This Season's Baby (grafted) Fruit Trees

[FB.]

A selection of interesting pictures of baby apple trees which I grafted onto MM111 rootstock in March.

Due to other commitments they've been left to fend for themselves. Rootstock 'suckers' are visible on most of them - I should have trimmed them off promptly. I'll cut the suckers back to one bud this winter.

Some have been grafted high and some grafted low. The red label/tape is about an inch above the graft and suckers/rootstock shoots are emerging from that point due to the disrupted sapflow caused by the grafting operation (basically the graft union takes time to heal and restore full sapflow so the rootstock often vents out its energy with some shoots of its own.


Picture 1.
Several side-by-side.
Left: Hambledon Deux Ans MM111
Second left: Edward VII MM111
Centre: Milton Wonder MM111
2nd from right: Beauty of Bath MM111
Far right: Egremont Russet MM111 (grafted scion died - I experimented with a two-year-old scion and it didn't take - younger, vigorous shoots are always recommended and this underlines that using only young, strong, healthy shoots is desirable)
Larger pot in foreground: Winter Majetin MM111 (rootstock died - planted in sterile compost so almost certainly the rootstock was diseased when I received it - quite a few fruit trees die due to disease brought with them; it's not always the fault of the owner).

[FB.]

Closer shots of the scarring and healing-over of the grafts. The grafting tape is beginning to split and peel off due to a mixture of the stems thickening and general weathering/UV-breakdown.

1. Beauty of Bath
2. Edward VII
3. Hambledon Deux Ans

[FB.]

The one that didn't make it due to death of the rootstock.
How do I know it was the rootstock?
Because otherwise the rootstock 'suckers' would have grown-out instead of the scion.
But the rootstock suckers stopped growing at an inch or two length, then shrivelled and died as the roots failed to function (probably died from Phytopthora 'crown rot' which is very common in fruit tree nurseries).

Also note the dark black-red-brown colour and the total lack of soft white roots which should be growing all over the place by this time of year. These are further indicators of Phytopthora crown rot.

[FB.]

One scion that didn't make it; Herring's Pippin.

Notice that unlike the tree above which died from rootstock disease, in this example the scion wood has died - gone black, necrotic and failed to send out new shoots - but a green shoot has been sent out by the MM111 rootstock about an inch above the soil level.
I'll re-use the rootstock again this winter.

My 'mother tree' Herring's Pippin was (and still is) looking unhappy so I took a graft in the hope of saving it. But the failure of this graft suggests to me that my mother tree is in serious trouble and probably will soon die. I'll probably remove the tree during the winter.

[FB.]

Final picture, showing what can be done with even the skimpiest piece of scion wood, or with considerable mismatch in scion:rootstock diameter.
The rootstock was about 10mm but the scion wood was only about 5mm.
But the graft 'took' (and the rootstock has also sent out an equally vigorous upright shoot of its own - showing as a paler, furry-looking shoot compared to the smooth greenish-woody colour of the grafted scion wood).

In the first picture, now the grafting tape has peeled off it is easy to see the slit in the rootstock from the 'cleft graft'.

Notice also (in the bottom left of the second picture) in the same pot is the piece of rootstock which was cut off to allow the grafting to be done. MM111 will sometimes root from cuttings and the cut off piece will therefore sometimes grow new roots and leaves and be able to be reused the next winter. MM106 roots much more readily but it doesn't do well in my soil.

Oh - this is Winter Majetin on MM111.

[mosstrooper]

Those young trees are looking good FB. Can i ask what type of grafts you used and why you have grafted some higher than others? Does it make a difference?

[FB.]

Those young trees are looking good FB. Can i ask what type of grafts you used and why you have grafted some higher than others? Does it make a difference?

Those grafts are either whip-and-tongue or cleft. In a few weeks time I might do some bud grafts.

When grafted high, it is thought that the tree takes on more of the rootstock tendency. So a high-grafted tree on dwarf rootstock (i.e. has a long piece of rootstock stem above ground when planted) is thought to be more dwarfed. On the other hand a low-grafted tree on a dwarfing rootstock is thought to be more vigorous.

To some extent the point of grafting was chosen to match scion and rootstock size, so the cambium (the greenish layer just under the bark which initiates tissue healing/graft healing) is in contact on both sides of the graft to double the chances of graft success. The last picture with the size-mis-matched scion and rootstock has only one side of cambium contact and is therefore less likely to 'take'.

When I do my batch of grafting each spring I always try to vary the way I do it in hope of learning something new. So sometimes it's just random whether the graft is high or low.

The two Winter Majetins in the pictures - one of which died - were intentionally grafted low (as are a couple of other Majetins not shown in the picture) because I intend to get it growing on its own roots, so having the graft as low as possible will make it easier. I'll be using 'layering' and 'stooling' methods in the next year or two to attempt this 'own rooting' - and some other varieties will be 'own rooted' too.

[Greenleaves]

Look really good, always lacked the confidence to try myself

[FB.]

Look really good, always lacked the confidence to try myself

Rootstocks are fairly cheap - a couple of pounds each plus a few pounds postage.

The main thing to worry about is the use of a wickedly sharp knife in the vicinity of your fingers; it is very easy to prune off a significant piece of yourself.

I'm plenty experienced with sharp knives, partly through hobbies (model making when I was a teenager) and work (used to work in a hospital clinical laboratory using scalpels, needles and other small/sharp tools) plus my interest in fruit trees. Not one drop of my blood was spilt in the performing of this years couple of dozen fruit tree grafts.
Many years ago I let an uncle borrow one of my modelling knives - and I warned him how sharp it was - and within a few minutes he was pouring with blood form a nasty slash.

[bearded bloke]

Hey FB,while I know that I shall never try any grafting of trees (fruit or otherwise) I do enjoy reading your posts,the technical & practical advice you put into them is brilliant,thank you for taking the time

[J Sabo]

The two Winter Majetins in the pictures - one of which died - were intentionally grafted low (as are a couple of other Majetins not shown in the picture) because I intend to get it growing on its own roots, so having the graft as low as possible will make it easier. I'll be using 'layering' and 'stooling' methods in the next year or two to attempt this 'own rooting' - and some other varieties will be 'own rooted' too.

Can I ask why you want to grow it on its own roots? When it roots, won't it have some of the rootstock 'DNA'?

[FB.]

Can I ask why you want to grow it on its own roots? When it roots, won't it have some of the rootstock 'DNA'?

Hi J Sabo.
The scion and rootstock won't mix their DNA; I'll be taking rooted shoots from the bit above the graft in the same way as someone would select scionwood rather than rootstock for grafting. I'll need to be careful not to take rootstock suckers but the leaves of MM111 and WM are very different in appearance.

I want to grow WM on its own roots because I think it will be happier, healthier, more resilient, more vigorous and longer-lived. My soil is horrible and I (or rather the trees) need everything that might give an edge in survivability.
It is a variety that's thought to be native to East Anglia and seems to do very well in my soil on MM111 rootstock. I hope it'll do even better on its own roots.

[orangepippin]

I want to grow WM on its own roots because I think it will be happier, healthier, more resilient, more vigorous and longer-lived.

That is certainly the theory, but I'm not sure it has ever really been proven. I'm glad you didn't try to suggest the apples would taste better!

[mosstrooper]

I have 6 or so suckers growing from the roots of an apple tree so i will try grafting a few varieties next year. Whip and tongue graft seems to be the one to choose due to the size of the stems.