North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Devin Smith <dvidedevo@yahoo.com>]

I have a 7 year old Hosui pear that wasn't trained quite right early in its 
life and am wondering if those of you with lots of pruning know how can give 
me some ideas of how best to remedy the situation. The tree is on Old Home 
rootstock, and has a good form except that its lowest tier of branches needs 
one more scaffold to fill things out. When I purchased it from the nursery, 
it had only two good sized scaffold branches about 3 ft. (or so) off the 
ground. I realize now that I could have pruned these back to encourage growth 
of a third strong scaffold to fill out the remaining area of the lower canopy 
(which is on the north side of the tree), but instead allowed the tree to 
grow. It has a good form overall. Higher tiers have three or perhaps four 
nicely spaced branches, but this lowest tier has unfortunately not grown a 
vigorous scaffold to fill out this hole in the canopy, which unfortunately on 
the north side and so less likely to grow vigorously to
 begin with. When pruning this tree last week, I was reminded of techniques 
like notching and nicking that can be used to spur vigorous growth of a bud. 
I'm wondering if anyone might have any tips on how to induce growth of a 
vigorous scaffold where there currently is none. I'd rather not prune much of 
the other limbs, as they all seem to be growing in nice form (no watersprouts 
to speak of) and are yielding well. I'd hate to disturb the balance to force 
growth. A couple of small branches have grown in the area I'd like to have a 
scaffold, but both resemble spurs more than branches. I pruned each back to 
only one or two buds, hoping to channel all their vigor, and plan to select 
the stronger of the two in the hopes it will fill the void. I'm guessing this 
will more or less work, but wonder if there might be a better way. I'd 
appreciate any tips you might have. thanks,
-Devin Smith
Rockingham, VT
>From list@ginda.us  Sat Mar 22 07:33:12 2014
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From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
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Subject: Re: [nafex] grafting an apple in May
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This is re my question about grafting an apple tree my husband's uncle =
grow from seed. The uncle passed away, and I'd like to save the tree. =
But for both legal and practical reasons (the will hasn't been probated =
and it's a 5 hour drive to get there) I don't expect to be able to get =
to the property, in the Catskills, zone 5, until May 17th.

I had another thought, as I shopped for rootstocks to have ready. What =
if I potted up the root stocks temporarily in small, portable pots -- =
just enough to keep them moist from when they arrive until when I can =
get there -- and bring them with me when I go up to salvage wood.=20

Would it work to do chip bud grafting with dormant buds onto potted =
root-stock, and then plant to roots into something roomier (the ground, =
or a large, non-portable container) the next day? Or would I have better =
luck with grafting twigs that have some unsprouted buds? If the latter, =
I assume I ought to cut off the fresh growing end of the twig.

Or would it be less disruptive to the roots to plant them someplace good =
for the season as soon as I get them, and just bring some branches home =
to graft?

I have a sharp knife, parafilm, and some rubber bands designed to hold =
graftlings together, so my grafting equipment is quite portable.

Thanks,
Ginda


On Mar 17, 2014, at 10:49 PM, Jwlehman@aol.com wrote:

> Hello Ginda,
>=20
> The suggestion of cutting wood from last years growth that is still =
dormant=20
> and grafting it will work, I've doe it more than once. As was written =
those=20
> are secondary buds nature places in reserve in case the outer blanch =
gets=20
> broken off which then breaks dormancy and develops a new branchlet. =
Because=20
> that bud is secondary it will take maybe three weeks to break after =
grafting.=20
> It can also be stored for a short period.  I'd guess that will work =
clear=20
> up into early July.=20
>=20
> You can also try writing into the closing document that they will save =
the=20
> tree one year and give you permission to cut scion wood next spring. =20=

>=20
> Someone on this list might want scions also for themselves and to help=20=

> preserve it for your grafting. Let them preserve it this summer on =
their tree.=20
> Come to think about it I have two understocks that can be grafted, =
send me=20
> some.
>=20
> Jerry