I just received my rootstock from cummins and we are about a month away from when I would normally plant new trees. Z4 northern IA. Should I keep these in the fridge with roots in moist sawdust for a month or leave in my basement (low 50s) for a month and then graft? My understanding is I don’t want to graft before buds begin swelling. Will this happen in my basement eventually, or do they need to be moved upstairs at some point? I also considered planting outside next week when the ground is thawed deep enough and waiting until buds begin swelling and grafting while planted… The coldest we should see will probably be teens to low 20s these next couple weeks.
i have no experience with Z4. so you should wait for some-one else to comment on that.
I just want to say that pear and apple grafts also heal oky at lower temps (above freezing)
So if you where to store the rootstocks in the basement. I would graft them there. You can graft before the rootstock buds are braking with apple’s and pears.
The most important thing is that your scion does not brake bud or wakens before the graft has healed or the rootstock is actively awake/growing.
I thus always try to keep my scions/budwoods in a more dormant state than the rootstock at the moment of grafting.
young callous tissue (grafting tissue) is more frost sensitive i think. So i would not plant out freshly grafted plants or still healing grafts if a hard freeze is coming.
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I’m in 5b Davenport, Iowa. I’ve always grafted apple/pears April 1st with very good success. My Cummins rootstock came today and I temporarily put them in the garden. I dug a hole and put the rootstock roots in and then packed soil around them. I plan to graft April 1st again this year. You would be at least a week later if not two weeks. Even April 1st is early , I could easily wait a few weeks and maybe should, but why try to fix something not broken? Don’t try to graft while the rootstocks are still dormant. The bark needs to be slipping. We should probably both wait until little green leaf tips begin to show.
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@Masbustelo so I was planning on leaving everything grow out in a raised bed this year. Do I plant now and leave everything planted and come early April when buds start swelling graft over them without moving them?
I’ve only bench grafted apples and pears one year, but I would just count back from your last frost date. Figure 4 weeks? Bring them in your basement or somewhere warmish to warm up for a week, graft, then keep around that temp for about 3 more weeks to see if the grafts take. So, around the middle of April probably. I’m guessing your last frost date is the middle of May?
I just kept them all in a tote with some moist wood shavings (the kind for bedding). Then, plant outside when it’s warm. Just make sure to adjust slowly to the sun if they’ve been under lights or indoors. That’s based on my limited experience.
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Codym17 I can’t help you out. I’ve never done any of that. I bench graft, then grow them out in 5 gallon buckets.
So, did you keep yours outside in the tote or spaded in until 4 weeks before your last frost date? You’re right, it’s mid-May for my last frost date, so I’d be looking at grafting in 3 weeks. The rootstock looks dormant to me; I’d assume they’d be fine outside not yet grafted. I don’t have grow lights or heat pads for this. Did you use that when doing yours? Hopefully they will be ok just sitting in a dark cool room while grafts take. Thanks for your help.
No I just kept them in my basement which is around 55 to 65 degrees this time of year. If I remember correctly apples and pears can callous at lower temps than stone fruit. Once temps warm up during the day you can move it outside during the day and put it in a garage or something at night. You just don’t want the new vegetation to freeze by accident.