What can be grafted on a peach and how correctly, the timing of budding
Vaccinating a peach is no more difficult than an apple or a pear. The technology and methods are the same. To carry out the operation, you need to acquire a quality tool and learn how to make even cuts at the right angle of the desired length.
Goals and objectives of peach grafting
Vaccination is one of the ways to propagate stone fruit crops. With its help, seedlings with certain varietal characteristics are obtained. This technique allows you to rejuvenate an aging tree and get a new variety.
Gardeners, using frost-resistant graft, grow peaches with increased winter hardiness. Some, saving space, graft cuttings of different varieties of culture on one tree. This allows you to grow a crop of fruits of different tastes in a small garden.
Suitable dates
Peaches are planted at any time except in winter, but with an eye on the climatic conditions of the region. Timing of work is influenced by the age of the tree and the method.
Spring
In spring, peaches are grafted with cuttings by copulation, budding. According to gardeners, this is the best time to work. Weather and active sap flow promote rapid healing of postoperative wounds. Copulation (budding) is carried out from March 10-15 to April 30.
Frost causes scion rejection. Therefore, vaccination operations are carried out after the establishment of stable warm weather. In late spring, the peach is grafted after harsh winters. It takes time to assess the degree of freezing of the stock.
Summer
In July or June, the peach is grafted into the crown by budding. It can be held in August, but only at the very beginning. For the shield to take root successfully, the bark on the tree must lag behind. The engraftment process lasts 2-3 weeks.
Gardeners distinguish two categories of summer vaccinations:
- early summer - from 1 to 10 June;
- summer - from 10 to 30 July.
Fall
Before frost, the scion will not have time to take root, so in winter it will freeze out with one hundred percent probability. Gardeners do not plant peaches in autumn.
Choosing the best rootstock for a peach
The choice of the stock determines which tree will grow, its yield, ripening time, early maturity, and fruit size. The table provides information on what you can graft a peach on.
| Name | Rootstock (type) | Description |
| OP 23 23 | Semi-dwarf | Hybrid |
| Spring flame | Medium-sized | A hybrid obtained from crossing the Chinese plum and cherry plum |
| Eureka 99 | Medium-sized | Hybrid cherry plum + cherry plum |
| Fortune | Medium-sized | Chinese plum + peach hybrid |
| ВСВ 1 | Weak | Felt cherry + cherry plum hybrid |
| VVA 1 | Semi-dwarf | Hybrid form (cherry plum + felt cherry) |
They are most often vaccinated on them in central Russia. Peach is often grafted onto peach. At the same time, marketable and tasty fruits are obtained. Trees on peach rootstocks show consistently high yields.
On apricot
For beginners, this type of rootstock is suitable. Experienced gardeners believe that there are no problems with survival. Wild apricots are usually used. Such a graft guarantees:
- stable yield;
- lack of influx;
- survival rate is 100%.
On the plum
Plum is used as a rootstock when they want to increase the resistance of the peach to low temperatures. A healthy tree of a frost-resistant plum variety is chosen for the stock.
On cherry plum
This is the best type of rootstock. On its basis, peach seedlings are grown that are resistant to infections (virus, fungus). The fruits of a peach grafted onto cherry plum have a more pronounced interesting taste. This type of rootstock has one drawback - numerous root growth. It has to be cut regularly. It takes nutrients from the tree.
Almond
This option is suitable for peach orchards in the south. Such seedlings can only grow and bear fruit in warm climates.
Rules and preparation of scion and rootstock
For the stock, cherry plum, plum, apricot trees are not older than 2 years. Those with a barrel diameter of no more than 10 mm are suitable. Cuttings (scion) are harvested in the fall, before the first frost. There is a simple explanation for such a harvesting time - in winter, some of the annual shoots may freeze slightly. You may not understand this early in the spring. Frozen cuttings do not take root well. When preparing the scion, use the following rules:
- the middle part of the shoot is taken with a diameter of at least 5 mm;
- a piece with a length of 15 cm is cut;
- there should be 10 healthy buds on the branch.
In winter, cuttings are stored in the refrigerator, sealed in a bag. Recommended storage temperature 0-2 ° C. A large volume of branches is stored outdoors in the snow. First, they are covered with a layer of sawdust 30 cm thick.
The stalk may dry out during storage. Before vaccination, check its condition. It is bent to check. Flexibility speaks of its vitality. A high-quality stalk is kept in water for 1-2 days before grafting.
