I cut my trees in half

[Lady BlackThumb]

So, about a week ago I planted the maiden bare root fruit trees (apple + pluot) into their spots in the ground. I followed some internet instructions to cut it off to about knee height (to induce lower budding /lower tree crotch etc). They both still look alarmingly like brown sticks in the ground...

How long should I expect to wait before I see some signs of life? Or conversely how long should I wait before I realise killed the darned thing and have to try again. (The pluot in particular looks really like a dead brown twig, but maybe that's how plum trees look in dormancy?)

[MyWifesBrassicas]

Hi ladyblackthumb

As long as there was leaf nodes below where you cut, things should be ok, as long as you leave it alone.
Leaf nodes are small "bumps" where last years leaf was before it dropped for winter.

[Guest]

Scratch the bark - if it is green just underneath you're okay, if it is brown it is cream crackered.

I know why you did what you did, but I like to go by the 'don't reduce it by more than a third' in any circumstance.

Fingers crossed for you

[veggiechicken]

Hope you left a decent length of trunk above the grafting point.

[nickdub]

If they do turn out to be dead I'd suggest asking for a refund from where you bought them - cutting in half might not be the best idea I've ever heard for new fruit trees, but if they were alive before, then you should sees some signs of growth in the next week or so.

[Lady BlackThumb]

I did the scratch test on the Pluot, PHEW it was still green.

I'll keep my eyes peeled over the next week, but no matter what happens, at least someone in my house had a good time with the other half of the apple tree.

[Lady BlackThumb]

Hope you left a decent length of trunk above the grafting point.

i erred on the side of caution and left what I hope was more than a few former branch spots/ bud spots...

[veggiechicken]

If they do turn out to be dead I'd suggest asking for a refund from where you bought them - cutting in half might not be the best idea I've ever heard for new fruit trees, but if they were alive before, then you should sees some signs of growth in the next week or so.

Asking for a refund might require a photo to be submitted and a photo of half a tree might be good cause to refuse.
I have to say, there is absolutely no way I would cut a tree down to knee height, even if I were a lot taller than I am.

[nickdub]

Asking for a refund might require a photo to be submitted and a photo of half a tree might be good cause to refuse.
I have to say, there is absolutely no way I would cut a tree down to knee height, even if I were a lot taller than I am.

Hi VC,
I agree with you that cutting a tree in half is not advisable - however even after this, the bottom half, as long as the roots are planted in something and watered as necessary, should grow - so if these trees are now dead, that would most likely be because they were already dead when L BT received them and not due to their subsequent bisection - that being the case I'd say asking for a refund would not be out of order, albeit by the sound off things these trees are still alive so the issue is .... moot :-)

Nick

[veggiechicken]

And Moot to you too.
What we don't know is how long ago these trees were bought and how long they've been around before planting. Were they in pots or bare roots?

Too many questions, not enough answers.

[nickdub]

Too many chickens, not enough eggs :-)

[Lady BlackThumb]

to answer all the extras, they were ordered end of march I think, arrived in April bare root (it didn't seem as moist as I thought it would be) and I planted them out the next day. Ah well, fingers crossed!

[Ocelot]

Surely 'moot' means 'debatable'?

[nickdub]

Surely 'moot' means 'debatable'?

... certainly does, but it also means "having little or no practical relevance, typically because the subject is too uncertain to allow a decision."

and in this case as the trees seem to be alive, whether a refund might or might not be a possibility is "moot" because there's no practical relevance in discussing it, when the trees aren't dead :-)


tricky language English, when you get in to its byways.

[Ocelot]

I like this explanation:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/mi...age-moot-point