GRAFTING APPLE TREES IN SPRING: STEP BY STEP FOR BEGINNERS

Grafting an apple tree is an excellent method of breeding industry, which allows you to get a unique variety of fruit tree, giving a second life to an aged plant or preserving a rare apple variety. In this article, we will describe how to plant an apple tree step by step in the spring and what methods of grafting should be used.

Benefits of grafting apple in spring

Do not underestimate the importance of vaccination in the modern fruit growing industry. Otserenkovanie allows you to solve a huge number of critical tasks. The essential advantages of spring grafting of a tree are as follows:

Jigging eliminates culture defects, corrects underdeveloped stumps, restores one-sided crowns.
Resuscitates a dying, damaged (for example, rodents) tree.
Increases fruiting in low growth varieties and accelerates fruiting in late ripening.
Allows you to bring dwarf, hybrid varieties, as well as propagate unique and rare trees.
Gives the opportunity to bring a new fruit crop.
Increases the resistance of the tree to various diseases and pests.
Increases frost resistance of "delicate" apple varieties.
Keeps taste and appearance characteristics of the variety.
Saves space in the garden (instead of two trees, you can do with one, on which two different varieties of apples are planted).

Did you know? Apple tree can grow up to 12 meters in height. The dwarf varieties of this crop (up to 2 meters high) were bred by the breeders for convenience when harvesting fruits. Today, apple sizes range from a pea to the size of a newborn baby’s head.

What trees can be planted on an apple tree

The best stocks for apple cuttings are seedlings of cultivated varieties or mature trees. Otserenkovanie seedlings can be performed on young "dick", dug in the forest or grown from seeds.

There are also several alternative options for rootstocks:

pear;

Rowan;

black ashberry (aronia);

viburnum;

quince;

hawthorn.

Important! When planting an apple tree on the trunks of another plant, that is, on “non-native” rootstocks, keep in mind that such vaccinations are short-lived in comparison with the standard grafting of an apple tree onto an apple tree.

Methods of grafting apple

Apple can be planted in spring by several methods. We present the most proven methods that demonstrate the best results:

Budding - The procedure of grafting apple sleeping or waking kidney (performed from May to June).
Graft Splitting - grafting procedure by cuttings (for stone fruit trees in March, for seed plants in April).
Copulation (simple and improved) - jigging cuttings (implemented from March to April, before sap flow).
Side Graft Vaccination - grafting cuttings (work begins from the end of May, during the period of swelling of the eye).
Vaccination for bark - Another type of jigging cuttings (carried out from April to May, during the sap flow).

The budding method is used less often than the others, since it involves the use of buds (or, as gardeners often call them “eyes”) instead of cuttings.

You will probably be interested to read about grafting of pears and grapes.

Procurement of cuttings

To begin, find out how to prepare apple cuttings for grafting. They need to be taken only from healthy young trees with good fruiting and growth. The inoculum should be a little more than one year old.

3-4 buds should be present on the cuttings, so take them from the middle part of the branch. Cut the stalk so that the upper cut came "by eye". Form the lower part of the branch depending on the method of grafting.

Begin to stock up material with the onset of small frosts, in the first decade of winter. Frost at a temperature not higher than -10 ° C will help harden the wood, make it stronger and thicker. Bundle the cut material and place in a container with sand. Store the workpiece in the basement at + 2 ° C.

If you do not have a basement, wrap the cut apple cuttings in a wet cloth and keep in a cool place until the snow falls. Then unfold the twigs, free them from damp cloth and plunge them into snowdrifts.

In case of temperature drops, the drifts melted more slowly, cover them with thermal insulating material (for example, peat or sawdust).

Some gardeners are advised to keep apple cuttings in the refrigerator. To do this, wrap the twigs in wet material or plastic wrap and place on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

When grafting trees, a graft pruner is often used.

Spring grafting apple: step by step instructions

Spring grading of an apple tree is a very important procedure, often compared with a surgical operation. Therefore, choose the most convenient method for you and follow the step-by-step recommendations.

Budding (kidney vaccination)

In autumn or at the end of February, prepare the shoots from the tree.
With the onset of spring, take a single kidney (peephole) formed from the shoot last summer.
Kidney bud on the trunk or branch of a tree. This eye will start growing and will become the basis of a new shoot in the current season.
If the vaccination failed, the operation can be repeated on the same stock.

