B118 suckers...what would you do?

[Jhoss]

I've been using B118 root for many years. I've stumbled upon the first one that has suckered. 3 suckers to be exact. I have a hankerin' to try to harvest one or all but have a real concern about harming the mother tree (ChestnutCrab on B118). Anybody have success or failure on such an operation?

I see my options as:
A.) Cut them off and move on.
B.) Harvest 3 B118 rootstocks - maybe even try to stool them.
C.) Start FrankenBush and graft scions onto suckers just for the heck of it.

Your thoughts appreciated.
Here'a a photo;

 

[Prof.Kent]

I've been using B118 root for many years. I've stumbled upon the first one that has suckered. 3 suckers to be exact. I have a hankerin' to try to harvest one or all but have a real concern about harming the mother tree (ChestnutCrab on B118). Anybody have success or failure on such an operation?

I see my options as:
A.) Cut them off and move on.
B.) Harvest 3 B118 rootstocks - maybe even try to stool them.
C.) Start FrankenBush and graft scions onto suckers just for the heck of it.

Your thoughts appreciated.
Here'a a photo;

Suckers grow from roots, water sprouts grow from branches. Thus, technically those are water sprouts, not suckers. The exposed root has bark on it, thus it is a branch!
To create some rootstock I think the following would work. Scratch the water sprouts vertically to encourage new cells to grow (roots will also grow from buds if covered with soil). Place a 6"cardboard tube over the the sprout 12" high, fill with potting soil. Keep the soil damp for a few months for the roots to grow. When the sprouts go dormant cut through at the bottom and transplant. I bet you could graft it this spring and plant it out next spring as a new tree....or three.

 

[Jhoss]

The exposed root has bark on it, thus it is a branch!

I think this is a stretch but your idea here is gold! Like, ground level "air-prune" eh? Please describe the scratching I have ahead of me. Like, (I'm imagining now) take a rasp to one side?...a half inch strip the majority of 12 inches up the "water-sprout".........or........just little dashes of rasp'd off areas, some spots, say 6 inches high...something like that? Hormone powder to help it all out? This sound pretty cool!

 

[Prof.Kent]

I think this is a stretch but your idea here is gold! Like, ground level "air-prune" eh? Please describe the scratching I have ahead of me. Like, (I'm imagining now) take a rasp to one side?...a half inch strip the majority of 12 inches up the "water-sprout".........or........just little dashes of rasp'd off areas, some spots, say 6 inches high...something like that? Hormone powder to help it all out? This sound pretty cool!

I've never tried it, but in theory if you damage (cut, scrape) the bark it has to heal. The cells that grow will differentiate into root cells because the bark is underground (The opposite happened when the roots were exposed to sun and air, they grew bark). I know this happens with grape vine cuttings, so I suppose it is the same with trees too. Roots will grow from immature buds or from that same area if buried.
Yes, rooting hormone can't hurt. I would scrape the outer surface of the bark but not all the way through the cambium layer. You want it to heal without introducing pathogens.
You can place a plastic bag of wet sawdust or light soil taped around a limb to cause air-rooting also.
Cuts, scrapes, or rasps. Try all and take a picture. When you open up the thing next spring take another picture. See where the roots grew best.

 

[DLH]

You may not have to scrape at all I layed some b118 limbs down last summer covered them with saw dust. This spring I moved them and they had put out some roots. I was surprised since I started so late.

 

[Prof.Kent]

No, you don't have to scrape to produce roots. I know it is done to encourage roots in grape vine cuttings so I figured the same would be true of apple trees.

 

[Spur]

I had suckers like that a couple years ago. I cleft grafted in the spring and put pine chips half way up the suckers. In the fall they all had roots right up to the top of the sawdust. No need to scratch them as I see that as a point of entrance for an infection.

 

[Jhoss]

Good info all!

 

[chummer]

I vote for C

 

[H20fwler]

I would cut them...but the frankenbush has possibilities!

 

[Jhoss]

Time to plant the air-pruned grafts out.

 

[Jhoss]

Zoom in to the bags.

 

[Jhoss]

The grafting tape falls off, graft looks good.

 

[Jhoss]

Cut the bag off, the whole thing feels frozen solid, it’s only about 32degrees.

 

[Jhoss]

Some roots sticking out there right at the tip of the knife.

 

[Jhoss]

Here’s the trunk cut away, got a worm there.

 

[Jhoss]

The graft is about 6 inches above the dirt, the tree now is just a tad over 5 feet tall. This is the most growth on any graft in 10 years of practice. Shows what power a mature root system has.

 

[Jhoss]

Rabbit and deer protection in place. Hard part done.

 

[Jhoss]

If you want to see the prequel to this, search for “propagating rootsuckers”