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nafex - [nafex] Grafting - nurse limbs and apical dominance

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  • From: Elizabeth Hilborn <ehilborn@mebtel.net>
  • To: mailing list at ibiblio - Northamerican Allied Fruit Experimenters <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [nafex] Grafting - nurse limbs and apical dominance
  • Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:32:59 -0400

I am grafting to apple and pear rootstock suckers. The original grafted trees are gone. Last year I stripped off growth on the shoots arising below the graft, but had no takes. This year, I selected suckers with side shoots which I left to use as nurse limbs in the hope that increased shoot vigor would give me better results.

Question- some of the nurse limb apices are higher than the apical shoot of the graft. I have only found one source that suggests that one does not prune the nurse limb until the graft takes. But I am afraid that the apical dominance effect of the nurse limb will prevent my grafts from taking. My only thought is to 'split the difference' - to tie nurse limbs down horizontally.

Does anyone have experience with this issue?

Betsy Hilborn
7a NC





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