Apple and toringo Crabapple from whips.

[bigboreblr]

Anybody try growing a apple tree from a sap sucker? Take a 2ft or so whip, pop all but a few buds from the top, root hormone, and plant. Tried doing it with dormant toringo crabapple whips last winter, no luck. They lived awhile until july. Well watered and shaded from sun too.

I live in an area once known around the world for apple orchards. Want to keep the strain alive if possible. Could try grafting a few from the wild apple rootstocks Im getting from SLN.

 

[chickenlittle]

Just grafting is the easiest and fastest way to propagate an apple tree.

Rooting of apple dormant hard wood cuttings is variable. Some root better than others. The procedures I’ve seen from university studies would take the cutting, treat with rooting solution, then root in a heated most medium for a couple months with the top cool to keep it dormant. Then plant out and see how many takes you get.

Some guys will take the tops of the rootstocks when grafting and plant them out in a pot or garden. Any takes are a bonus.

There is a way to try getting a small branch to root by surrounding it with moist dirt for a few months. Once it roots, cut it and plant it. Not sure I’ve seen anyone having great success with this for apples.

What I did to get a variety onto its own roots is graft it and then buried the tree on its side the following year. I mound dirt up around suckers in mid-late summer. By spring, I can pull the dirt back and cut off the rooted whip. This is called a stool bed. Choose a rootstock with different colored leaves. For a green leaf tree, bud 118 would be a good close since it has red leaves. That way you know which rooted whip is what.

 

[cavey]

If you are talking water sprouts off of branches than as chickenlittle said grafting is the best option.

If you are talking root suckers or sprouts originating at the base or below a graft union then stooling them would be a better option then taking cuttings. Ive done that with crabs, its common to do that to get more root stock for later grafting or just growing out the root stock what ever it may be on apple trees.

Rooting out fruit tree cuttings just doesnt work - there are exceptions but relatively rare for all the work you have to do.

 

[b116757]

Air layering may work IDK never tried it.

 

[g squared 23]

Air layering may work IDK never tried it.

Air layering is on my to-do list, seems an easy way to clone a tree during the growing season and it seems like it’d be faster and more productive than budding.

I pulled a few root suckers from under one of my larger trees this weekend, cut them back and potted. Hopefully growing rootstock for next year.


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[b116757]

Rootstock are pretty cheap generally speaking about $4 each maybe more maybe less depending on who you get them from when and what number your ordering.

 

[sandbur]

Air layering is on my to-do list, seems an easy way to clone a tree during the growing season and it seems like it’d be faster and more productive than budding.

I pulled a few root suckers from under one of my larger trees this weekend, cut them back and potted. Hopefully growing rootstock for next year.


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I have transplanted some of those root suckers that grow 10-20 feet from my oldest chestnut crab. Last spring, I top worked three of them into Big Dog and Buckman Crab. I found three more that I had forgotten about and they are about 12 feet tall. They throw a half inch crab and will be top worked into Big Dog and Buckman. Maybe one will be a Puget Spice.


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[sandbur]

15 or so years ago, at least two of us tried those air layering pots with complete failures. I suspect our climate was part of the reason for failure.

My buddy has taken the tops of rootstock from bench grafting and stuck them in a pot of dirt on the north side of the garage. A few have taken. I think he said 25-30 per cent. Perhaps these were B118.


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