Any Frankentrees out there?

WTNUT

5 year old buck +
I have two to three apple trees I top worked 10 or so years ago and they have 3-4 varieties on them. This spring, I want to take one of my established tree and start a super Frankentree. Over time, I want to see how many varieties I can add to the tree.

Do any of you have multiple varieties on one tree, and what were your dos and don’ts from the experience?

I planted 22 trees this fall, and those are likely the last I will plant. 150 or in 15 or so food plots is enough for me to take care of at this point.

Last question, I need to research some but as I recall there are a couple of different ways to graft to smaller branches. What worked best for you?


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I have a couple trees at my house with 15 varieties on them. They’re used as my scion nursery to graft to rootstocks I’ll be planting at the farm.

I do keep a few limbs for fresh eating apples of varieties I like.

Can’t say I’ve had any issues with that many types on one tree thus far.

I’ve been whip/tongue or rind/bark grafting have been my go to. The smaller stuff gets the rind/bark graft.


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Anybody used one of the grafting splice cutters with different blade shapes. I’ve always wondered if they work.

 
I have one with 8 varieties on it. Produced some excellent honeygold this year. The other blooms got hit by frost. I just use a cleft graft for everything.
 
When I leave ungrafted limbs to nurse the tree, the limbs I leave grow like crazy during the first summer and the grafts grow a modest amount.

When I graft new tips onto all the limbs and remove all the other growth so that the limbs are bare, buds form out of nowhere on the limbs and I get waterspouts.

When I cut all the limbs off to near the trunk and rind graft the stubs, the trunk sends out lots of waterspouts, plus sometimes the root sends up suckers.

When I graft just the leader on a tree and leave the lower branches, waterspouts on the branches grow to a higher elevation than the grafted leader.

When I graft new varieties onto just the lower branches of a large tree, I wonder whether the branches that form from the grafts will get enough sunlight to produce fruit.

This all reminds me that I have a lot of pruning to do.
 
If grafting on a very young tree, remember that some varieties grow much more vigorously than others. Also grafts near the top of the tree will grow faster than those at the sides or bottom. This can unbalance a tree quickly. Thus, you usually want to graft vigorous growers lower, and graft less vigorous growers higher.
 
If grafting on a very young tree, remember that some varieties grow much more vigorously than others. Also grafts near the top of the tree will grow faster than those at the sides or bottom. This can unbalance a tree quickly. Thus, you usually want to graft vigorous growers lower, and graft less vigorous growers higher.

Kent, what do you call a “very young tree”? I would not be grating anything less than 7 years old.


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"Not mature". 7+ years is probably full height by now.
Are you just adding to the tree or topwoerking it over to new varieties?
 
I have 3 trees with over 30 varieties on each tree. In hindsight, it would be nice to have them in the same bloom period to avoid spraying issues, but I can split the difference. One of the trees has Red Astrachan on it, which blooms early and sets fruit that the plum curculio get going on while other varieties are still blooming.

One tip is that location on the tree makes a tremendous difference in terms of graft vigor. Stick it on the end of an outer branch and it will grow modestly and set fruit quickly. Stick it on a water sprout near the trunk and it will grow more wood than fruit before it settles down. A graft in the right spot can grow 4-6 feet in the first season.

Also, labeling is a tremendous issue if you want to keep track of what's what. I have a thread in here somewhere about the labels that finally worked for me.

With limited space, it's awesome having trees with ripe apples from July well into November, and having access to varieties that you'd never be able get your hands on otherwise.
 
Anybody used one of the grafting splice cutters with different blade shapes. I’ve always wondered if they work.

I use one of these when I can - works great when the scion and stock diameter match.
 
"Not mature". 7+ years is probably full height by now.
Are you just adding to the tree or topwoerking it over to new varieties?

I am just going to add to it.


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This granny smith lost the central leader when it was fairly young, I let it grow as an open center with one set of scaffold limbs. A couple years ago I decided to graft each limb to a different variety, eleven total. Frankengranny is not only ugly, she's a leaner too.

One of the varieties grafted on was pipsqueak, finally starting to bloom.
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I dont have many frankensteined trees out in the field but I have a handful in the nursery.... banked extra scion on them as a storage tree for later use.

I have a few trees that I grafted some crab scion on just to help as a pollinator.
 
I have 4 franken trees.


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I couldn’t help myself and had to start “diversifying” my small orchard. It’s definitely my best option at this point because I’m essentially out of room for new trees. Any underperforming varieties might now be in some serious trouble


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I've got a red delicious from TSC that I planted 6-7 years ago just to graft other stuff too.
It has maybe seven or eight varieties on it now, I've got some extra left over scion in the fridge. I need to take the ladder with me next time I go out and add some more!
 
We are very near time to topwork here. It has been a late spring.


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Just did some bark grafts today and tree was just starting to put out leaves, like they say the size of a squirrel's ear. Bark was very easy to peel back and hopefully all goes well. Moving some harrison cider scion around and trying to get some to grow more vigorous as the one b118 grafted tree I got from Cummins is just a slow grower on my hillside. Maybe putting on a crab tree will kick start some production in several yrs
 
I have a half dozen apple trees in my backyard and all are Frankentrees in the making. They each have 4-5 varieties as of now but I'm sure that will continue to change as time goes on. The idea of trying different apples always has me on the lookout for something else to graft.
 
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