HOW TO PLANT AN APPLE TREE IN THE FALL ON AN OLD TREE: BASIC TIPS AND TRICKS

Vaccination is a painstaking and rather laborious exercise, but it saves time on growing a new tree. In this article we will talk about the proper conduct of this procedure, as well as learn how to care for the grafted tree.

The optimal timing and purpose of vaccination

Vaccination is done for:

rejuvenation of old wood;
preservation of qualities of the variety;
accelerate the cultivation of trees;
increase the resistance of the new variety due to the old stock.

It is necessary to do such operations while the tree is at rest - in spring or autumn. Each season has its advantages and disadvantages.

Did you know? People began to consume the fruits of wild apples from the Neolithic times. Wild apples were found at the sites of ancient people. But the idea of cultivating a wild plant came to people much later..

Most gardeners agree that it is more favorable to carry out work in the spring:

graft takes root better;
all methods of vaccination can be used;
if the graft has not taken root, there is time to make a new vaccine.

But in the fall there are advantages:

more moisture and no particular drought;
seedlings take root better and tolerate transplant more easily;
hardening seedlings and increased survival.

You will probably be interested to get acquainted with the basic rules of grafting fruit trees in spring and summer, as well as to know why and when it is best to plant fruit trees.

The optimal time for work:

in spring - the beginning of April, before the buds start blooming, at an air temperature of + 7-9 ° C;
in the autumn - September-early October, so that the vaccine has a supply of warm weather in 20-30 days (+ 10-15 ° C).

Possible ways

There are several ways to graft cuttings - budding and copulation.

Budding

This method is used in spring or summer, when the bark moves away from wood well. It is carried out by grafting the kidney with a flap. Serves for receiving saplings. The best time for such a procedure is spring and summer. Autumn is not desirable.

Copulation

With this method, the cutting is combined with the stock. The method is quite simple, with a high survival rate of cuttings, suitable for beginner gardeners.

Important! When copulating, it is imperative to observe the same thickness of the scion and stock.

Allocate copulation:

simple - Scion and rootstock cut equally obliquely, applied to each other and wound. The whole operation should take less than a minute - until the slice is oxidized. It is used for young (1-2 years) branches;
improved - on the graft and stock make a longitudinal section, cuttings are joined and wound. Suitable for branches of different diameter, as long as they have the same bark, on the one hand;
in split - a cross-section is made on the stock where the graft is inserted with an oblique cut. Suitable for branches of different ages and different diameters;
behind the bark - as a stock, a branch is used as a stock, into the cut of the bark of which the graft is carefully inserted with an oblique cut. Suitable for variegated branches, on a thick stock (more than 5 cm in diameter) you can even plant two grafts. This method is recommended for novice gardeners because of its simplicity and a high level of rooting petioles.

Video: methods of grafting fruit trees

Necessary tools for grafting apple

Proper operation depends on good instruments.

Did you know? The famous Avalon (or paradise in the myths of King Arthur) in Celtic means "country of apples".

We will need the following inventory:

sharp garden knife. It is best to take a special knife for copulation;

pruner Make sure the blade is carefully sharpened;
graft hatchet;
screwdriver or wooden wedge;
film. It is better to stock up on a special vaccine, but you can also use bags or a pharmacy film for compresses. This film should be cut into strips with a width of 1 cm;
garden pitch Either clay, plasticine, minium;
clean cloth - to wipe your hands and cut.

How to plant an apple tree on an old tree: a scheme

For grafting on an old tree in the fall, only two methods of copulation will be suitable - behind the bark and in the split. Budding will not work, because the kidney just does not have time to settle down before the cold weather and will die, and other copulation options are designed for young branches, and not the old thick trunks.

We advise you to read about spring grafting of apples, pears and grapes.

Work should be done in the morning, in dry and not sunny weather, at an air temperature of 15-20 ° C. Precipitation and humidity are not favorable for such work - the cutting can rot.

When choosing varieties for vaccination should be borne in mind that summer apple trees need to be vaccinated summer varieties, and in winter - winter or autumn. Otherwise, there will be a difference during the growing season and preparation for the winter of the grafted branch and the main tree.

Good rootstocks for apple trees will be:

pear;
quince;
apple varieties "Antonovka", "Anis", "Borovinka", "Brown striped", "Grushovka Moscow".

Behind the bark

To properly perform vaccinations, you must follow these rules:

graft need no older than 3-4 years;
Before starting work, check how easily bark leaves from wood;
graft should be less stock.

