Fruit trees - when should I expect to see signs of life?

[cazp]

I have some new fruit trees which I bought bare rooted this year.

The morello cherry and one of the apples are just starting to show signs of life in the buds in that they look plump, and in the case of the cherry, showing a bit of green - these were potted straight after delivery. The other fruit trees , apple pear and plum which were delivered earlier in the year are not (spent two weeks bare rooted before being planted - although I sprayed roots regularly) - how can I tell if they are still alive?

[chris]

Scratch the bark on the trunk with your finger nail, if it's green then it's alive!

[FB.]

Fruit trees which have been bought bare-root can get confused due to differences in climate between the nursery in which they grew and their new home.
This can be made worse because some sellers of fruit trees (probably including supermarket/discount types) often hold the trees in cold storage until sold.
This cold storage can delay budbreak in their first season.

Also, the temperatures which the trees endured in transit can also confuse them; if kept in a mild warehouse over a weekend, it can cause them to think that it's time to leaf out.

So, don't fret too much about early or late leafing-out of newly planted bare-root fruit plants.

[cazp]

Thanks all, guess I just need to be patient (and keep my fingers crossed!)

[rustylady]

Be patient, there's no sign of new buds on my apple or plum tree yet and they are ancient.

[FB.]

Be patient, there's no sign of new buds on my apple or plum tree yet and they are ancient.

Yes, I haven't noticed any signs of life from my apples. I'm planning to do some grafting this week while they're still dormant but soon likely to start showing signs of life.

My pears are just beginning to show fattened blossom buds, with just a few hints of greenish-yellow showing on the mostly-brown-coloured swollen buds.
Plums, bullances and cherry plums of nearby gardens/hedgerows etc slightly more advanced than my pears.

My various currants and berries are similar to the pears. Rhubarb also just beginning to show pale green bulges coming out of the soil.

Snowdrops and some crocus also in flower - a marker of the transition from winter to spring.
Fruit trees often flower after snowdrops and crocous, but flower along with daffodils and bluebells. Only a few of my daffodils are flowering and no bluebells flowering.

[shirleycox]

Apple trees do not grow well on their own roots, so apple varieties today are grafted onto rootstock that will support the trees. The rootstock will determine the size of the mature trees which are classified as dwarf, semi-dwarf or standard. Dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties are a good choice for the home gardener as they will mature into smaller trees that are easier to manage and will start producing at an earlier age. A dwarf tree grows to 8-10 feet tall, while a semi-dwarf will grow to 12-15 feet. A standard tree can grow up to 25 feet tall, making it more difficult to prune, spray and harvest.

They should be planted where they will receive full sun, good air circulation and good soil drainage. It is especially important that apple trees are planted where they will receive early morning sun that will dry the dew from their leaves. If planting an apple tree in heavy clay soil that drains poorly, the tree should be planted slightly higher than it was in the nursery. This will allow more air to reach the root system. Give your apple trees plenty of room to ensure good air circulation. Dwarf trees should be planted about eight feet apart and allow ten feet between semi-dwarf trees.

[Two_Sheds]

Apple trees do not grow well on their own roots

They do, some of them grow TOO well. We use different (dwarfing, etc) rootstocks to control the size of the finished tree

[Peas'n'Kews]

We moved in 3 years ago, and I got a bit enthusiastic prior to moving and ordered 3 apple trees and 2 pears (not to mention several raspberries!) all bare rooted. They had to hang around in plastic bags for about 3 months, but where the first thing to get done in the garden.

Not saying the trees didn't suffer, but we get apples and pears from them - so don't worry!

[cazp]

Thanks all,
Well curiosity got the better of me and I did the scratch test on each of the trees in pots.

The colour underneath varied from pale green, to white with a slight hint of green just under the bark. The thin short twig like branches are not brittle.

I am hoping this means they are alive.

The morello that went in the ground straight away is quite bright green under the bark so seems in better shape.

Should I treat the small scratches I made with anything or should they heal ok?

[FB.]

Apple trees do not grow well on their own roots, so apple varieties today are grafted onto rootstock that will support the trees. The rootstock will determine the size of the mature trees

The biggest problem is persuading cuttings to grow; most rot before they root.
Some varieties produce burr knots in varying quantities (small bristle-like lumps on the branches), meaning that some can be grown from cuttings as these burr knots will often take root.
Own root trees are possible, but they are more time consuming (and expensive) to produce. Layering and stooling would be the most likely way, although I am told that the apple rootstock M116 is actually produced in the laboratory, on agar plates as it is easier and faster.

