I forgot to mention to put the hinge cuts about an inch apart and use as many as you need, starting close to trunk. sometimes it takes 5 or 6 cuts to make a branch limber enough when you only cut a third way through.
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Alright, thanks. I’m a bit leery of cutting into my trees, but if it needs it, I’ll do it, I have to learn by doing.
Will I still need to pull the branch down a bit after making the hinge cuts so that the cut parts will “weld” into a new straighter branch?
So if this tree is a M111, it can become quite a large tree then? Maybe that would explain all this growth? Is 111 know for being quite an precocious rootstock? You said that Macoun isn’t a precocious variety.
111 is not precocious and is one of the most vigorous commonly used rootstocks (generally, 70-80% of standard vigor). For me, Macoun takes about 7 years to begin true productivity on 111, but a lot also depends on soil, and, to a lesser extent, weather. I was at a site yesterday where trees I planted on 111, including the slow to bear Fuji, were still small but completely festooned with flower buds. The trees are on a very steep hillside so even though they have wells and the customer claims he waters during drought I have to guess periods of drought stunted the trees and coaxed them to flower.
The entire point of the hinge is to make a rigid branch able to bend without breaking- the more horizontal position encourages fruiting and decreases vegetative vigor. Scoring can also be done to encourage fruiting, which is dwarfing in itself- there is no greater energy sink than fruit production. I’ve scored individual branches, but you need to go all the way around the branch or trunk, only as the deep as green tissue which is the cambium. It is often done with half circles, a few inches apart to avoid truly girdling and killing a tree or branch. This is done around bloom. .
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I found Liberty to be precocious and disease resistant, and attractive. But, there are lots of other apples I’d rather pick and eat!
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Reviving my thread for a question for @alan, or anyone else who grow them. I think my soon to be 4th leaf Macoun may be showing some fruit buds, but it’s still a bit too early to tell. Do the fruit buds not extend out as much as other varieties? I know they have really short stems, which tend to cause them to push off the branches.
I’ll see if I can get some pics of these buds later.
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In a week the tree will answer your question. I love your enthusiasm.
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Thanks, guess I’ll see soon enough. But, is it true that these tend to have short stems, and suffer from early drops?
Macoun may drop early, but I haven’t noticed that it does here. Macintosh certainly drops when it’s ripe. Yes, the stems are short and fruit is difficult to thin if you wait a moment too long, now that you mention it.
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