I planted my first persimmons this past spring, and chose Matsumoto Wase Fuyu as my first non-astringent Asian. My choice was influenced by the description on the Edible Landscaping website, plus a YouTube video from Heppy that gushed over it. But I am also ordering other non-astringents this year, so I can judge for myself!
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Hello, after a long absence! I love you guys 
I’ve lurked here and there, lol.
I’m seeing a disease problem this year before buds are even breaking! Orange dust on flower buds of my Euro pears. They did have rust on some fruits last year. I do have our native “cedars” nearby.
Do I just spray now? There are no leaves. I’ll definitely spray copper. I’m afraid my pear flowers will be ruined if I don’t know what to spray as they come out of dormancy.
I sprayed these pears twice when I noticed the rusty fruit last year, but that’s too late.
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Welcome back! That Orange dust you describe on pear flowers has been a major problem on many of my pears and I’ve had a hard time controlling it. I’ve been toild it is “Pacific Coast Rust” (in TN!!!), quince rust, cedar-quince-rust, pear rust, etc. But its been a real bear for me. I can tell you that copper alone hasn’t been much help on mine. The best luck I had fighting it was applying Copper during dormancy, then alternating Captan and myclubutanil the whole season about every 2 weeks. Even that didn’t 100% result it, even though this same regiment did stop my cedar-apple-rust. And besides, most people aren’t willing to buy and apply 3 antifungals. SO I’m not 100% sure what the solution is, but I feel your pain. Hopefully others can help more. Good luck…this stuff is hard to control!.
Question re: Chip Budding, Timing, and Temperatures
Hi All, I am going to try my hand at grafting for the first time this spring! I’ll be topworking a callery over to euro pears. I plan to do the topworking via bark grafts in March in zone 7A. Due to the size/shape of the existing tree, I plan to chop the whole tree of at about 5ish feet where there are 2 main trunks about 4" in diameter each, and bark graft 3 or 4 scions to the top of each main trunk. Because I’m new at grafting, I arranged for some extra scions just in case I make a mistake.
My question is about chip-budding. If I don’t make too many mistakes and I have extra scion material after I’m done bark-grafting, can I use the extra scions to chip-bud a little lower down on the callery trunk? I just hate to waste the extra material (assuming I have any). If yes, what is the optimal timing/temperature to do the chip budding? Could I do it in March at the same time as the topworking? Or would I have to wait until it gets warmer out?
Or should I just let the tree focus its energy/nutrients on the bark grafts and skip the chip buds?
Thanks!
Hey Dana! I am just learning myself and will be working on a similar project on a Callery at my office. I chopped it off at about 5’ last year and it sent out a ton of smaller sucker branches I intend to graft over to a couple varieties. I’d recommend waiting until you see buds ready to break (March as you suggested should be fine) and definitely do a bunch of grafts. It’s my understanding you could even try chip budding in the spring along with your other grafts.
What the end objective typically should be (someone can correct me if I’m wrong) is picking the most vigorous single (or a few) grafts even if a bunch take, and trimming the others to allow the tree to focus its energy on the best options for growth. Good luck, and don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work out well the first time. Make sure your knife is sharp and use some good tape to graft. Put up a stick taller than your graft right beside it for the birds to land on so they don’t snap off your graft.
Thanks for the advice! Please let me know how your pears go!
I’ve done some internet research, and typically what I read was that the bark grafts had to be done when the bark is slipping but before it got too warm out (around 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit), and that the chip buds could be done when it is warmer (around 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit). But I didn’t find anything that said whether or not the chip buds could be also done earlier, when it is only 50-60 degrees out. Which is why I got confused!
As an FYI, I’ll be using this tutorial for the chip buds Mega Chip Grafting Demonstration - Guides - Growing Fruit, if that makes any difference about timing/temperature?
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That method should work very well for the chip buds. Dax did a great job with showing the process. When it comes to pears and apples, it seems they are a forgiving place to learn how to graft.
I feel like I’ve watched many videos/articles/posts about the answers to these questions, but I just need another human to help with some questions:
- I’m trying grafting for the first time this year. I still need to harvest my scions. I’m in zone 5a, and right now our lows are still around 10 degrees. I seem to feel like I always read that I should cut scions after ‘the worst of winter’ is past (or is that only for pruning?), which, we’re past the nights of -15, but, does that mean I should harvest now or wait until the lows are a bit warmer (around 20?)
- I have some pre-existing trees that have some good lower branches after 1 year of growing last year, but they’re uneven around the 360 degree radius of the tree . i.e., there’s a great branch at 180 degrees and 270, but not at 0 and 90. Is it possible to graft and even the tree out? If so, what kind of grafts should I look into? (dwarf apple trees)
- Assuming I harvest my scions at the right time and successfully graft them and I have a tree growing, should I put it into the ground this year or leave it in a pot? These are pears, and they’ll be getting full sun. There isn’t any kind of critter pressure that I’m aware of (no deer). I’m sure I’ll have a rabbit who will be in the mood for a salad so I’ll protect from that…
Trees start growing in the Spring,after they have met their chill hour requirement,around 40F.Say for example,Apples average could be 800-1200 and then growing degree hours,above 40F,pick a number,300 hours is met.
