For the cleft-grafting experts

[deepsleep]

I have a bunch of seedling crabs planted from CSF that will be going on 4th and 5th leaf next year that I would like to top work over to some more desirable varieties. I also have over 100 grafted trees about the same age, so no shortage of scion wood. My biggest problem is living >1000 miles away from my farm. I am wondering if there is a window where I could harvest scion and cleft graft in the same week. Alternatively, I could harvest scion and store it in my basement until ideal cleft grafting time, but I think the temperatures may get below freezing. Do freezing temps kill dormant scion wood? I am in Southern MI, zone 5. Thanks for any insight.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Store scion wood in fridge and it won't freeze and will last a long time as long as you keep them damp. I also thin you could graft scion wood to rootstock as soon as you harvest them and then get them in some moist newspaper or into a 5 gallon bucket of moist peat moss and keep it from freezing at around 45 to 50 degrees until they harden a bit. Just be careful when you transport them

 

[deepsleep]

The problem I have is that I live in FL and my property is in MI. We typically go up for a few days in Feb, when I prune the apples and hingecut everything I can, and a week in early May when I do mostly planting and more cutting. We keep our place winterized when we are not there, so we have the heat turned off. I guess I have a couple options. I could leave the heat on 40 or 50 and keep the fridge going until I get back up there. I could convince my neighbor to store it for me, but what if I show up to spend 3 days grafting and my scion wood is all dead. Too much pressure on the neighbor to watch it. Perhaps the easiest/safest thing would be to order scion wood from a good source. That way, I could add some varieties I have been wanting to add. I've also realized from some further researching of several people's posts that bark/rind grafting is probably the way to go if my crabapples are big enough. Who have you guys ordered scion wood from that you were happy with? Thanks.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

The best scionwood comes from the members here in this forum and I bought wood from these guys last year and the wood was great http://www.maplevalleyorchards.com/Pages/OrderingInfo.aspx

 

[leexrayshady]

I would do your cleft grafting in may as long as it is early may like the first week

 

[greyphase]

The best scionwood comes from the members here in this forum and I bought wood from these guys last year and the wood was great http://www.maplevalleyorchards.com/Pages/OrderingInfo.aspx

+1

 

[deepsleep]

Great idea on the scion exchange. What I might be able to do is harvest a bunch of scion wood as my contribution to the pot when I do my pruning, and mail it to someone with a beer fridge. Most of the grafting I'll be doing is for deer, so I'll be mostly looking at the usual disease resistant stuff. I also bought a new property a couple falls ago because it is perfect for a few rut hunts to take pressure off of my main place. I have yet to start the habitat work on that place, but I am thinking it may be time to start planting some rootstocks for later grafting. For those of you that do this, do you do the full protection regimen from the start--cage, window screen, etc. I am wondering how ant, M111, or B118 would do just thrown in 5' vented tubes for a couple of years. I know disease/mice are the concerns. The problem is that it is much more difficult for me to get some of my equipment to the new place, and hauling 30 or 40 cages over there would be a pain.

 

[deepsleep]

I had 3 B118 rootstock that bench grafts didn't take. They spent the summer in 7 gallon rootmaker bags. The tallest is over 5' with the others at 4'. I'm guessing if you let them go inside tubes for 2 years they'd be 12' tall. Most on here bench grafted in the spring. If the grafts didn't take then the bud grafted later in the summer. If you graft when you get them you'll be two years ahead than if you plant them and wait two years.

I was thinking of planting in the spring and then t-budding that summer, or rind grafting the next spring. I am just trying to figure out how to be as efficient as possible because I have a very limited number of habitat days. It makes things challenging when you never drive to your property. I ship stuff to a neighbor a few days before my arrival, and then it is 6AM until dark-thirty every day. I call it habitat week, my wife calls it work week. This photo is from the year we planted and protected 500 shrubs, 150+ apples/pears, cuttings, spruces, etc. over the course of a week. The worst part was stapling down a couple hundred sheets of lumite. That was 4 years ago, and it still gets referenced frequently by the boss.

 

[deepsleep]

I give you a lot of credit. I'm on my land almost every weekend and still don't get everything done.

Whenever we "get everything done," I get on the forums and come up with a whole new set of projects. It is never ending, but that is a huge part of the appeal. It is truly one the only year-round sports/hobbies. I always feel like if I could just go spend 3 months up there, I could finish everything up, but I know I couldn't. I showed my wife that picture last night and got "the look."

 

[2ndHand]

Whenever we "get everything done," I get on the forums and come up with a whole new set of projects. It is never ending, but that is a huge part of the appeal. It is truly one the only year-round sports/hobbies. I always feel like if I could just go spend 3 months up there, I could finish everything up, but I know I couldn't. I showed my wife that picture last night and got "the look."

I totally agree - I look forward to spending weeks at a time at my farm once I retire. I can reminder planting a row of 50 Elderberry (cage & Lumite) with my son and wife in a late season snow/sleet storm.

What size lumite did you use with your fruit trees? I have a roll of 6 ft. that I will be using next spring. For my next order I am thinking of layering with either 3 or 4 ft. width fabric. Thanks!

 

[2ndHand]

The best scionwood comes from the members here in this forum and I bought wood from these guys last year and the wood was great http://www.maplevalleyorchards.com/Pages/OrderingInfo.aspx

Do you know when they will start taking orders for spring 2015? Thanks!

 

[Turkey Creek]

Do you know when they will start taking orders for spring 2015? Thanks!

I bought some from there as well last year. I would guess right after the first of the year you can put in an order, most places have a last date you can order because once trees are pruned they are done gathering scion wood. I am sure we will have a scion swap thread on here as winter begins to wind down.

You might post up a list of varieties you are looking for now and see if anyone has what you are looking for before you worry about ordering.

 

[deepsleep]

I totally agree - I look forward to spending weeks at a time at my farm once I retire. I can reminder planting a row of 50 Elderberry (cage & Lumite) with my son and wife in a late season snow/sleet storm.

What size lumite did you use with your fruit trees? I have a roll of 6 ft. that I will be using next spring. For my next order I am thinking of layering with either 3 or 4 ft. width fabric. Thanks!

We use 6' x 6' squares for apples in most areas, 4 x 4 in lower lying areas where I have concerns about drainage. So far, we have only lost 1 grafted tree--it was planted pretty close to a walnut I had not noticed. I am a huge believer in Lumite, and appreciate whoever brought it to our attention 5 years ago (Stu maybe?)

 

[2ndHand]

We use 6' x 6' squares for apples in most areas, 4 x 4 in lower lying areas where I have concerns about drainage. So far, we have only lost 1 grafted tree--it was planted pretty close to a walnut I had not noticed. I am a huge believer in Lumite, and appreciate whoever brought it to our attention 5 years ago (Stu maybe?)

Thanks for the info deepsleep! Will be planting 9 apple trees this weekend that I grafted earlier this year. This was my first year grafting - enjoyed the processing and watching them grow!