What is your Tip OF The Day?

One easy way I found to pull up metal posts and rebar is to clamp on a pair of vice grips near the ground then use a supported crowbar under the head of vice grips to pull up the post just like you would pull a large nail.

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111 with a 9 interstem is completely different than straight 111. With vigorous varieties that interstem will not only greatly reduce the size, as it does with all varieties, it will also accelerate meaningful bearing by about 3-4 years. I use straight 111 in my nursery because I like real trees that even fight back deer, but for most homeowners with limited space the 111-9 combination is hard to beat.

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Great idea especially for round metal post pulling. For removing post with groves like t-post I have an old bumper jack and chain that I use.

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When there is doubt about bud viability with stonefruit _(and maybe all fruit) don’t prune until buds have opened or at least it is clear which buds are viable. This year apricot buds on the tips of one-year shoots survived a cold event in mid-Feb much better than spurs on older wood- same deal with some J. plum varieties. I’ve long known this about peaches (except that with peaches it is about more and less vigorous one-year shoots), but it applies to other species as well.

My Golddust peach and Honey Royale nect only have flowers on the tips of shoots this season.

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Don’t let your cat into the greenhouse. While chasing mice today she managed to break off one of my Russian Pear scions. On the upside, the mouse will no longer be a threat.

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Wrapping scion in parafilm tape is a good idea. Dipping the scion in melted wax also works and is faster once setup.
The following technique will keep the wax liquid for 1/2 to 1 hr depending on the wax used and ambient temperature. Any wax will accomplish the task.

  1. Use an insulated coffee mug that is deep and narrow. I use a metal interior cup but a plastic one might be better since it can go in the microwave. Cost was $1.99 at a thrift shop. A small insulated coffee pot can also be used for larger amounts of scion.
  2. Boil water and pour it into the mug an inch or two from the top.
  3. Add toilet bowl wax or other to the mug. Chop up the wax so it melts quickly and add the amount needed for the quantity of scion.
  4. Quickly dip and remove scion from melted wax. Wax hardens almost instantly if scion is cold. If scion is very long, remove and dip from other end to cover entirely.
  5. To remove water from the mug once the wax on the surface hardens just poke two holes in the wax and pour out the water.


Wake a wish: “Hope my graft survives”

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Great idea. About how long will the wax stay melted? I will go to our dollar store today.

I coated some scion today. It was 63 degrees and the wax stayed melted for 40 minutes.

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That seems like it would last long enough for most jobs that I would be doing. Thanks, Bill

Great tip, thanks!

How much wax do you use per quart of water? Or cup or gallon?

The wax floats on the water so any amount of wax is OK as long as it all melts. For the insulated coffee mug a square inch of wax would work but it partially depends on the diameter, length and quantity of scion. I do 5 to 10 scion using the mug. For larger quantity of scion an insulated Thermos or coffee pot could be used.

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Different waxes have different melting points.

Low melting point paraffin wax melts at around 130f. Soy wax can start to melt as you hold it in your hand.

Mike

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Would like to find a wax that melts in the microwave

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Good point. Some paraffin has a higher melting point so low melting point variety would be easier to keep liquid. Toilet bowl wax melts around 145 and that works for me but for some situations low melting point paraffin could be better.

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When I tried toilet bowl wax some time ago it didn’t seem to dry hard enough on the scion and the scion seemed to slide inside the coating as I tried to work with it. Maybe I did something wrong. When I used the paraffin+beeswax the coating seems to adhere to the scion better.

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I tried the towlet bowl wax and thought it was a little sticky for me so I melted in some candle wax with it.

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I wonder if floor finish could be used? Its liquid, just dip a scion in and let it dry. . .

It is messy to work with since it never gets hard except at low temperatures so there are better ways to seal the scion but really most of the time anything works including not sealing anything but the graft point.

I’ve done the same thing. The kids at school frequently gave my wife candles so we have more than we know what to do with.

If it is not toxic to the plant then I should work but wax hardens almost instantly so it’s quicker.

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If your apple trees are overloaded with flower buds, look for shoots that have flowers at the tips and vegetative buds below and remove the tip. This way the shoot may have enough energy to feed the tree below AND make flowers for next years crop. On varieties with flower clusters 1-3" apart throughout the tree, remove to a minimum of 5" spacing if you have time early. It is quicker than thinning them later and saves more energy for next years crop.

In the northeast we look to be heading for a huge overcrop (knock on wood) so it is going to be hard to keep some trees fruitful next year.

In my nursery I’ve been removing all flower clusters from many types of small 2nd and 3rd year trees. Pears and apples are loaded.

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Alan,
My 3 rd leave Gold Rush on M7 has all the flower clusters on the tips of most branches. No flowers on any spur.

I really should remove all those flowers, shouldn’t I? Bummer!,