North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[anton ptak <antonptak@gmail.com>]

I have both purchased grafted apricot trees (from Cummins) using 
Krysmk-1 and also done some grafting on Krymsk-1 rootstocks.  It is a 
little too early to say, but I have lost some of the Apricots on 
Krymsk-1. This may be due to the varieties not being fully hardy here, 
though we have not had a real test winter since they've been in the 
ground.  I believe I bought Henderson, Hargrand, Harrow Gen, and 
Harlayne in that order.  We have also had pretty significant droughts 
the previous 2 years so the young trees may be stressed somewhat.

As for grafting, I might suspect the Krysmk rootstocks are sensitive to 
common latent viruses.  Again, I cannot verify this, but I have lost 
many Krysmk-5 and Krymsk-1 grafts (including the rootstock) shortly 
after planting the successful takes out in the field.  Other grafts at 
the same time did not show the same signs of failure.  I will likely not 
be trying to graft on this series in the future, other than the few 
stocks I still have remaining.

As for Cummins, I'll definitely agree that they have great customer 
service and offer a great selection of varieties and rootstocks. Their 
prices have gone up in recent years to the point where an order of 100 
trees will cost you well over $15/tree for the larger caliper stock, 
especially for non apples or patented varieties, and the trees may not 
have any scaffolds.  Some trees may be well branched and bear quite 
soon, but you may have to wait an extra year for some stock to get to 
that point.  Just something to keep in mind.  I'm sure their staff would 
be upfront with you on that and indeed the information on their website 
communicates this.


Anton Ptak
Zone 4a W. Wisconsin