Has anyone investigated (or seen an article about) the possibility of using University of Saskatchewan Dwarf Sour Cherries as a dwarfing rootstock for sweet cherries?
I have been growing Cupid and Crimson Passion at my home in Toronto for a few years and they have been doing pretty well. The Cupids seem to sucker a LOT, and I am wondering if I could graft a sweet cherry onto one of those suckers and end up with a dwarfed sweet cherry?
I love the idea but had not considered it. Were you thinking about a Lapinās or Stella maybe something a long those lines? Im not sure they are compatable but it sounds like something worth a try. I realize you have rootstocks in the form of suckers but have you considered Gisella 3 or 5 to dwarf the cherry. See this link http://m.raintreenursery.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.raintreenursery.com%2Ffruit_trees%2Fcherries%2F&width=320
You can see rain tree is not the only place offering Gisela giselacherry . If I were you I would just graft some sweet cherries on some of the romance series cherries and see what happens. If those failed I would use Gisela as a plan b for dwarfing cherries. You have the rootstocks might as well try them.
Thank you! I have only grafted apples and pears before, using whip & tongue and also bud grafting. Is there a preferred method to use when grafting cherries.
Im no expert but I have grafted them with success. The method of grafting is not a big deal but the timing is crucial. Make sure the rootstock is starting to bud out before you graft the scions on.
This summer I am going to try grafting Stella and Bing onto Evans (Bali) root sprouts. The Evans seems to be a natural semi-dwarf. Has anyone tried this combo? Thanks.
Iād love to hear how your grafts onto āEvans Baliā turned out.
I have grafted a sour cherry called āIdealā to carmine jewel. I didnāt bench graft the whole tree over, just added 3 or 4 grafts to a small bush. They seem to have taken well. So well that I can no longer tell which branches are grafted. hopefully they fruit this year so I can differentiate.
Thanks for your interest, Johann. My plans for grafting sweet cherries onto Evans sprouts have not yet materialized. After deciding on this grafting experiment, we went to Peru for a year for my wifeās doctoral research, moved from Albuquerque to Odessa, TX to follow my wifeās career in education, and then moved to Salem, OR in 2021. We seem to be settled now, and I have packed 3 Evans cherries with me all this time. They suffered greatly from transplant shock with all the moves, but have established well here. Next spring I plan to try sweet cherries on them once I find out which cherries are best for this climate. I do like the sweet-sour cherries Evans produces, but am just curious about it as a semi-dwarfing root stock.
I checked out your website and like your approach to a nursery. Nice.
take care, doug