Grafting Apple Trees

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British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
I have been quite annoyed at having to buy grafted apple trees for our mini orchard. It goes right against our seed saving, grow your own ethos.


However I know enough to realise that apples grown from pips do not grow true (being a hybrid of the tree and the pollinator), they also grow far too high making the fruit near impossible to pick. So I want to have grafted trees, its the whole paying for them thing I struggle with.


The only solution is to learn to graft our own.


I like an MM106 root stock on our apple trees. It grows a largish (12 foot) apple tree but keeps it manageable.


So I bought a few of these (and learned how to produce more, which I will cover in a separate post). You can get them for about £1.50 delivered though, so buying them is a lot cheaper than a £20 grafted fruit tree.


Here is how I went about grafting. I am using the whip and tongue graft here, but I will do some with a saddle graft if anyone is interested.


Step 1


Find a nice healthy apple tree with roughly pencil thick branches. This is best done in March as the tree wakes up


Apple Tree by British Red, on Flickr


Step 2


With clean, disinfected secateurs, cut some of the branches of the tree you want. These are known as scions.


Cut Scions by British Red, on Flickr


Step 3


Get your root stock of choice (mine have been stored planted in moist compost) and a very sharp, thin bladed knife. An opinel is perfect. Again disinfect.


MM106 Rootstock by British Red, on Flickr


Step 4


Cut the root stock to a sharp angle in a single, flat clean cut.


Cut Rootstock by British Red, on Flickr


Step 5


Find a piece of scion wood the same diameter and cut to a matching angle


Cut Rootstock and Scion by British Red, on Flickr


Step 6


On both the scion and the root stock, cut a deep nick in the angled face. These nicks will lock into each other when the graft is made. This is the "tongue"


Cutting the tongue nick by British Red, on Flickr




Step 7


Push the face of the scion wood over the fact of the root stock so that the tongues interlock


Joined Graft by British Red, on Flickr


Step 8


"Whip" (tie) the graft together. I am using specialist grafting tape (£5 from Ebay), but a strip of freezer bag will work, just cut it off after a few months (you don't need to with grafting tape, it breaks down).


Grafting Tape by British Red, on Flickr


Step 9


Make a label listing the scion, root stock and grafting date


Tree Label by British Red, on Flickr


Step 10


Pot up your grafted tree and cross your fingers!


Grafted Tree in Pot by British Red, on Flickr




Hope that was interesting? Its the most basic form of grafting....but still seems like voodoo to me :)
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
Very interesting indeed! I remember my mum doing all sorts of grafting and layering in the garden when I was younger, sadly though I was full of it all and had other things filling my time and my mind; I read your homestead posts and realise just how much I missed back then................But there's always time to learn :)
 

WoodGnome

Tenderfoot
Mar 4, 2015
67
1
Germany/Northern Ireland
Looks good. Me likes! :D

Have you ever thought of growing quince trees in your orchard as well? I'm just asking out of curiosity because they have a great revival here in Germany at the moment and I haven't seen any grown by private people in the U.K. so far.

Regards,
Marc
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
BR: as an illustrated demo, that's as good as it gets.
Did a post-grad MSc degree = anatomy of the graft union in apple trees (and why some fail.)
A copy of my thesis is lodged with the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Library archives.

1. The cambium, the living layer between the bark and the wood, has to be lined up/stock to scion.
Whip or bud, does not matter. You show that very, very well.
2. Whatever you use for grafting tape has to do 4 things:
a) keep it clean
b) stop potential dehydration
c) most importantly, apply some modest pressure to the union.
If this doesn't happen, the humid gap fills with loose, non-woody cells.
Later, you believe that you did it right and a stiff wind knocks it off.
d) provide some mechanical support for a weakened, cut stem. Using cloth/rag strips,
a splint up the side does no harm in a breezy/windy site.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
Thanks for the kind words all. Robson, I really appreciate your expert input, I hadn't thought of splinting, but here in the fens it is hellish windy at times and it would be an excellent idea, thank you!
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
Looks good. Me likes! :D

Have you ever thought of growing quince trees in your orchard as well? I'm just asking out of curiosity because they have a great revival here in Germany at the moment and I haven't seen any grown by private people in the U.K. so far.

