From Treco (treco.nu). I got the 1/4" rootstock and it was truly as in ‘at least’ 1/4 inch, it was all evenly on the bigger size of that. Next year I’m probably gonna go with the 3/16" as it should be easier to match softwood to it.
They were a pleasure to work with.
I checked and Raintree nursery is also selling rootstocks, I don’t think they did before.
I liked Treco…in 2021 they were even cheaper as I recall. Nice rootstocks.
Also, congratulations on figuring out ‘free trees’ for yourself after selling some.
i may start doing the same with apples, pears and plums. not much to do from mid apr. to mid may here with the shitty weather. might as well make some money then. there’s a guy about 70 miles south of me thats selling 3ft trees on facebook for $15 each plus shipping or can pick up at his place for free. id probably just sell to the locals.
I’m about 9 1/2 years from retirement. When I do I plan on doing a few things for fun and profit, including a small backyard orchard operation. I’m using the time now to learn and test assumptions.
As Murphy said, no battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy. Basically this year I wanted to sort out the logistics of grafting and selling 50 trees, even on my otherwise busy schedule. I learned a lot and I’m keenly aware that the experience doesn’t extrapolate to the 200 I would want to do in retirement. But it did let me sort things out that would have come to haunt me even worse at the larger scale.
Im adding the thread below for shipping a couple of fruit trees for $73 to the to expensive list from Trees of antiquity. Jerry @jerryrva wanted 2 apple trees. I understand inflation is out of control the last few years. Gas prices are finally down a little which has not eased shipping costs because the price of vehicles is 5x higher than it was. Fruit trees are so expensive it is slowing progress in the industry.
$49.95 x 2 $100
Shipping. $70
$85 per fruit tree!!!
This year i purchased 2 pears for $70 each !!! from Grandpas orchard. One thing we can bet on people have had enough of this inflation!
Improve your grafting skills everyone scions and rootstocks are much cheaper to ship because they are not as large or as heavy.
Trees of Antiquity and Grandpa’s Orchard add way too much handling fees to their shipping charges. Case in point, Grow Organic in California charges $25 shipping for 2 jujube bare roots to East coast, Maple Valley Orchard in Wisconsin charges $35 to ship 2 bare root apple trees.
TOA and Grandpa are outliers, not the norm.
If apple trees sold for $1 over 100 years ago – and they sell for $39 or $45 or $65 today, considering the dollar has lost almost 99% of it’s buying power due to inflation…
trees are only selling for half the amount they did back in 1910 or something!
Oh, and postage from 1cent for a letter to 69 cents?
So, I guess shipping rates also are cheaper than 100 years ago!
where do you get your inflation numbers? Quick unverified Google search seems to put 1924 dollar worth about $18 today
BTW, I canceled a tree from my Burnt Ridge order and the shipping went up from $23.93 to $26.95. I can’t complain about the total. The nursery is 100+ miles or so North of me.
97% inflation would mean it would take $1.97 to buy what used to be $1. Almost double.
From the Bureau of Labor and Statistics:
https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
Lost 99% of value in 113 years…IDK…%inflation.
The Fed aims for 2% inflation as part of their mandate, so, assuming they did that, you could expect prices to 2x every 35 years or so. They don’t actually know what they’re doing though, so the 1970s and 2020s happened, and it’s actually a lot higher. It gets massaged down so the government doesn’t have to increase people’s Social Security, etc.
It is more blessed to give than to receive…that’s from The Book.
But “a laborer is worthy of his hire” is also in The Book.
Making a living from one’s labors is expected. But, those that can give, are blessed.
As has no doubt been mentioned several times on this site, Mehrabyan nursery, a nursery of good repute, but with whom I have no personal experience has held the line on prices.
They still seem to have a good selection ( for my z6 Southern Rockies area) If I knew then what I know now, I’d have’Gala’ ‘NovaMac’ for apples, ‘Castleton’ for plums and ‘Harrowsweet’ for pear. I would probably need another pollinizer for the pear in a couple or three years if the Harrowsweet made it, but I would have a productive home orchard for $150 or so. Not bad considering all the other inputs that go into a home orchard.
Deliberately buying whips is a good strategy for someone testing the waters on a new hobby. So it takes an extra year before you get those first few fruits. So what?
Also, keep things in perspective: Assuming a conservative average lifespan of, say 7 years, (quite a few of them don’t make it or get pulled out, right?) the extra money isn’t all that material for Joe Suburbanite looking to put two or three trees in at his new house.)
I’m one of those guys who takes inordinate pleasure in beating the system. So I’ve taken up grafting. I’m terrible at it, but it’s cheap and trying to place excess stock with friends is a lot easier than trying to find a home for a kitten.
Of course for patented trees, we are still stuck with spending to get them.
People spending crazy amounts of money on hobbies, a bass fisherman spends a ton of money on his hobby, a garden guy spends Aton of money on a greenhouse. I love with what I am doing, so what if I spend $1000.00 on a few trees. I have a nice collection of fruit trees, didn’t spend much on trees, as a Matt of fact, NOTHING, just MAIL. EXCHANGING SION WOOD.
IF YOU sell stuff buy trees by the hundreds like some of the members, different story. You buy wholesale.Forums are the way to go. Some spend a lot of money on the newest and best tasting variety, nuts. My hobby since the seventies? Near zero, can’t remember buying a fruit tree! It’s fun the way I do things.Way more satisfying And I am not not a cheapskate, did spend $75 on two orchard ladders.
If you can produce a harvest and not invest much…
obviously you’re ahead. It took awhile to do though? (They say time is money.)
But, if you had fun doing it, money can’t buy that.
I’ve been looking at Asian Pears recently. Here’s what I found local.
Home Depot $109 for a 4 in 1 Asian Pear tree with horrific reviews. Don’t see what rootstock but doesn’t matter I wouldn’t pay that anyways. Asian Pear Home Depot
My local Green Acres Nursery selling br Dave Wilson 4 in 1 AP trees for $87.50 but that’s on OHxf333 I want the OHxF97 or BET rootstock. Price isn’t bad compared to some local tree nurseries here that sell single cultivars for around that. Green Acres Multi Graft
Trees outlet sells them for $85 in 15g offing more types.Trees Outlet Hosui
Fowler Nursery has has came highly recommended carrying br for around $38 and graft onto that tree. Or a potted tree for $48. They put their pears on BET. Fowler Trees Catalog
Mehrabyan has them for $27 plus shipping on BET.