The sequence of actions is as follows:

preparation of the cutting - a suitable branch is selected and an oblique cut is made on it from below (approximately equal to the three diameters of the cutting) and from above, 2-4 buds are required.
preparation of a stock - the chosen branches are cut, places of cuts are smoothed. In the bark, a longitudinal incision is made up to 5 cm in length (and the knife should not cut the wood of the branch). The bark gently unbends from the wood.
grafting - the cutting is gently inserted into the cut and firmly wound with a film. The junction is covered with garden pitch.

Grafting an apple over the bark. and - the shank prepared for inoculation; b - stalk inserted behind the bark; in - a stock with the imparted graft in cross section; g - grafting two cuttings.

Important! Inoculate several cuttings per branch, depending on the thickness of the graft. - from 3 to 5. This should be done to improve survival and the possibility of further selection of a stronger and stronger vector.Twi.

This method is simple and suitable for beginners.

In split

The conditions for safe vaccination are as follows:

the thickness of the grafted part is not more than 5-6 cm;
no more than 3-4 branches remain on the tree before the work, the rest are removed.

The procedure will look like this:

preparation of the cutting - a suitable branch is selected and an oblique cut is made on it from below (approximately equal to the three diameters of the cutting) and from above, leaving 2-4 buds;
preparation of the rootstock - the selected branch is cut and trimmed, the cut is carefully split in the middle to a depth of 4-8 cm. The depth of the splitting depends on the thickness of the cutting - the thinner the graft, the smaller the depth. The split is done with a hatchet and a wedge (or screwdriver);
inoculation - cuttings are inserted into the cleft and attached with a film. Everything is carefully smeared with garden baking or plasticine.

Grafting an apple tree into a complete cleavage. a - cuttings; b - splitting on the stock; in - a stock with the inserted shanks.

But the work does not end there. Even if the vaccination is done according to all the rules, it is necessary to properly care for the tree in order for the cutting to take root.

Rules for tree care after vaccination

After any kind of vaccination after a week or two, you need to check the condition of the cutting - whether it is dried or not, whether the splitting has been delayed. It may happen that the cutting does not grow together, in which case it is removed, and the wound is sealed with boiling or clay.

We recommend reading about how to make an apple tree bear fruit, how to spray an apple tree from pests, how to treat an apple tree in the fall, how to properly prune an old apple tree, and also how to cover an apple tree for winter from frost and protect it from hares.

In the spring you can try your luck again and repeat all operations with new cuttings. It is important to loosen the dressing in time (after 10-15 days) so that it does not squeeze the branches. But it can only be completely removed in the spring.

Video: how to care for the scion Before the cold weather, the tree should be spud and watered. It will be good to fill the tree trunk with compost or humus. This will serve as fertilizer and retain moisture in the ground. To prevent weak branches from damaging the birds, you can set arcs or tie strips of red fabric — it will scare birds off.

Before the very cold, the vaccine needs to be warmed with a special covering material or just a plastic bag, wrapped in paper over it to prevent overheating from the sun's rays.

Grafting fruit: basic mistakes novice gardeners

Novice gardeners are not immune from mistakes and quite often make them. The main mistake is the wrong tool selection. Many people ignore the purchase of specialized equipment (grafting knives, hatchets, good pruning shears) and use ordinary table knives, tourist axes.

With this approach, the cuts on the cuttings or the usual part are uneven, shaggy. And such a graft does not take root.

For grafting trees and shrubs also use a special tool - grafting pruner.

Trees and knives for grafting trees

Recommend here you can two things

purchase of a vaccination knife and its thorough sharpening;
Before harvesting cuttings, you should first practice on wild or non-fruit branches.

The second mistake is the wrong choice of the cutting. The stalk is cut from the top of the branch, and in fact it has just appeared, has not yet ripened and is not fully provided with food. From such a weak cutting and vaccination will come out bad. Therefore, for the graft, choose one-year ripe branches, with developed buds.

Beginner gardeners will be useful to read about how to process an apple tree after flowering, as well as how to prune, feed and whiten an apple tree in spring.

Another mistake is the wrong choice of vaccination site. Many feel sorry to cut off the whole developed branches and therefore they plant on young, often not quite mature branches. And even acclimatized, vaccination gives a frail increase.

The vaccination site should be as close as possible to the main trunk or on the skeletal branch. It is also not necessary to replant the grafted tree. Such a weak plant will grow poorly and will not bring any benefit. Vaccination is a rather complicated operation and requires careful preparation. But its proper implementation allows you to speed up the harvest, rejuvenate the garden and keep valuable apple varieties from degeneration.