How do I produce a family apple tree

[maverick451]

I realise its a bit late now but next year I would like to produce a family apple tree on dwarf rootstock, maybe m26 or m27

What is the process for doing this? Do I graft a single variety onto the rootstock and then regraft the other 2 onto the branched scion variety tree

Or do I let the root stock grow out to have a branch structure and then then graft all 3 onto the rootstock?


Thanks

[Guest]

I would do option 1 - graft on rootstock, then graft the graft. However I don't think either option would be wrong. Just with option 1 if you miss a branch etc somewhere down the line it will at least give desirable fruit.

[Lardman]

It you have some failed grafts this year you could grow out a couple of the rootstock branches and try chip budding onto them later in the year, or saddle/cleft graft early next.

I'm out of viable scions at the moment so I'm forming frameworks on a few older mm106's for grafting a few family trees later in the year / early next.

[maverick451]

Thanks guys, great advise

I suppose a third option if you have thick rootstocks would be to a double cleft graph with 2 different scions

[NickG]

Reading this thread as a newbie is like trying to decode an ultra secret coded message. I'm up to the Apple bit, after that I think someone ordered a special 32 with extra rice.

[maverick451]

Reading this thread as a newbie is like trying to decode an ultra secret coded message. I'm up to the Apple bit, after that I think someone ordered a special 32 with extra rice.

Dont worry about it, its easy to pick up with a few hours research on youtube etc

Im just a beginner muddling through

Imnot trying to treat anyone as an idiot but just for clarification a family tree is where you have 2 or 3 variety of apples growing on the same tree and Id like to know the best way of creating one.

[flynch]

Have a range of trees on m27, m9, M26, M106 and m25 my advice would be not to do a family tree o M27. As it's so dwarfing that you wouldn't get much of any varieties if you had multiple ones on the same tree. I'd go for m26 as the smallest for a family tree.

[Guest]

Thanks guys, great advise

I suppose a third option if you have thick rootstocks would be to a double cleft graph with 2 different scions

If the graft is low down like the ones I showed before, I would only do it on trained/supported trees. Once the tree has fruit there will be a lot of weight and pressure on the graft point.

Reading this thread as a newbie is like trying to decode an ultra secret coded message. I'm up to the Apple bit, after that I think someone ordered a special 32 with extra rice.

Don't worry it wasn't that long ago I felt the same and thought it was a secret world where only a few people were allowed The numbers just refer to rootstock (the bottom part of a tree) depending on what you have it primarily (but can give other qualities) affects the size of your final fruit tree. Scion is basically a bit a twig ya stick on it (the variety). Family means you have several variety but it doesn't sound very fun then

[seasprout]

Nigel's family Apple tree.

This chap Nigel knows his apples.

This is part one of 6 parts....

I'm sure you can find the other 5 parts through this clip....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=diOExZeky50

[TrixC]

I've never attempted grafting myself but I do have a family plum tree grafted by a professional nursery and they grafted it as in your first description (chose one variety to graft on the rootstock then grafted the other varieties as branches on the first variety.) Not sure if apples would be different to plums.