Regards,
Marc

We do grow oddball stuff, mulberry, medlar, wild service and even true service, but no quince yet (cost mainly being the issue).
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
The U of S/Saskatoon/Biology department garden was not sheltered from _any_ wind. Lost an entire experimental run in one night. Hence the splints.
I suggest that newcomers might follow what you did and simply cut a stout branch and graft it back on for practice.
It's hard to get it right, first time out of the gate.
 
Jan 4, 2008
4
0
doncaster
Just purchased some M25 rootstock for an alley cropping project. Thanks for the clear pics British red. As a practice run I'm taking any old scrappy bits of wood and practicing my cutting and grafting techniques before I do the real thing :) Two rootstocks I'm saving for home production. First experiment will be the stool method. The second one will be layered. I'm also playing with airbudding on a Victoria plum. Once I get the photos of my iPhone I'll post them.
Some good advice on this thread about cambium joining which is the most important part of the whole grafting process. If you can imagine a bunch of pipes running up under the bark, if they don't line up the sap cant go up and down. Also, some cut rubber bands or thinly cut innertube might work in stead of the grafting tape. Know a few folks that have had a lot of trouble with the stuff. You could also bind it with cotton twine.
Also don't forget to coat the bindings over the graft area with some kind of sealant. Not vinyl or bitumen sealant but something wax based would be good. You can buy specialty grafters sealant but I just use left over wax from my bees. The idea is help prevent evaporative loss of the sap as it heals up the graft.
Thanks for the pics British Red.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
Would love to see write ups and piccs of air budding and grafting please, this is all new to me so any information on fruit tree propagation is gratefully received!
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Matching the surfaces really matches 3 layers:
a) the secondary phloem which transports material to the root system so it does not starve.
b) the vascular cambium which generates both the the secondary phloem to the outside and the secondary xylem, the wood,
to the inside. Not only does the wood conduct water and mineral nutrients from bottom to top but it provides the mechanical
strength to the entire stem.

However you do the grafting, some modest pressure on the union is essential.
This has nothing to do with mechanical support for the graft junction.
If and when you neglect this, the gap fills with non-woody tissue which has no more
strength that a lettuce leaf.
The pressure triggers what cells that do proliferate in there to finish, to differentiate,
with wood cell characteristics.

Practice, practice, practice.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Quick look in my home library. Text books on "plant propagation" are uncommon. Ask your local gov't agricultural extension service if they have any booklets published on the subject,
like this one:

Propagation Studies In Fruits And Ornamentals At Morden Experimental Farm. Cumming, Morrison & Vitins, Pub #49, 1964.
Experimental Farm, Research Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, Morden, Manitoba.

The best of the texts may still be this one:

Plant Propagation: Principles and Practices. Hartmann, Kester, Davies, Jr. & Geneve.
1997. Simon & Schuster. ISBN: 0-13-206103-1
I lectured from the 6th edition. You might try abeBooks/UK on line.

I had a third book, don't recall what happened to it when I retired. Had a cluster of apples embossed on the cover.
Was my bible as a graduate student. If I donated it to the local village public library, I'll ask, need to go there anyway.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Quick look in my home library. Text books on "plant propagation" are uncommon. Ask your local gov't agricultural extension service if they have any booklets published on the subject,
like this one:

Propagation Studies In Fruits And Ornamentals At Morden Experimental Farm. Cumming, Morrison & Vitins, Pub #49, 1964.
Experimental Farm, Research Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, Morden, Manitoba.

The best of the texts may still be this one:

Plant Propagation: Principles and Practices. Hartmann, Kester, Davies, Jr. & Geneve.
1997. Simon & Schuster. ISBN: 0-13-206103-1
I lectured from the 6th edition. You might try abeBooks/UK on line.

I had a third book, don't recall what happened to it when I retired. Had a cluster of apples embossed on the cover.
Was my bible as a graduate student. If I donated it to the local village public library, I'll ask, need to go there anyway.

Just took a look in abeBooks/Canada = 3,756 entires under "plant propagation."
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
No such thing as an agricultural extension office in the UK. We are way behind the US in terms of encouraging growing and preserving.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
No such thing as an agricultural extension office in the UK. We are way behind the US in terms of encouraging growing and preserving.

We do have a pretty good ag extension service down here too; but credit where it's due, Robson Valley's in Canada.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
They are great, especially the pruning books. I would love local expertise on soil conditions, crop varieties that do well right here though.
 

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