Fruit trees

[jwal10]

They grow everywhere here. I started mine from little trees I found in the back woods. I have 2 pear trees. They look and taste like Bartletts. Huge pears. I think they were planted by early settlers and have just spread out. I love pears for natural sweetner, juice, stewed and dried. I have 3 apple trees that I found and planted, I trunk grafted each to the best fenceline finds, 1 is an old striped gravenstein type, 1 very nice mostly red apple, tart but sweet, crisp, large and a good keeper, the last looks a lot the same but is a later variety and the best keeper, taken after frost, all homestead type apples, all good eating, cider and sauce apples. I planted them near the creek for water and they take up very little good ground. I eat an apple a day. I have a brooks prune tree also in my orchard. I cut them in half, pit them and solar dry a large garbage sack full each year. I make my own trail mix from dried prunes, apples, pears, peaches, bananas, cranberries, grapes, blueberries, hazel, hickory and walnuts. Fruit dries very quick when cut in 3/8" cubes. I buy raw almonds from a grower right outside the city limits too....James

[haypoint]

We share the same interest, grafting. I, too, like to find local varieties worthy of propagating. I call them homestead varieties, you call them fence row varieties. Grafting isn't that hard, just takes a steady hand and lots of practice.

It is important to remind folks that fruit trees grown from seed rarely produce really good apples. Grafting is the key to a productive orchard.

[fishhead]

Does the fruit take on any of the flavor of the rootstock?

[dragonjaze]

/puts how to graft fruit trees on her must-learn-to-do list

I remember one fall when we scavenged BUCKETS of free apples, pears and plums from roadside trees in W. Wa. Brings back memories of learning how to can! I sure did make some tasty plum and apple jelly.

[ronbre]

i have never tried to graft anything but should do it..i have some good rootstock growing..maybe i will ..good books on the subject.

I have a LOT of fruit trees here too, i think planting fruit and nut trees should be your first investment in a new piece of property.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by fishhead

Does the fruit take on any of the flavor of the rootstock?

No the fruit is what has the flavor not the root stock. You can graft as many limbs as you have but to get the best you graft the rootstock and cut any limbs that are not from the graft.

[haypoint]

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...s/DG0532c.html

The fruit will not take on the character of the rootstock.

The important part to remember is that the place where the budstock and the rootstock mate is only one cell thick. So the match must be exact and you must keep it held in place while it mends together and you must keep it from drying out.

I like to graft using the cleft graft method. Cut the rootstock off straight. With a very sharp knife make a split. (Sort of like you would chop a piece of firewood in half) Then cut the budstock (scion) into a wedge (like a flat blade screwdriver, sort of). Open the split in the rootstock, poke the budstock into it, match up the bark from both. Wrap a piece of rubber band firmly, but not too tight, then coat everything with grafting wax or wrap wax grafting tape around it.

Remove all leaves that form on the rootstock, so energy is pushed to the budstock.

I also have had good luck with bud grafting. Scribe a T on the rootstock, peal the edges back and slip a bud into the opening. Just cut a bud off the budstock, make a horizontal cut 1/4 inch above the bud, then cut the bud off, starting at a point about a 1/4 inch below the bud. Pick the wood out of the backside before inserting into the T opening. Then wrap with rubber strips (look like strips of rubberbands) coat with grafting wax. The stuff I use is yellow and a bit thicker than house paint.

Keeping everything identified is harder than you’d think but very important. You don’t want to wait until it bears fruit to know what you’ve got.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by haypoint

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...s/DG0532c.html

The fruit will not take on the character of the rootstock.

The important part to remember is that the place where the budstock and the rootstock mate is only one cell thick. So the match must be exact and you must keep it held in place while it mends together and you must keep it from drying out.

I like to graft using the cleft graft method. Cut the rootstock off straight. With a very sharp knife make a split. (Sort of like you would chop a piece of firewood in half) Then cut the budstock (scion) into a wedge (like a flat blade screwdriver, sort of). Open the split in the rootstock, poke the budstock into it, match up the bark from both. Wrap a piece of rubber band firmly, but not too tight, then coat everything with grafting wax or wrap wax grafting tape around it.

Remove all leaves that form on the rootstock, so energy is pushed to the budstock.

I also have had good luck with bud grafting. Scribe a T on the rootstock, peal the edges back and slip a bud into the opening. Just cut a bud off the budstock, make a horizontal cut 1/4 inch above the bud, then cut the bud off, starting at a point about a 1/4 inch below the bud. Pick the wood out of the backside before inserting into the T opening. Then wrap with rubber strips (look like strips of rubberbands) coat with grafting wax. The stuff I use is yellow and a bit thicker than house paint.

Keeping everything identified is harder than you’d think but very important. You don’t want to wait until it bears fruit to know what you’ve got.

I do the same thing but I use paraffin to coat it with.