North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Bernie Nikolai <Nikolai@v-wave.com>]

My guess is the amish nurseryman grafted or budded onto rootstock that had
been in the field one full year setting their roots, while you bench grafted
and then planted the trees.  If you plant a bench grafted tree you normally
will not get anywhere near the first year's growth vrs. grafting onto
rootstock in place that has been in the field for a year and has established
its root system.  It has nothing do do with geese or the time of grafting.
Up here in central Alberta even I can grow a 4 ft. whip in a single year,
but to do it I graft onto rootstock that has been sitting in the field for
one or even two years in place.  The most I get on a bench grafted tree is
about 18 to 24 inches of growth in the first year.  After the first year the
effect wears off a bit, but the bench grafted tree is still not as vigorous
the second growing season.  After about 3 years things seem equal in terms
of growth for either type of tree.
Bernie Nikolai
Edmonton Alberta (now at green tip)

At 05:25 PM 5/2/01 -0000, you wrote:
>Yesterday I saw the results of an Amish expert's grafting and care of 
>year old graft-lings and I wonder what I'm doing wrong.  His trees
>are 5-6' tall, well branched and were dug last fall, kept in cold 
>storage and potted a month ago.  My trees grafted in Mar 2000 from the 
>same collection of scions, to similar rootstock- m7- callused for 
>about a month and planted in a drip irrigated nursery, fertilized with 
>manure tea several times last summer now range from 18 - 36" high and 
>are half of his caliper.  When I asked him his secret he said he 
>watered them several times a week and "had I seen the goose up in the
>orchard? " When I asked what he meant he avoided my question.
>Shall I buy some geese or does someone have any other ideas on what 
>I'm missing in developing similar trees.
>Mike
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