North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david.maxwell@dal.ca]

Do I sense in Doug's reponse an implication that on frost-tender rootstocks 
(eg. M-9), 
budding (or grafting) low, (presumably with a frost-hardy variety), will 
reduce the risk of 
winter-kill?  

You are correct that hardiness is not a particular problem here in Nova 
Scotia, (zone 5), and I 
have never had any cold damage to my trees.  But if the problem is 
cold-hardiness, then it 
seems to me the solution has more to do with the rootstock chosen than the 
height at which it 
is budded.  (Use something like Antonovka or Ottawa 3 rather than the Malling 
series).  Most 
of my trees are (now) on O-3, and are grafted at least a foot up from ground 
level.  

(Sarah, I am intrigued that somebody in NS is selling trees; I was unaware 
that anybody was 
doing so.  Could you perhaps tell me (off list if you prefer) where you got 
your trees?)  

David Maxwell in balmy South Shore Nova Scotia, zone 5. (Temperature today
34 degrees F, 
and no sign of bud break.)

> Sarah, that Nova Scotia nursery may have been concerned mostly with the
> convenience of the people doing the budding, especially as it affects 
> their productivity. It may be that most of their clientele (if in Nova
> Scotia, especially if commercial growers in the Annapolis Valley) is not
> much concerned with hardiness.
> 
> Also, if the trees concerned were apples on dwarfing rootstocks, they 
> would want to avoid scion rooting. On the other hand if you are 
> propagating on "standard" sized stocks probably you don't care about 
> scion rooting or you may prefer it.
> 
> Doug Woodard
> St. Catharines, Ontario, canada
> 
> 
> Sarah Kehler Ewing wrote:
> > I'm wondering if anyone would care to share their insight into the
reason they graft at a chosen height.  
> > 
> > When I took my grafting classes, we bud grafted just above the
original level of the dirt so that the graft union would be just above the
ground when the rootstock was planted out in the field.  However, I've
bought fruit trees from a nursery in Nova Scotia and their trees were
budded a good 8" up the trunk! 
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > Sarah
> > zone 3 (can be -40F with no snow cover)
> > Edmonton, AB
> 
>