Budding is the simplest method of grafting apple trees in the spring and is great for novice breeders. The degree of kidney survival is very high.

The procedure will take very little of your time. In addition, you will need a minimum of inoculum: only one cutting of a valuable variety.

Graft Splitting

Split the stock with a sharp ax to a depth of about 10 cm.
Make a one-sided or double-sided cut at a sharp angle. Guessing the cut angle does not always work, but if you succeed, success is guaranteed.
Cover the open areas of slices with a garden pitch, and wrap the place of the vaccination itself with a film. If necessary, if the graft in the split keeps weak, make an additional winding.

Inoculation of apple trees in the split is carried out in the spring, just before the beginning of the vegetative period, when the trees are still at rest. In this way, an apple tree can be cut off on an old, but still strong tree.

Important! If you are planting on an inclined branch, the cutting should be on top. Subsequently, the new branch is not broken off by the weight of the fruit.

Copulation

For spring jigging of an apple tree, when the diameter of the branch and the cutting meet, it applies simple copulation:

On the graft and rootstock, make 3-4 cm long oblique cuts.
Freshly slice immediately attach to each other.
Secure the connection with tape or tape.
Top cut on the trunk with a garden pitch or paint.

Improved copulation:

Along the axis, on the graft and stock, make a beveled cut and cut them into one third.
Carefully inject the graft into the stock. In order not to break off the vaccine and not contribute to its suppuration, do not introduce the graft very deeply.
If the part to be grafted and the new base have different diameters, try tightly combining the cambium on one side so that the lumen is completely closed.
Tie vaccination site with a film. Top cut cuttings cover garden pitch.

Usually use improved copulation. This method provides a stronger connection of the cuttings of one plant with the trunk of another. Such a coupling is possible due to the presence of the "tongue" - an additional cut in the cut.

In the side slot

On the supply of wood, make an oblique incision.
On the bark of the grafted variety, make 2 oblique cuts of the longitudinal type. Attach the graft in this section, connecting the edges so that the cambium coincides.
When the cutting begins to grow, remove its upper part with a grafting knife.
The place where the jigging was carried out, tie it with a synthetic film, and cover the sections with a garden pitch.

Important! Do not use insulating tape for this work. It is rather coarse, contains harmful additives, prevents the callus from developing, and prevents the rapid accretion of the vaccine.

Behind the bark

Cutting Carefully cut a large branch, in this place the vaccination will be performed.
Clean out the place cut. Clean the cut end of the branch with a sharp knife to smoothness. For a good survival of the stalk also need a little trim.
Make a cut. Cut the stalk long and narrow. This will facilitate its entry into the graft.
Enter the stalk. It needs to be pushed under the bark so that it fully accommodates there. Gardeners sometimes advised to make a small shoulder in the upper lobe of the cutting. This helps limit the progress of the material used.
All well tie a film.

Did you know? Apple orchards cover almost 5 million hectares of land, so every second fruit tree is an apple tree. The main producers of apples in the world are China, the USA and Turkey.

Frequent mistakes

Further care of the grafted apple tree

Well-established vaccinations require additional care. Already after 20 days, cultural grafts are overgrown with a layer of cambium, and branches. Therefore, the main rule of care is to timely remove the branches that block the food to the planted escape. Also, remove foliage that obscures the graft.

Inspect the harness systematically, and in order to avoid constrictions during enhanced shoot development, it is better to loosen it.

If the vaccination is growing at an active pace, it is necessary to slow down its growth by pinching the apex.

Learn more about the most delicious apple varieties according to gardeners' reviews like Cinnamon Striped, Moscow Pear, Silver Hoof, Lobo, Antey, Candy.

Professional gardeners highlight several common mistakes made by amateurs when grafting apple trees:

Novice gardeners often take branches (cuttings) containing only 1-2 buds (eyes) for jigging in the lateral cleft, while they should have at least 3-4 buds.
An error is also the reproduction of an apple tree by jigging of an awakened bud. The graft material should be a kidney (peephole) formed last summer.
Often, neglecting cleanliness, depositing is carried out with the help of contaminated inventory. This is unacceptable, all tools must be clean.

Thus, with strict observance of instructions and deadlines, the procedure for grafting apple trees in the spring will not be difficult, and having familiarized with various types of vaccinations, you will be able to choose the most suitable option for yourself.

For beginners, it is better to use the splitting method, which is quite simple and effective. Good luck in your gardening experiments!