So,at anything under 40F,they will still be dormant.I assume your scions will be stored in a refrigerator and usually they will start to slowly get active in there,maybe by opening the door.
There shouldn’t be any harm in waiting,til the temps are in the upper 30’s,to collect wood.
Isn’t dwarf size determined by the root stock?
About your question number 3,it probably doesn’t matter too much.
I hope there is a lot of success.
Can I save the hazelnut catkins to use on the female flowers when they show up later in the season? Or do I just need to rely on some still being around on some of the plants when the female flowers show up?
The catkins appear very early on mine, but don’t mature and start providing pollen until the blooms also show up. Otherwise I’d expect almost any pollen can be saved, possibly even for a considerable amount of time, if stored properly.
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There is a very old, mature crab apple in front of my house. Crab apples were planted as a tree lawn plant in front of many of the house on the street. Most of them have been long ignored and are full of water sprouts and dead wood. Most still manage to flower nicely each spring. The all get terrible scab fairly early in the season and are usually defoliated by mid-summer. This makes my property look terrible. I’m wondering if it is worth trying to spray this large tree. If all the other crabs are getting bad scab, blowing diseased leaves into my yard, is spray even worth it? We’re on pretty small (50x100 foot) lots here, so they trees are very close to each other.
Thanks!
Megan, have you considered grafting your tree to disease resistant edible varieties?
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Not so much a question as an observation, and none of the more directly related threads have been alive in a loooong time.
I have two Pawpaws currently in my house that I have marked for grafting and frankly wanted to get a bit of a jump on that process since they came from a slightly lower elevation zone and weren’t in the ground yet.
They are in two different rooms, but each had a couple flowers on them that I let blossom. Although I could not smell anything, a small colony of fruit gnats of unknown progeny certainly could once they got close to pollen stage. I bent one up to look at it last night and there must have been fifty gnats come out of it. I’m thinking one could get pretty creative with just a couple of male-stage flowers as bait in a trap.
I’m not sure how much pollen they would carry along if they went flower to flower though. Someone like a ladybug going in after them might do the trick.
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Are you sure it’s not fungus gnats? Those buggers can wreak havoc inside on new seedlings. Obviously if your pawpaws are blooming they aren’t tiny plants so they should be ok…
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I couldn’t say. I have a lot growing inside this year, including a couple of “potato” species. I don’t see a lot around damp soil or new plants. They seem to prefer what shouldn’t still be in my sink, sweeter drinks, and occasionally nostrils. They are attracted to the humidity in the bathroom, where most just drop dead in the tub or sink. The pawpaw I noted them on is in one of the bathrooms with my attempt to overwinter tomoato and pepper plants. (Those aren’t growing yet, but there is still “tension” in the stalks.) And they are not obviously going for the basket of onions on the kitchen counter, although nothing has quite made it to a stage of breaking down.
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Ryan, I have thought about it, but I have some reservations. Our immediate neighbor has reported several folks on our block to the city (including us) or police for various perceived slights. She also harassed us for weeks after we took down a sugar maple in our backyard that was badly weakened from borers (and overhanging the garage and house). So, I have some concerns that she would cause trouble. Our city code requires a permit to trim or otherwise alter trees in public areas (tree lawns are included here - and actually spraying is included as well). While I doubt the city would care much, I’m not sure it’s worth the headache.
Here’s a picture of the tree in bloom in 2019 (right after we moved in):
In March of 2021
And defoliated in early September 2021:
We’ve changed the yard quite a bit since we moved in!
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Hmmm… having a legal aspect definitely changes things. Still, if you have to get a permit to spray, you might as well just apply for a permit to “trim” at the same time. I bet there aren’t regulations about adding branches to your trees…
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I’m new to pruning trees and now that I’m planting a few of my benchgrafts I’m very, very confused. I have a few standard sized apples going in the ground in what will be pasture, so I want the lowest branches to be fairly high up and out of sheep range, which is the opposite of how most people want to shape their trees and not how any pruning guides seem to advise. Any tips on pruning? I don’t know how to begin, and how to predict at what height the branches of my tiny trees will end up as the tree matures.
I’ve a minor nuisance question. Ultimately it doesn’t matter, but I can’t find the answer so I am going to ask it to close the matter in my head. I received scion wood from a variety of places this year, and a good bit of it came in long slender zipper bags clearly designed more with the purpose of such things and the labeling in mind. My scion fridge would be much more orderly if I could standardize my efforts. What are such bags sold as / where are they sold? A basic search just gives me all the options I can pick up in any grocery or dollar store. Refined efforts give me everything from fabric pots to body bags, but nothing closer than standard freezer bags.