What tools and materials will be needed
The operation must be done quickly with sharp, clean instruments. For a good result, cuts need smooth ones without burrs, chips and fringes. For peach grafting, gardeners use the following set of tools:
- secateurs;
- knife;
- a hacksaw for wood (for old trees).
Of the auxiliary materials, you must have at hand: PVC film, electrical tape, gauze (bandage), garden pitch, newspapers. The paper is needed in the summer in order to cover the vaccination site from the hot sunlight.
Experienced gardeners, who often graft fruit and stone fruit crops, purchase special garden pruners. They are not cheap, but they allow you to make even grooves of the desired shape and size.
Common grafting methods
There is no need to come up with new methods of peach grafting. The methods have long been known, they just need to be mastered. Any variety can be propagated by green cuttings. This vegetative method grows own-rooted peach seedlings.
Cuttings are rooted in a substrate consisting of compost, soil from the garden. They fill the container. The top layer is sand. The planted stalk is covered with a 1 liter transparent jar. Care comes down to watering and airing. After the roots are formed, the seedling is planted in a greenhouse or in a garden bed.
Improved copulation
This method guarantees a high survival rate. Improved copulation is practiced in the spring from late March to mid-April. You need 1-2 year old shoots of the same diameter.
Slices on the scion and rootstock are made at an acute angle (30 °), of the same length.It should be equal to 3 diameters. The upper part of the cutting is cut at a right angle. 3 or 4 buds are left on the scion.
To increase the area of contact at the corners of the sections, longitudinal cuts are made about 10 mm long. The resulting tongues wind up behind each other. The docking place is wrapped with electrical tape, covered with garden pitch.
Copulation is usual
Beginners learn to plant peaches using this method. It's simple enough. It is carried out according to the following scheme:
- the stock is cut at an angle of 30 °;
- a similar cut is made on the handle, placing it directly under the lower kidney;
- connect both parts;
- wrapped with electrical tape;
- coated with pitch.
The winding is removed when the shoot grows and reaches a length of 25 cm. Before winter, the wood on it has time to mature. In the fall, fruit buds will form on it.
Budding in the butt
The method is difficult enough for beginners. Experienced gardeners use it. The operation is carried out in early April. A shield with one dormant bud is cut from the cuttings harvested in the fall. They try to keep its length about 30 mm.
A piece of bark of the same size is cut off at the grafting site. A shield is applied to this place, fix it with electrical tape. Remove the winding after 30 days. The place of operation is coated with garden varnish.
T-shaped budding in the rootstock crown
This method is considered to be the simplest. An incision (T-shaped) is made on the rootstock (bark) with a special pruner or a sharp garden knife. They try not to damage the wood. A shield about 25 mm long is cut from the handle: 15 mm above the kidney, 10 mm under the kidney.
The layer of wood should be minimal. The flap is inserted into the T-shaped incision as quickly as possible. On 1 branch of the crown, you can graft from 2 to 3 shields, maintaining a distance of 5-7 cm between them. For strapping, use a film.
They take it off exactly one month later, cut out the not grafted shoots. The vaccination site is marked. The next spring, stepping back 5-10 mm from it, the branch is cut off.
For the bark
Old trees are grafted into the bark. They are rejuvenated in this way. Grafting for the bark is carried out from the end of March to April 10-15. In a peach, the trunk or a thick skeletal branch is cut at a right angle.
Several cuttings are prepared. They cut off the lower part at 30 °, leave 3-4 buds, cut off the top. On the rootstock, the bark is cut from the cut down by 5 cm. Shoots are inserted into the resulting cuts. The vaccination is fixed with electrical tape.
Caring for the tree after grafting
The cover dressing is removed after 4 weeks. The place of operation is coated with a layer of var. Here are some things to do to help the tree cope with the stress of grafting:
- control the moisture content of the soil of the root circle, water it at least 1 time in 2 weeks, spend 1-2 buckets of water per tree;
- control the appearance of growth below the vaccination site, it is regularly cut out;
- inspect the aboveground part, treat it with insecticides, fungicides in case of detection of pests, symptoms of a fungal disease.
At first, budding gardeners make mistakes. They work with a dirty, not sharpened tool. They do not follow the necessary rules for caring for the grafted tree. They forget to remove the winding in time, do not cover the place of operation from the sun. Budding is done on the south side of the trunk. There will be no problem if you avoid repeating these mistakes, strictly adhere to the correct technology.
