2014 Grafting Adventures of CrazyED

[CrazyEd]

No recent pics but I dug a few trees in October but they we nice. The extra capacity will help me out. I would have liked more spacing.

 

[dipper]

Those were grafted 2014 right?

 

[greyphase]

That's a nice bunch of trees, Matt.

 

[CrazyEd]

Those were grafted 2014 right?

I think I did 100 in 2014, and 125 in 2015. The right half of the nursery are the 2015s, left is 2014s.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Nice trees C-Ed. Just out of curiosity, is there a variety that seems to take off & grow better than others - once grafted ??

 

[Turkey Creek]

Nice trees C-Ed. Just out of curiosity, is there a variety that seems to take off & grow better than others - once grafted ??

I am not speaking for Crazy Ed, but pretty sure he and anyone else who grafts will agree that there are indeed growth rate differences amongst varieties. Those growth rates tend to carry on through the life of the tree as well. Some varieties that show faster growth for me are Liberty, Kinnaird Choice and Hewes Crabapple. Same applies to pears in my experience as well.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I'll say that for us at camp, Enterprise has grown fast, as has Liberty and Chestnut crab. They were grafted from the nurseries - SLN, Cummins, ACN.

 

[CrazyEd]

For me, Florina, Galarina, sherry and Scarlett Ohara have been the best growers in my 2014 class. They made huge jumps from year 1 to year 2.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[NY_Terrence]

did you transplant any trees from 2014 class in to the field after year one? If so, how did they do vs those in your nursery. I'd like to move my grafts from last year to the field to make room for new ones, but only if they will be able to thrive. Most are 3 to 4 ft. or so and did well with regular watering and weeding.

 

[CrazyEd]

So my first year of grafting was 2013. I moved all of those trees to the field after 1 year. They did pretty good. But my biggest trees from the class of 2014 are probably bigger than most of the class of 2013. For me the extra year of pampering is well worth it. I have some very nice 8' bull whips with a few feathers. I am in no hurry to move them either. I want to keep it manageable. It's nice just having a steady flow of 20-30 trees a year.

Here is a picture of a prairie spy middle of summer, grafted in 2013 to B.118 stock.

 

[NY_Terrence]

2014 was my first year for grafting and I planted them DIRECTLY in the field. Basically, "plant it and forget it." Miraculously, I have four survivors that look something like the one in your picture. I've learned a lot since then - thanks in large part to your post. On another note... to cage my trees, I buy 100' rolls of 48" galvanized welded wire at +/- $70/roll. Your tree has something different. What's it called and how much do you pay?

 

[CrazyEd]

Concrete Mesh. We buy it at Menards when on sale I think it's 150' rolls for $75 or $79. It's 5' tall, and we get 10 cages per roll. We have gotten completely away from using t-posts so it helps reduce costs. It's nice and firm, we put 1 or two stakes to hold the cage in place but havent had any issues with deer pushing them over. It blends into the surroundings pretty nice.

Ideally you have 2 people to cut cages. The stuff is wound up pretty tight with a lot of tension so it's way easier with 2 or 3 people. Just cut it with heavy duty bolt cutters.

 

[sandbur]

Concrete Mesh. We buy it at Menards when on sale I think it's 150' rolls for $75 or $79. It's 5' tall, and we get 10 cages per roll. We have gotten completely away from using t-posts so it helps reduce costs. It's nice and firm, we put 1 or two stakes to hold the cage in place but havent had any issues with deer pushing them over. It blends into the surroundings pretty nice.

Ideally you have 2 people to cut cages. The stuff is wound up pretty tight with a lot of tension so it's way easier with 2 or 3 people. Just cut it with heavy duty bolt cutters.

I purchased a roll of cement wire from Menards this fall and it was of a different style. I hope it works as well.

 

[2ndHand]

Ed - what type and length stakes are you using with the concrete wire? I bough a bunch of t-post on Craigslist list but have not used them yet - stakes sound much quicker. Thanks!
Here"s a photo of my free standing cages from this year's plantings.

 

[sandbur]

I am not Ed (or Matt) but I buy 10 foot lengths of conduit when on sale and cut them into 3 pieces for stakes. I also use about anything that is being thrown out from around the house. Metal poles from old lamps, shower curtain rods, various pieces of scrap iron, old lawn mower blades or handles from push lawn mowers.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I have used the conduit same as Sandbur and had good luck. No reason a T post wouldnt work if you had them lying around.

 

[CrazyEd]

We had a bunch of steel rods laying around that are probably 24-32" long that we use. They're about 3/4" in diameter.

Tposts are fine if you have them. If you have to pay retail they can be pricy. We have a bunch of t-posts but we save them for places we really need them.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

If you have stony ground, 1/2" re-bar works well. The cheapest way to buy it ( that I've found ), is to buy 10' lengths and cut it to the length you need using a cutting torch or better yet - a re-bar cutter.

 

[2ndHand]

I am not Ed (or Matt) but I buy 10 foot lengths of conduit when on sale and cut them into 3 pieces for stakes. I also use about anything that is being thrown out from around the house. Metal poles from old lamps, shower curtain rods, various pieces of scrap iron, old lawn mower blades or handles from push lawn mowers.

Thanks for the suggestion with the conduit - I have enough t-posts for what I have currently planted but I am planning on adding an additional 63 trees next year and a similar amount in 2017 & 18. The conduit idea would quicker and cheaper - plus I wouldn't have to drive around buying t-posts from Craigslist.
Thanks!

 

[2ndHand]

If you have stony ground, 1/2" re-bar works well. The cheapest way to buy it ( that I've found ), is to buy 10' lengths and cut it to the length you need using a cutting torch or better yet - a re-bar cutter.

Thanks for the rebar idea - does Menards sell it?