Grafted, now what?

[Red]

I'm only in my second year of grafting so there is still a lot to learn.
I've got 39 apples grafted this year and all are showing signs of life (although Dolgo, Northern Spy and Black Oxford are WAY behind the others). I'm still hardening them off before getting them into the nursery. I hope to get them replanted next week.
I have some questions about pruning new grafts and if I should do that now or after they are planted in the nursery.
I've pruned the root stock down to 1 nurse branch but on many of them I already have 6" of growth and it is overtaking the graft. Do I leave it, widen the crotch angle so it's not competing with the scion or prune it?
On the scion, I have 2 buds/shoots on most. On ones that are growing strong, should I prune that back to 1 yet?
Thanks

 

[jwill1776]

Those look really good, looks like GRIN scions. I'm a novice as well so can't offer much advise but have similar questions.

How long ago did you graft them?

I grafted about 4 weeks ago and have half the new growth that you have.

 

[buckvelvet]

As soon as the scions showed some promise I cut the rootstock shoots right off and they responded nicely. Other folks have said they keep the rootstock shoots pruned until they know for sure the scion didn't make it.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Nice job! I remove all the root stock leaves as the appear. They serve no function at this point, besides slowing down the growth of your grafts. It might just be me but I would get those planted if frost isnt in the forecast. Otherwise I would think you are going to get some transplant shock, dont let them dry out when replanting them.

 

[Red]

Thanks for the feedback.
Yes, I need to get them in the ground ASAP. I'm overdue but I need to harden them off at bit, I'm afraid they will get a sunburn if I transplant them too quickly.

Should I prune the scion back to 1 shoot as well?

 

[Turkey Creek]

Thanks for the feedback.
Yes, I need to get them in the ground ASAP. I'm overdue but I need to harden them off at bit, I'm afraid they will get a sunburn if I transplant them too quickly.

Should I prune the scion back to 1 shoot as well?

At some point yes. I dont personally worry about that as much until one shoot gets some solid growth behind it. Once they are in ground for a couple weeks go through and see which shoot looks like the best one and remove any others. Some people argue to leave them all for awhile to feed the roots, but at some point you are also wasting energy feeding wood that isnt going to remain.

 

[Red]

Well, after much delay, I got them all planted this week. The wife tells me that we are moving this year so everything is above ground for easy transport. as it stands, it looks like 4-5 grafts didn't take. If I can keep the rest alive, I'll be real happy with the success rate.
I'll let them get used to their new home for a week or two then pinch off the rootstock growth.
12 in the rear are from last year and 39 new grafts this year.

 

[Corey Peterson]

Never seen grocery bags used like that! Looks like it works well.

 

[Red]

Poor mans Root Trapper :)

 

[jwill1776]

Tell me about this fancy watering system does the water flood the top of the plastic or go under it?

 

[tinytim]

I am going to Walmart this afternoon and get a bunch of those bags, great idea, thanks for sharing, and your trees look great

 

[Red]

The irrigation is a self watering system tied into a rain barrel. See the link for where I got the idea.

It worked real well last year (when we were originally supposed to move :) ) so I enlarged it this year.