yoderjac
5 year old buck +
The Experiment:
Will extending the growing season by bench grafting apples indoors in the winter and starting them under lights advantage the trees over trees bench grafted as normal in the spring.
Method:
-Purchase rootstock early and keep it in the cold room.
-Start grafting in the 1st half of Jan.
-Place new grafted rootstock in 1 gal RB2s and put them in the cold room for a week or say to callus.
-Graft a control group at normal grafting time.
-Place them in 1 gal RB2s and in the cold room to callus.
-Move them outside when the last threat of frost has passed.
-Keep both sets on my deck together for the first growing season and plant in late summer and fall as time permits.
Annotation:
I planned to use scions provided by USDA GRIN. Unfortunately with the government shutdown, I'm not sure if they will arrive in the 1st half of Jan as expected. So, I went to the farm and collected scions from young trees that I've planted in previous years. If an when the GRIN scions come in, I will graft them. Depending on the timing, I may have three groups to compare. In previous years, I have grafted apple seedlings indoors that were grown in rootmakers. Grafting success was fair, probably largely due to poor grafting technique. I did not even bother to let the grafts callus before putting them under lights. I believe this was a mistake. In many cases, the root stock began to leaf out well before the scion. By keeping them in the cold room for a week or so, I hope to advantage the scions and get better overall grafting success
Rootstock:
1/4" M111
More on the rootstock availability here: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/winter-rootstock-availability.10183/
GRIN Scions Ordered:
PI 588866 Kerr
PI 588870 Dolgo
PI 588909 Centennial
PI 613818 Wickson
PI 589425 Dasyealyx
PI 589768 GMAL 2369
PI 589777 PRI 1918-1
PI 589824 Jonsib Crab
PI 589976 GMAL 2892
PI 213405 Golden Hornet
PI 613941 Coop 41
PI 613990 KAZ 96 06-03
Scions Collected from my trees:
590198.04 - Coop 11http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...m-seed-indoors-how-to.6613/page-5#post-160537
Virginia Crab (Hewes)
BlackTwig
Progress:
I have grafted a dozen rootstock so far most are whip and tongue but I used a grafting tool to wedge graft a few that fit the grafting tool well. I found I had better success with the grafting tool last year than W&T largely due to my poor skills. I'm hoping to improve on those skills this year.
I grafted 4 590198.04 - Coop 11 on 1/10/2019, all W&T. One with a grafting jig I made (http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/grafting-jig.10440/), and the rest by hand.
I grafted 3 Virginia Crab (Hewes) and 1 BlackTwig on 1/11/2019, all W&T with no jig.
I grafted 4 BlackTwig on 11/12/2019, 2 W&T with no jig and 2 Wedge using the grafting tool.
References:
More on the grafting tool I used here: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/grafting-tools.10279/#post-186337
This thread has more on both the grafting tool and my previous experience grafting apple seedlings indoors: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...m-seed-indoors-how-to.6613/page-5#post-160537
I hope to update this thread as things progress.
Thanks,
Jack
Will extending the growing season by bench grafting apples indoors in the winter and starting them under lights advantage the trees over trees bench grafted as normal in the spring.
Method:
-Purchase rootstock early and keep it in the cold room.
-Start grafting in the 1st half of Jan.
-Place new grafted rootstock in 1 gal RB2s and put them in the cold room for a week or say to callus.
-Graft a control group at normal grafting time.
-Place them in 1 gal RB2s and in the cold room to callus.
-Move them outside when the last threat of frost has passed.
-Keep both sets on my deck together for the first growing season and plant in late summer and fall as time permits.
Annotation:
I planned to use scions provided by USDA GRIN. Unfortunately with the government shutdown, I'm not sure if they will arrive in the 1st half of Jan as expected. So, I went to the farm and collected scions from young trees that I've planted in previous years. If an when the GRIN scions come in, I will graft them. Depending on the timing, I may have three groups to compare. In previous years, I have grafted apple seedlings indoors that were grown in rootmakers. Grafting success was fair, probably largely due to poor grafting technique. I did not even bother to let the grafts callus before putting them under lights. I believe this was a mistake. In many cases, the root stock began to leaf out well before the scion. By keeping them in the cold room for a week or so, I hope to advantage the scions and get better overall grafting success
Rootstock:
1/4" M111
More on the rootstock availability here: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/winter-rootstock-availability.10183/
GRIN Scions Ordered:
PI 588866 Kerr
PI 588870 Dolgo
PI 588909 Centennial
PI 613818 Wickson
PI 589425 Dasyealyx
PI 589768 GMAL 2369
PI 589777 PRI 1918-1
PI 589824 Jonsib Crab
PI 589976 GMAL 2892
PI 213405 Golden Hornet
PI 613941 Coop 41
PI 613990 KAZ 96 06-03
Scions Collected from my trees:
590198.04 - Coop 11http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...m-seed-indoors-how-to.6613/page-5#post-160537
Virginia Crab (Hewes)
BlackTwig
Progress:
I have grafted a dozen rootstock so far most are whip and tongue but I used a grafting tool to wedge graft a few that fit the grafting tool well. I found I had better success with the grafting tool last year than W&T largely due to my poor skills. I'm hoping to improve on those skills this year.
I grafted 4 590198.04 - Coop 11 on 1/10/2019, all W&T. One with a grafting jig I made (http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/grafting-jig.10440/), and the rest by hand.
I grafted 3 Virginia Crab (Hewes) and 1 BlackTwig on 1/11/2019, all W&T with no jig.
I grafted 4 BlackTwig on 11/12/2019, 2 W&T with no jig and 2 Wedge using the grafting tool.
References:
More on the grafting tool I used here: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/grafting-tools.10279/#post-186337
This thread has more on both the grafting tool and my previous experience grafting apple seedlings indoors: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.p...m-seed-indoors-how-to.6613/page-5#post-160537
I hope to update this thread as things progress.
Thanks,
Jack
