Selecting a growing bud/scion on newly grafted apple trees

Hi everyone,

Got some excellent advice on here before so im back in the hope of getting some more from you fine folks.

Anyway, i grafted apple trees in about late march/april time. I stay in Scotland, so for those that dont know the climate, it was just starting to warm a little and the leaves were starting to open up on all the trees.

So after having successfully grafted them (thus far at least) i am now a bit uncertain about what to do next. When i attached the scion to the rootstock the scion itself had several buds on it. Maybe 3 or in some cases 4. Each of these buds has grown lengths of wood and now im wondering what to do next.

Should i just let them all grow? I seem to remember reading that you can select one length of scion and train it upwards (tie it to the stem) and let this form the trunk of the new tree? Problem is i can’t remember where i read it…so im back on here looking for some advice.

Thank you for any help

Jamie

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We’re past the longest day of the year, and your leaves are just beginning to grow?
Seems strange.

Maybe you can re-phrase your question, as I’m not sure what you were asking, exactly?

Pictures, please. A picture paints a thousand words :smile:

He’s wanting to know how many buds to leave growing on his graft…he hasn’t trimmed any and wants to know how many to leave growing.

@finglas I have been told in the past to select the strongest and possibly the straightest and train to a support. Before pruning any back though you want to make sure you have good growth. If you have 3-4 you might prune back to the two strongest but at some point you’re supposed to leave only one to grow tall. When you have all the energy directed into one stem you get much better growth. Post some photos and these folks can tell you which growth to train.

Where are you located? There are some very long winters in Scotland!! The hardiness zones don’t always tell the whole story in the U.K.

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Apologies for the confusion.

I have the newly grafted trees and from the piece of scion i grafted on multiple buds have developed laterals and i am wondering to do with them. They have been growing well since april/may. I am just outside glasgow so its not too cold but we do still get some long winters.

K8tpayaso, thank you that is a great help. I did think i would be doing that but i wont to be absolutely sure so thats why im asking here.

I will post a picture here …

The pic shows the original piece of grafted scion in the centre and then the laterals coming off of it. In this case there are 2 new laterals and i have numbered them.

Thank you

Jamie

Jamie, That’s a really nice growing graft! I let everything grow on my new grafts and young trees, only cutting off if something is really going wrong or into another . I choose the top (or best) to be the leader and pinch back any of the others if they grow more or higher than that one. I’ve found that the leader will naturally turn to grow upwards. Hope you have a good growing season for your new trees! Sue

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Thank you Sue. That sounds like excellent advice. I think what i might do is try keeping some as you say and cut others back to a single one. I guess experimenting is part of the learning :slight_smile:

Thank you again,

Jamie

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I’m also thinking…that second (or third) limb can be snipped this winter for scionwood….especially if I want more of any particular tree. So, if several buds grow into limbs, I’ll leave two in most cases…and will remove the weaker next spring.
That’s how I do it, unless I get forgetful to do so.

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