What can you plant a columnar apple tree on and how to do it correctly
With good care from 1 weave of a garden planted columnar apple trees, collect from 1 to 2 tons of apples. Many summer residents have questions about how to graft a columnar apple tree, what material to use for the stock (dwarf, semi-dwarf). The yield of the future apple tree, resistance to disease, low temperatures, and drought depends on the stock.
What does it mean to plant an apple tree?
Vaccination is one of the methods of breeding work. With its help, plants of one or different species are crossed. Basic terms that a novice gardener should know:
- scion;
- rootstock;
- budding;
- copulation.
A graft is a bud or stalk of that apple tree, the fruits and characteristics of which the gardener liked. The stock is a plant that will be grafted with the desired variety. Budding - grafting with a kidney, copulation - with a graft.
What can be grafted columnar varieties?
Every garden has a wild game. The question immediately arises: is it possible to graft a favorite variety of a columnar apple tree on it. Experienced gardeners do not recommend grafting a column onto a scion of common wild. This can be done, but there is a large percentage of grafting rejection, and with a positive result, the characteristics of the seedling are worse than varietal:
- life expectancy is less;
- productivity is lower.
Quality seedlings are obtained by using two types of rootstock. In the southern regions, the super-dwarf rootstock of the Paradizka Belorusskaya apple tree is used. In areas with cold winters, Budagovsky Kid (76-6-6) shows himself well. As a rootstock, you can use a seedling of a varietal apple tree growing in the area.
Common methods of vaccination
At the age of 15, the columnar apple tree ceases to bear fruit. In order not to reduce the productivity of the apple orchard, new seedlings are planted, which are obtained by grafting. Methods that a novice gardener should master:
- into cleavage;
- for the bark.
Into the cleft
This method is the easiest and shortest in time. The quality of the stock has little effect on the survival rate. If the compatibility of the crossed crops is low, an overgrowth may form in the grafting area. Over time (2-3 years), the influx will disappear.
It is easier to work with small diameter material. In this case, all operations are carried out using a sharply sharpened garden knife. The best time to get vaccinated is from April 15 to May 31. Cuttings (L = 35 cm) are harvested at the beginning of winter, stored in a basement, refrigerator, under the snow. When harvesting, the lower edge of the cutting is cut at an acute angle (the resulting cut in length should be 3 cutting diameters), the top is cut to the bud.
At the rootstock, the trunk is cut with a pruner (knife) at a height of 15 cm. Cut at a slight angle. The split is done exactly in the center. Its depth should be 4 sapling diameters. From 3 to 4 buds are left on the handle. The bottom is cut with a knife in the form of a wedge (L = 4 scion diameters), the top is cut with a pruner.
When combining the stock and the scion, the cambium is combined. By introducing the wedge into the split from above, a narrow strip of scion is left without bark. The place of operation is wrapped with a strip of film, fixed with electrical tape. The upper cut of the cutting is covered with a layer of garden varnish.
For the bark
For the bark grafting apple trees in springwhen the bark begins to peel off easily from the wood layer. Cuttings are taken from the middle of the shoot. The bottom is cut with an oblique cut, its length should be 3-4 cm, and the surface should be perfectly flat. The top is shortened just above the 3rd kidney.
The rootstock is first cut (cut) at the desired height, then an incision is made in the bark by 3-4 cm, it is gently pushed aside and the lower part of the cutting is inserted. Its cut must completely enter the cut. Tape or film for inoculation is used to tighten the vaccination site.
Useful Tips
Natalia: “I I propagate columnar apple trees without vaccination. In early spring, I take a branch with a diameter of the index finger. In its lower part, I remove the bark in a circle to a height of 5 mm. I moisten a piece of cotton with heteroauxin and tie it to a branch for a day. I sprout the roots in peat, put it in a small black bag, put a branch in it. I keep the peat moist. Roots appear in the fall. Every second seedling takes root in me ”.
Alex: “I planted Currency on the seed stock of Antonovka. Cuttings prepared in November, took shoots of the 1st order, kept in the sand. The seedling turned out to be successful, it is already bearing fruit.
