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Post by greenfinger on Dec 12, 2010 15:53:50 GMT -5
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Post by garnetmoth on Dec 12, 2010 16:11:06 GMT -5
im pretty new at trees. We tried to root the local mulberries one year. a few started to take, then got moldy and died.
This will result in a tree that has the parent qualities- if you want a dwarfed version you'll need to graft them onto dwarfing rootstock. good luck!
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Post by mjc on Dec 12, 2010 17:27:00 GMT -5
The problem with that method is not all fruit trees respond well...in fact some are nearly impossible to root that way (apples). Stone fruits may, with European, American and European/American derived plum varieties being the more likely root, with the true wild plums being the easiest to root from hardwood cuttings. Cherries are a bit harder, followed by apricots, peaches/nectarines and things like pluots and other hybrids being some of the hardest to root from cuttings.
Quince is probably the easiest 'pome' fruit to start from cuttings. Pears are easier than apples, which are very difficult to nearly impossible. Even with various rooting hormones, apples are difficult...in fact, clonal techniques aren't even as assured with apples as with other plants.
Mulberries, currants, blueberries, brambles, grapes and such (small fruits) are some of the easiest to start from cuttings, in general.
But, all is not as bleak as it seems...if you don't want to go the grafting route and are trying something that is hard to impossible to root from a cutting, layering is another alternative. To layer you make a cut in a twig (basically the same size as you'd take for a cutting or for grafting), but not all the way through...an upward slanting cut, no more than halfway in, place a sliver of wood in the cut to keep it apart. Then you either bury that cut (if the parent branch is close enough to the ground) or wrap the cut with compost/damp moss and plastic wrap. Tape off the ends above and below the plastic. You should also cover the plastic with some kind of light cloth or burlap to shade it. By leaving the 'cutting' attached to the parent, it keeps it alive and allows more time for root development, which in apples can take a couple of years...
And with apples that isn't even assured...I've had moderate success with layering apples (3 out of the 5 I've done) and none, at all, with cuttings. Layering blueberries on the other hand...more than 100% (yes, I've had a couple that I buried a little too much root in more than one spot).
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Post by greenfinger on Mar 12, 2011 12:01:03 GMT -5
UPDATE
It looks lick I got lucky! I took mjc to heart, and tried 10 pears, and 16 apples scions dipped in powder rootone over the winter. 6 pears are sprouting leaves, as well as 4 apples! YAY!!!!
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Post by castanea on Mar 12, 2011 22:32:16 GMT -5
UPDATE It looks lick I got lucky! I took mjc to heart, and tried 10 pears, and 16 apples scions dipped in powder rootone over the winter. 6 pears are sprouting leaves, as well as 4 apples! YAY!!!! Good luck but it's not over. I have had dozens of fruit or nut trees sprout leaves and even grow a little. But very few fruit and nut trees are ultimately successful from rooting. Most show very slow growth. You can waste years waiting for them to show any kind of normal growth pattern and even then they may not produce fruit. A grafted apple tree can produce fruit the second year (not the best idea to let it do so, but many can do it). But assuming you can keep a rooted apple tree alive, it can take it 10-20 years to produce fruit. For most fruit and nut trees, rooting is a complete waste of time. Pomegranates and figs are notable exceptions but they are more shrubby than tree-like anyway. Some mulberry vareities will root successfully but many won't. Che trees will root successfully but then they produce che fruit, so what's the point? |
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bertiefox
gardener
There's always tomorrow!
Posts: 236
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Post by bertiefox on May 9, 2011 7:49:59 GMT -5
Further to the layering advice above, I have always found the way for a typical thumb fingered incompetent like me to get grafting to work is to do proximity grafting. You just put the rootstock plant next to the one from which you wish to graft, maybe on a table in there are no shoots low down, and remove the bark in the recommended way from both shoots. Bind them tightly together with tape and leave them both growing. It doesn't take as much skill and you will be unlucky if the graft hasn't taken within a couple of months. You then detach the shoot from the desired species from the parent and move the new graft away with its rootstock.
I did a favourite cherry plum this way before moving to France and it's now a huge tree!
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