Questions not deserving of a whole thread

Conventional wisdom is to graft to scaffolds. As @Hillbillyhort says, the branch grafts are perfectly strong. I have had branches with grafts break under fruit load but not at the graft union. It irks me to lose a branch from being too greedy to thin the crop properly, and I’ve done that even where I didn’t lose a graft in the process. It irks me almost as much as losing a branch to deer.

1 Like

I understand some crabapples rootstocks can impart some of there tannic qualities into the grafted tree. Please let us know if you notice any with the fruit off this tree.

oh and red bark and cambium is true of at least bud series.

@KSprairie if tree is nicely feathered and you like scaffold jeight, pick scaffolds and leader (for central/modified leader ie apple pears, cherries) then shorten scaffolds quite a bit (1/2+) to an outward facing bud to get lesf to roots ratio back to balance. Roots can soak for an hour or two without issue, just dont leave them all day or overnight…as long as the roots stay damp and you water in after planting its not really necessary

3 Likes

@Carlin, @dimitri_7a, @CRhode-
Thanks for all the good advice! I always debate back and forth whether or not to cut the trees back when I plant. No matter how many trees I plant, I fret over getting it done right so the tree has every opportunity to thrive.

1 Like

It is my first time growing cabbage and now that they are getting bigger I’m starting to see some eggs. I live in fear of nasty little caterpillars eating up my beautiful cabbages! So far I see two kinds of eggs. Can anyone identify what these eggs will turn into? Also, besides squishing them of tearing of any sections of leaves with eggs, what are my options? Will neem oil work? Maybe Spinosad? It is in a community garden and I don’t want to use anything on the more aggressive side for sprays.
Edit: Whoops, now that I zoomed in on the big ones I see legs. But I still need to know what they are and how to defeat them, unless they are friends, not foe.


:+1: thank you for the input.

That is not good news to hear! I will have to see I guess, it will be an interesting experiment. It would be neat if the grafted apples had a unique flavor, or red flesh.

4 Likes

I am wondering what the optimum distance from ground to the first lateral should be? Does it vary for different types of fruit trees? Like for: Apple, apricot, cherry, peach, plum, pear.
Rootstocks I have grown from seed, mostly peach and apple, seem to branch very low to the ground, 6" or so. If they don’t put out a lot of growth right away, I usually let those branches grow to maximize photosynthesizing potential. Now I am looking at some peach and apple trees that probably need lower limbs removed. Not a big deal to do, but I am wondering how low is too low?
Also wondering about field grafting. Is there an optimum height to place your graft for these same fruit trees?

The first ones look like aphids that have been parasitized by wasps. If they are dried up and crispy then they’ve been parasitized. Eventually, you’ll see a hole in each one where the newly spawned wasp emerges. The 2nd picture looks like cabbage white butterfly eggs. I control them with a weekly spray of spinosad.

2 Likes

Lost cause? How much effort is too much?

1 Like

It will be touching the ground by the time it is ripe… Plus rot, bugs/slugs, rain splashing dirt onto it… I’d just break it off but if you are bored I guess you could try and work out solutions to all of that.

1 Like

Depends on if you think you will have issues with raccoons and deer?

1 Like

Right now, I have no issues with those animals. In the future, it is hard to say! How far will deer and coons travel to pillage an orchard? We are on top of hill, tallgrass pasture all around us in every direction. Very little cover and trees even in the draws. They do pass through, but rarely.

They will go as far as they can to find it. They mostly have areas they like to stay in but a hungry deer or raccon will go as far as needed to eat. And they can smell ripe fruit a very far ways away. I don’t know the actual distance but it’s a longggghg way… And you may think they pass through rarely but that’s most likely not so. You just don’t see them passing through…

3 Likes

I agree with dutch-s. You will probably be sorry if you leave any permanent scaffolds below 4’.

1 Like

Hi,
I am thinking of growing ramps. Anyone know of a good source?

Thanks
Kate

For trees like pears and apples, can’t you just plan to remove lower scaffolds if/when it becomes necessary? It doesn’t seem like it would matter what height the scaffolds are if you are dealing with coons, since they can climb anything.

@dutch-s, yes, I am sure you are right. We probably have more critters passing through than I realize. The dogs do a good job of patrolling and keeping unwanted animals away from the house and yard, but they can’t be everywhere at once. A few days ago I was looking around my orchard, and I was thinking I might need to get a few more dogs!!

When field grafting onto rootstock to create a new trunk with your scion variety, is 2"-4" above the soil level an appropriate place to put the graft? Would there be problems putting the graft higher than that, say 12"-18" above the soil line?

1 Like

Now that I’ve been to this thread, I have an additional question: Is there a quick way to jump to the bottom of a never-ending thread like this?!?

Ok, now for the real question… first time grafting… have the scionwood in a bag in the crisper. It currently has a soaking wet paper towel wrapped near the ends, and is wet (pooling water) in that area of the bag. Do I understand correctly I should soak them for a half hour, then dry them out, and re-bag them? If so, how long will they keep?

Tap the post number section (ex: 1940/1940) and you can scroll quickly with that.

For the scion i just keep mine in a freezer bag without any extra water, maybe one small mist from a spray bottle. If you see any condensation in the bag it already means you have very high humidity in there.

2 Likes