I had a fun day of digging up apple tree sprouts today and got some scion wood. I went to my in laws and dug up some apple tree sprouts from apple trees that are ungrafted and the sprouts come up true to what the apple is. I am going to use these for root stock for my grafts. Some of the sprouts have a good root base but few of them didn’t have as many roots.
I also got cuttings from some sweet black cherries from their house as well. I am planning on trying to graft some of these to a red sour cherry that I have but figured I would use some rooting powder and try to root a couple of the cuttings.
These are smallish green sour apples so if the grafts don’t take then I can still set them out and hopefully get some apples. I also took some scion wood cuttings from 4 apples trees that my father in law has as well. He remembers what 2 of them are but can’t remember the other 2. 1 is a Gala and the other a Granny Smith. After i get my scion wood order I hope to end up with several new varieties of apples. Only time will tell if I succeed.
I did I work a fairly long commute daily from home and we got rained out at work. So as soon as I got home I headed straight to my in-laws to get all of that. I beat the rain and did all the potting and cuttings in my garage whilst watching the rain pour down Didn’t think I would be able to do this task for a couple weeks because of work and was very excited to get this one crossed off the list.
I also spread some lime in my orchard last night in the dark (staying away from the blueberries best I could) and hope to fertilize it all in March sometime
A question about the potted sprouts. Would it be best (since I am going to try and graft to these) to leave these in the pots til Fall? I am thinking yes but most of you are way more expert than I am. Also what are the chances that the black cherries cuttings will root? I had read about air layering and thought it might be the best route for the cherry but never tried that method either and was iffy about trying it. The reason I want to get these cherries so badly is that they are old and way overgrown now. You can’t pick them from the ground anymore and they are so very good! My wife grew up eating these and I ate several of them myself years ago, that is until the lower limbs were lost and all the cherries are to high up now.
I am planning on digging up a sprout of a Tulip Poplar this eveing at my parents house. I planted the original tree almost 30 years ago. The state department brought these trees to all the children in my grade (this tree is the state tree of Tennessee) to plant for Arbor Day. I watered this tree everyday that summer and cared for it for a few summers. My grandfather helped me plant it and told me how to take care of it. He didn’t think it would live because it was so small but didn’t tell me that until years later and by then it was a well established tree. My parents are going to be retiring in the next couple years and moving closer to where I live now, so if I want to keep something of that tree I need to do so now. I am going to plant this in my front yard instead of my orchard but it is the same type of project and figured this thread would still be a good fit for this.
I went and got that sprout that I saw yesterday and it had 3 shoots coming up from it. I took the whole thing home and then split it into 2 different saplings to plant. I was going to try for 3 but it would have been harder to cut it that way, so I settled for 2. It being almost dark I had my little girl come out in the yard and help me plant both of them. Now we have a shared memory of my old tulip poplar as long as at least one of them makes it. Suppose to start raining tonight so hopefully it waters it in well. No pics as it was dark by the time they were in the ground.
So does anyone have any input on the potted trees and when to plant and about the cherry tree cuttings? I have read lots on here but nothing that has realy answered my question on this? Thanks all for reading my ramblings.
Don’t remember anyone starting cherry from cuttings.
( but maybe ?)
I think they would be best grafted onto cherry rootstock .
If you don’t have cherry rootstock, dig up a root piece from that tree and try a root graft
Potted plants…
The beautiful thing about them is… Assuming they have a good root ball , they can be planted anytime .
( given appropriate care)
I like to keep potted plants that I graft in a nursery area that I can give appropriate attention to. ( shoot removal , water , etc.) easyer for me in a small area(,nursery ) than long walks to check things,depends on quantity and time.
I do have some of the same cherry as scions and will try to graft as well but I saw that branch and figured I would give the rooted cutting trick a go. If it doesn’t work then I only wasted a little time and the space of 2 pots that could have had something else in them, so not a real biggie fortunately.
I will leave the apples in the pots until they go dormant and then I will plant them out in the orchard. Thanks for the reply
Worked on one of my grape trellises last night. Well I actually replaced the whole thing! I had some landscape timbers upright for the posts of my Concord seedless and after maybe 7 years they are not doing to well… Last year I had to drive rebar into the ground and tie string to them to keep the whole thing upright. So this year I have sourced some metal poles and (with the wet ground from all the rain we have had lately) I hammered them into the ground and drilled holes in them and ran the grapevine wires through them. I am much happier now that this task is taken care of as these are my heaviest producing grapes and I want them to be able to thrive well! They look so much better now and I need to slowly change the rest of my trellises to these type of poles as well.
I would have taken some but it was dark and I was having to do this by truck lights and a headlamp it is always dark this time of year by the time I get home from work. Well right now it is light for maybe 20 minutes or so after I get home. I will try to get some pics if I get home early enough if there is some light.
These next pics are of 2 of my pear trees that are by the house and not actually in my Orchard (well those grapes aren’t in the Orchard either) . The one on the left is a Kieffer and ine on the right is an D’Anjou. Both have been winter pruned recently and I am pleased with how they came out! What do you guys think? Did I do it right???
I actually forgot that I have several cherry seeds, an apricot seed or 2, a couple white walnut (butternuts) and something else seems like all in a barrel that I planted way back in the middle of Fall Can’t wait to see what comes up
Leaves are a fantastic mulch! I’d use those if you’ve got them. The price is definitely right. If you shred them, they’re easy to make tidy and won’t blow around much.
Stopped in the driveway on the way to my house and took a few pics of my Orchard. It is not as pretty now as it is in the summer for sure but this way we can get a feel for how it is doing when things do green up
My muscadines that I pruned heavily for the first time and cleaned them up so I can get them to grow the way I want them to now, as before they were a mess with a few shoots coming up from each. Now they are much more tidy looking and hopefully this will motivate them to grow even better!
Any critiquing is welcomed as well as is advice. I hope I didn’t prune anything to much that it hurt fruit prduction for this year but I may have
It is always a learning process with fruit I have found. Trial and error much of the time and I really hope to get things growing better from here on out
Not many people have ever seen my orchard and I am a bit anxious now that it is out there especially after seeing many of the pics on here of some of the beautiful fruit trees I have seen
Looking back now I realize that everything but the blueberry bush that have close ups were planted from seeds. The muscadines were planted in a barrel with around 30 seeds or so and the 3 that I have planted are the ones that came up
The peaches were planted by myself and my father in law. They were peaches that one of his brother had grown and we saved the pits. He planted several (not sure how many) and none of his survived. I planted 14 and I think 6 is what ended up making it til now.
I also have many seedling cherry and apple trees set out. You can’t tell where they are for the most part as they are very small still. I also have a few more blueberries and some blackberries. There are also a few different kinds of grapes growing back there with the muscadines as well.
I work a fairly long commute daily from home and we got rained out at work. So as soon as I got home I headed straight to my in-laws to get all of that. I beat the rain and did all the potting and cuttings in my garage whilst watching the rain pour down 
Didn’t think I would be able to do this task for a couple weeks because of work and was very excited to get this one crossed off the list.
it is always dark this time of year by the time I get home from work. Well right now it is light for maybe 20 minutes or so after I get home. I will try to get some pics if I get home early enough if there is some light. 
especially after seeing many of the pics on here of some of the beautiful fruit trees I have seen