Cuttings / prunings / scion swap - Circle 1

[DuncanM]

Hi All,

I've spoke to Zazzen about this and OK'd it for this forum. I'd like to start a cutting / scion / pruning / grafting swap circle.

Open to everyone.

I can offer: Blackcurrants, Fig (brown turkey) and potentially strawberry grapes this year.

I would be interested in Pinot Noir grapes and other fruit bushes if anyone has any on offer.

Thanks,
Duncan

[hamamelis]

I have a few rooted currant cuttings from last year spare- only catch is I forgot to label, so I'm not 100% sure if they're red or white! Either Jonkheer Van Tets if red (I suspect most are red) or White Versailles.

I could also offer fresh gooseberry cuttings (red, variety Pax), also I can offer cuttings which are definitely the above currants, plus jostaberry and big ben blackcurrants.

I would love some fig cuttings (anything but brown turkey- my housemate has that), and any loganberries/boysenberries.

I would also be interested in pear scions, but not until I get a pear tree to graft them on to!

[zazen999]

We will have scions of apples, plums, pears, cherries and damsons [still trying to find the paperwork for the varieties] - and I daresay some Amelanchier cuttings, gooseberry pax, josta berry and other soft fruit once I've pruned everything.

And I've taken loads of black grape cuttings - don't know the variety but they fruit in the UK every other year.

Not sure how this circle will work - but once we know how many are interested we might have a better idea. Just one thing - the postage will be alot higher than seeds.

[chris]

If one of the grapes gets back to me, I will have the best tasting apple I've ever eaten up for offer next year (fingers crossed said chap has got some to grow - I wasn't ready to graft previously). It's a seedling of a discovery (most likely ;p).

Great idea though

[planetologist]

I have rooted blackcurrant cuttings and could dig up some autumn raspberries and strawberries. And could take cuttings from apple (don't know), pear (conference), plum (looks like victoria).

Would love an Amelanchier cutting, have tried unsuccessfully to grow them from seed.

Postage is not so bad. If its less than 610*460*460 mm and less than 750g it's only £2.20 2nd class

[alldigging]

I'd love a damson but I only have blackcurrant sticks...

(I might actually have one as I stuck some cuttings in a tub and something grew...)

[Pineberry]

I have loganberry would love to exchange for jostaberry. How do we that if you are interested?

[veggiechicken]

I can take cuttings from jostaberries and worcesterberries - they both root easily.

[hamamelis]

Or I'd definitely be up for a swap if Veggiechicken isn't after loganberries! I may actually have rooted jostaberries available- I have two, but I'm not completely sure if the community orchard wants one, both, or none at all, they haven't got back to me.

[veggiechicken]

You're very welcome to swap with Pineberry - I have enough loganberries to scratch me

[Pineberry]

Can also offer polka raspberry up for swap, got too much to handle myself.
My loganberry will be rooted already, as I will just devide the large plant.

Also has anyone got blackberry Reuben?

[zazen999]

Ok all.

I spoke to the head gardener at Ryton this week as he had said I could have some old root stocks, and he has told me the day that they are pruning, and they are leaving the top wood around the trees for me to have as much as I want; I only have a little freezer so I am going to try and grab a few of each and freeze them...[unless anyone has any other suggestions as to how to preserve them before sending out in which case I could bag some more than will fit in my freezer].

I will post the numbers of each that i have once I have them; minus of course the ones I want to graft myself; and you can either send your swaps to me or a SAE and I'll pop it back in the post to you.

You might want to keep checking here over the next few weeks; sometimes the days change so if you miss logging in for a week you might miss your chances at bagging some rare apple scions.

[zazen999]

I currently have 10 of each:
Medlar
Winter Gem Apple
Early Victoria Apple
Catillac Pear
Greensleeves Apple
Sunset Apple

Only 10 scions of each as I have taken quite a few for my students - but if I can do a swap and get them some different varieties then that would be fab. Each one does have enough for 2-3 grafts though.

How are we going to do this? There are 8 of us so has everyone got enough to send 7 of their offers to me with an SAE and I can split and send or are we doing this one by one? If we do it as a circle then everyone will get one of each of the 'offers'.

[planetologist]

I've had no success with grafting apples so far, and when I tried to post on freegle to request somebody to graft my tree or borrow a grafting shear, I was told I can only post requests for getting things, so I'll give the top fruit a miss, but would love some soft fruit cuttings. In order of preference: amelanchier, loganberry, jostaberry, red gooseberry. Zazen999, I guess that implies everybody sending in things to you and then splitting and sending back, if you don't mind. I've indicated what I have on offer, but would be hard pressed to get 7 cuttings off my small plum tree.

Edited to say: my apple tree is from before 1934 and looks something like a cox. On an apple site on the internet it was implied that the Victorians only said that cox keeps a very long time because they didn't have climatised storage for comparison, which makes me a Victorian I guess, because in a normal year I'm still eating this apple at the end of April, though I must admit that it's then a bit of a relief when they run out/go off, and I can eat the bottled ones until the soft fruit comes.

[zazen999]

I've had no success with grafting apples so far, and when I tried to post on freegle to request somebody to graft my tree or borrow a grafting shear, I was told I can only post requests for getting things, so I'll give the top fruit a miss, but would love some soft fruit cuttings. In order of preference: amelanchier, loganberry, jostaberry, red gooseberry. Zazen999, I guess that implies everybody sending in things to you and then splitting and sending back, if you don't mind. I've indicated what I have on offer, but would be hard pressed to get 7 cuttings off my small plum tree.

I'm trying to work out whether we just swap on an individual basis - or run this as a circle.

Perhaps separate into a scion circle, and a fruit cuttings circle? Or square as I suspect there will only be about 4 people in each one. Plus scions are going to be ready before cuttings if taken last autumn.