Those who have trialled own-root fruit trees, such as the late Hugh Ermen, report healthier trees and better fruit quality than when grafted.
Own root trees can be less keen to fruit at a young age than when grafted onto a precocius rootstock, although that does not apply to all varieties; some are very precocious.
Also by growing on rootstocks, it brings the trees of different scion varieties a bit closer in size than if they were grown on their own roots. Even so, it can sometimes be better to choose different rootstocks in order to get two different varieties to grow to a more equal size.

The rootstock will determine the size of the mature trees which are classified as dwarf, semi-dwarf or standard. Dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties are a good choice for the home gardener as they will mature into smaller trees that are easier to manage and will start producing at an earlier age. A dwarf tree grows to 8-10 feet tall, while a semi-dwarf will grow to 12-15 feet. A standard tree can grow up to 25 feet tall, making it more difficult to prune, spray and harvest.

Rootstock is one factor in the size of the mature tree. Other factors include the vigour of the scion, the depth and fertility of the soil, plus the amount of rainfall.
D'Arcy Spice and Court Pendu Plat will grow at maybe half the rate of a Bramley or Blenheim Orange on the same rootstock.
It is recommended that fruit trees are grown on fertile, mosture-retentive loam of at least 2ft deep. On shallower, less fertile soils the trees will be proportionately smaller and slower-growing. On very deep fertile soils, even dwarfs can reach a good size. It is always worth examining soil depth (and doing a soil test) before making any decisions on fruit trees or rootstock choices.

Certain rootstocks have resistance to certain pests, diseases or soil conditions and each performs best in certain types of soil; MM106 is prone to roots rotting in heavy soil, but also won't grow well in soils which are prone to summer droughts. MM106 likes a happy middle ground of cool, moisture-retentive but not saturated. MM106 was only bred for resistance to woolly aphid, but sadly lacks resistance to anything else, so the ungrafted rootstock cannot easily be grown without sprays to control fungal diseases.
MM111 grows much better than most other rootstocks when conditions aren't ideal, such as summer droughts or heavy soil. Like MM106, the only objective was woolly aphid resistance in a tree of the smallest size possible which didn't require staking.

M25 seems to cope better than most in chalky soil, but it will adapt to most conditions. Its fruit ripen later than the same variety would when grafted on other rootstocks and it will often induce the scion to continue growing well into the winter, so is not ideal for areas of the UK with short growing seasons or hard winters; MM111 would be a better choice in such conditions as it goes dormant earlier and hardens-off the soft new growth earlier.
Like MM106 and MM111, M25 came from the MM breeding programme (with Northern Spy as a close relative), but lacked the strong resistance to woolly aphids of the MM types, but as it was still a useful and strong rootstock, it was retained but given a M number instead.
The other parent of MM106 was M1 rootstock, which, like MM106, also prefers cool moist soil but hates hot dry soil.
MM111 and M25 have the hot-sandy-soil-tolerant M2 in their ancestry, which is probably why they cope much better than MM106 in hot, dry soils.

My soil is very poor - shallow, dry, sandy-gravelly-slightly chalky and the lowest rainfall part of the UK - also one of the milder and sunnier parts.
This is very harsh on any fruit trees and I have to use really big rootstocks such as M25, MM111 and seedling. These heavyweight rootstocks are grafted with medium vigour varieties on the M25 and high vigour varieties on the MM111 in order to make medium-sized trees of 3-4 metres in size after 10-15 years.
This awful soil is a common feature in the SouthEastern parts of England, where there is considerable sand, gravel and chalk, coupled with warm, sunny conditions and low rainfall. Chalk is very nasty for fruit trees, although the M25 rootstock handles it admirably - even better than the drought-resistant MM111.

Certain scion varieties are also known to cope better in certain soils and climates, so in difficult situations it can pay to select scion and rootstock for the conditions.
In have, for example, a Gascoyne's Scarlet M25 and a Barnack Beauty M25 growing in large barrels, which will eventually be planted out the front of my house as specimen trees alongside a M25 D'Arcy Spice and a MM111-rootstocked graft from an ancient tree which isn't a known variety but appears to be very vigorous, grows a massive root system (like the D'Arcy Spice) and this un-named variety appears to be completely immune to all apple pests and diseases. The fruit is good and keeps for a long time, but looks "old fashioned" so is not attractive enough for commercial use.
The variety and rootstock combination have been carefully chosen in order to be able to cope better than most in my soil.

[FB.]

At the bottom of this posting is a picture of another maiden whip of that ancient variety, on MM111.

I've rarely seen maiden whips have such a massive root system relative to the "twig" on top.

The scion from this ancient tree, which is itself vigorous, seems to like a stupidly large and vigorous root system and I suspect that's what allowed its mother tree to survive for what is though to be two hundred years.

You can also see the mop-like structure of MM111, which helps it resist drought due to having lots of fine roots going in all directions.