Grafting an apple tree is a flexible manipulation - it can be done at any time of the year and in several ways. Vaccination rules vary according to circumstances. In order to make the tree as useful as possible, you need to figure out how to properly plant an apple tree in different conditions.
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Reasons for vaccination
While grafting an apple tree is optional, there are several reasons why gardeners do it every year. Usually the manipulation is carried out with the following purpose:
- If the main tree produces a meager crop, a fertile variety can be grafted onto their branches.
- Several varieties of apples can grow on one rootstock, which will add variety.
- Saving space on the site.
- Cultural fruits can be grown on a wild seedling.
- Rescue of an injured tree.
- Increased frost resistance and disease resistance.
Features of seasonal vaccinations
Depending on the season in force, different rules and clauses apply to the vaccination:
- Spring. This period is the most favorable for the operation. Due to the fact that the movement of juices along the stem has not yet begun, the scion will take root with a high probability during the awakening of the plant. The event can be started in the first or second month of the year, after the frost leaves. Budding takes place in the second half of the season.
- Summer. It is convenient to use the "sleeping" eye method in the second half of the season before the start of a new sap flow. Up to this point, cuttings are possible, but they are less likely to be crowned with success.
- Autumn. The weather changes, the temperature drops, and unfavorable working conditions are created. Manipulations are possible in the first half of September using the "peephole" method. In October, it can be used “in split”, “in the butt”, “for bark”, but only for young rootstocks.
- Winter. At this time of the year, grafting is done only when the tree is indoors. Rootstocks should be prepared in early spring. Storage is allowed at zero temperature, but before work, you need to place the plant in a room with a temperature of 15 ° C.
Vaccination methods
There are a lot of ways, but the most effective of them are only 3: budding, grafting “into cleavage” and copulation. The rest of the options are not so in demand, although they are used to this day.
The bud is called the "eye" or "kidney". Produced in the fall if you plan to use the "sleeping eye". If the temperature in the second month of spring is stable (in southern latitudes), and the first leaves of the tree have already appeared, then the operation is carried out using a sprouting bud. If the area belongs to the middle latitudes, then budding can be carried out at the end of July or during August. Physically, the method involves cutting out a bud-shaped flap with a supply of adjacent tissues from a one-year shoot and installing it into a T-shaped incision on the trunk.
The split grafting is suitable not only for primary treatment, but also for re-treatment. It is used for branches with a diameter of 2-5 cm. There are two favorable periods for using the method: between March and April, when the frosts have gone, but the juice has not yet begun to move, and from July to August, before the second sap flow. If the climate is warm, then in September the vaccination will also have a chance of success.
A split is made in the trunk or skeletal branch, into which the stock is inserted in the form of a cutting. If there is a large difference in diameter, several branches can be placed in one scion. To install four cuttings, a cross cut is required.
Copulation is used only in the situation when the scion and rootstock differ in thickness. The recommended diameter range is 2.5-5 cm. It is used at any time of the year except autumn. The implementation of the method consists in combining the scion and rootstock in one branch. If the cambium layers match, the event will be crowned with success. To increase the likelihood of coincidence, longitudinal cuts are made on both components. The branches are placed so that they touch.
Grafting an apple tree will require skill and observation. If it is performed in sufficiently suitable conditions and in compliance with the rules, then the stock will take root.
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