I've now finished up grafting and potting, and instead of throwing any rootstock tops, roots, or scions away, I stuck them all in potting mix inside cutoff plastic pop bottles along the way, fitting in as many together as seemed would reasonably fit. Here's how things are looking:
- B.118: The tops of the B.118 were already leafed out when I received them. All seem to be clinging to life so far, though not looking very healthy. I put them out in sunlight right away a little over two weeks ago. I think they were too far out of dormancy to root very well this way. I don't expect any to persist, but it's not like I'm actually spending any time caring for them, so they can sit there outside for as long as they want. That goes for the rest of this too.
- M.111: I covered the M.111 root prunings with potting mix about six weeks ago. No shoots have come up so far.
- Honeycrisp: Of the three Honeycrisp scions I buried, all three rooted within four days. One seems to be growing well, though not vigorously. While throwing out the other two recently, I discovered that I had simply buried them below the first viable bud on each and they were still alive. They are back in potting mix, though not as deep. After observing that, I went ahead and moved all the other potted scions outside as well.
- Arkansas Black: None of the Arkansas Black showed any sign of life for the first three weeks in potting mix. I had a hunch that maybe the bark was too thick to allow the cambium layer to send a root through. I put them all on an anvil and smashed the bottom inch or two with a hammer. After that, seven out of eight greened up. They have been in the sun a couple weeks. One or two look like they might persist. After observing these green up, I smashed the lower ends of all scions potted subsequently.
- Dolgo Seedling: I picked up some scions a couple weeks ago from under a Dolgo seedling rootstock that I had allowed to grow into a tree. I had pruned that tree at Thanksgiving time. I rehydrated the scions two days and then put them in potting mix. Nearly all have at least green tip. At least one seems to be thriving.
- Missing Label Apple Tree: I collected scions from this tree because it is the favorite tree for deer out of about 300 apple trees on that property. I had fourteen scions that turned out to be too small in caliper for me to graft. Each included a terminal bud. I put them in a cutoff pop bottle together, kept them in the dark for one week, and then moved them to sunlight. During the two weeks in the light so far, twelve have opened and all those appear to be viable so far.
- Other Stuff: I emptied my refrigerator of all the other leftover apple and pear scions and stuck them all in potting mix too.
I'm not planning to turn this into a project of its own. Everything will have to fend for itself from here on out.