Yesterday I decided to do some pruning. I checked the front field first where my tallest grafts from last year were. They were all 4' and taller and more than 50 trees ( mostly Honeycrisp and Fuji). I had all but 4 trees that weren't completely girdled. I ended up snipping the rootstock just below the girdle and snipped the top growth off. The top growth was still green on all of them so I am guessing they survived. I re-grafted the top growth onto the shortened rootstock and now hoping they take. I will update everyone on the progress in a month to see if this works.
On another part of the orchard, I had the deer eat my top growth right down to the ground and most of those were Ark. Black and Fuji on B118.
I also had 25 cherry rootstock from last year as well in a fenced in area. Every single one of those seedlings were girdled 100% and the height of the chewed area was approx. 4". I am writing those off as a complete loss. The Mahaleb plum were co-mingled with them and they didn't touch a one.
The critters really did some damage to my trees this past winter. Definitely need to invest in window screen for next winter.
On another part of the orchard, I had the deer eat my top growth right down to the ground and most of those were Ark. Black and Fuji on B118.
I also had 25 cherry rootstock from last year as well in a fenced in area. Every single one of those seedlings were girdled 100% and the height of the chewed area was approx. 4". I am writing those off as a complete loss. The Mahaleb plum were co-mingled with them and they didn't touch a one.
The critters really did some damage to my trees this past winter. Definitely need to invest in window screen for next winter.
