull and with cross pollination will set more. Plums and Apricots will cross with each other and peaches no problem the only issue is overlaping bloom times.
I highly advise against that approach (multiple in one hole) in the east. Causes more problems than it solves.
@Jenny Welcome to the forum. Just so you know, that multi-graft tree is like a who’s who of difficult to grow fruits for Eastern North America. Stone fruits are all challenging here. Your winters will be the least of your worries. Late frosts, pests, and diseases will be a big issue, and some of them (apricots and sweet cherries) are prone to dying for no readily apparent reason. They are also going to grow at different rates and directions, and will require extra care to balance their growth.
With that caveat out of the way, if those are your hearts desire, I say go for it. Just be aware that you’ll need to put in some extra work and may still not get a reliable crop. You may also be setting yourself up for heartbreak, but what’s life without taking some risks.
Zee Sweet, acidently riped my flavor grenade branch off the tree. I got it back on the tree barely where it survived 2 more years and gave me 1 fruit, making me regreat loosing it because it was awesome.
Most of the tree is now splash but its not holding fruit.
Pulot, most of the tree is now flavor king queen not that I ever get many, Flavor supreme and Dapple Dandy died to dear rubbing damage.
Cherry, No hope saving the glacier. But cherry is remarkable for its ability to survive dear rub dammage. I think I lost all the tags so I have no idea which cherries are which now
