How to plant an apple tree in spring

Grafting an apple tree is an excellent technique for the breeding industry, which allows you to get a unique variety of fruit tree, giving a second life to an aged plant or preserving a rare apple variety. In this article, we will describe how to plant an apple tree step by step in the spring and what methods of grafting should be used.

Benefits of grafting apple trees in spring

Do not underestimate the importance of vaccination in the modern industry of fruit growing. Otserenkovanie allows you to solve a huge number of critical tasks. The essential advantages of spring grafting of a tree are as follows:

• Jigging eliminates culture defects, corrects underdeveloped stumps, restores one-sided crowns.
• Resuscitates a dying, damaged (for example, rodents) tree.
• Increases fruiting on low-growing varieties and accelerates fruiting in late ripening.
• Allows you to bring dwarf, hybrid varieties, as well as propagate unique and rare trees.
• Gives the opportunity to bring a new fruit crop.
• Increases the resistance of the tree to various diseases and pests.
• Increases frost resistance of "delicate" varieties of apple.
• Preserves the taste and appearance characteristics of the variety.
• Saves space in the garden (instead of two trees, you can do with one, on which two different varieties of apples are planted).

What trees can be planted on an apple tree

The best rootstocks for cuttings of apple trees are seedlings of cultivated varieties or mature trees. Otserenkovanie seedlings can be performed on young "dick", dug in the forest or grown from seeds.

There are also several alternative options for rootstocks:

• pear;

Rowan;

black ashberry (aronia);

viburnum;

quince;

hawthorn.

Methods of grafting apple

Apple can be planted in spring by several methods. We present the most proven methods that demonstrate the best results:

• Budding - The procedure of grafting apple sleeping or waking kidney (performed from May to June).
• Graft Splitting - grafting procedure by cuttings (for stone fruit trees in March, for seed plants in April).
• Copulation (simple and improved) - jigging cuttings (implemented from March to April, before sap flow).
• Side-Graft Vaccination - grafting cuttings (work begins from the end of May, during the period of swelling of the eye).
• Vaccination for the bark - Another type of jigging cuttings (carried out from April to May, during the sap flow).

The budding method is used less frequently than the others, since it involves the use of buds (or, as gardeners often call them "eyes") instead of cuttings.

Procurement of cuttings

First, find out how to prepare apple cuttings for vaccination.They need to be taken only from healthy young trees with good fruiting and growth. The inoculum should be a little more than one year old.

3-4 buds should be present on the cuttings, so take them from the middle part of the branch. Cut the stalk so that the upper cut came "by eye". Form the lower part of the branch depending on the method of grafting.

Begin to stock up material with the onset of small frosts, in the first decade of winter. Frost at a temperature not higher than -10 ° C will help harden the wood, make it stronger and thicker. Cut the cut material in bundles and place in a container with sand. Store the workpiece in the basement at + 2 ° C.

If you do not have a basement, wrap the cut apple cuttings in a wet cloth and keep in a cool place until the snow falls. Then unfold the twigs, free them from damp cloth and plunge them into snow drifts.

In case of temperature drops, the drifts melt more slowly, cover them with heat insulating material (for example, peat or sawdust).

Some gardeners are advised to keep apple cuttings in the refrigerator.To do this, wrap the twigs in a wet material or plastic wrap and place on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

Spring grafting apple: step by step instructions

Spring grading of an apple tree is a very important procedure, often compared with a surgical operation. Therefore, choose the most convenient method for you and follow the step-by-step recommendations.

Budding (kidney vaccination)

1. In autumn or at the end of February, prepare the shoots from the tree.
2. With the onset of spring, take a single kidney (peephole) formed from the shoot last summer.
3. Kidney bud on the trunk or branch of a tree. This eye will start growing and will become the basis of a new shoot in the current season.
4. If the vaccination failed, the operation can be repeated on the same stock.

Budding is the simplest method of grafting apple trees in the spring and is great for novice breeders. The degree of survival of the kidneys is very high.

The procedure will take very little of your time. In addition, you will need a minimum of inoculum: only one cutting of a valuable variety.

Graft Splitting

1. Split the stock with a sharp ax to a depth of about 10 cm.
2. Make a one-sided or double-sided cut at a sharp angle. Guessing the cut angle does not always work, but if you succeed, success is guaranteed.
3. Cover the open areas of slices with a garden pitch, and wrap the place of the vaccination itself with a film. If necessary, if the graft in the split is weak, make an additional winding.

Inoculation of apple trees in the split is carried out in the spring, just before the beginning of the vegetative period, when the trees are still at rest. In this way, an apple tree can be cut off on an old, but still strong tree.

Copulation

For spring jigging of an apple tree, when the diameter of the branch and the cutting meet, it is applied simple copulation:

1. On the graft and rootstock, make 3-4 cm long oblique cuts.
2. Fresh slices immediately attach to each other.
3. Secure the joint with tape or tape.
4. Top cut on the trunk with a garden pitch or paint.

Improved copulation:

1. Along the axis, on the graft and stock, make a beveled cut and cut them into one third.
2. Carefully inject the graft into the stock. In order not to break off the vaccine and not contribute to its suppuration, do not introduce the graft very deeply.
3. If the part to be grafted and the new base have different diameters, try tightly combining the cambium on one side so that the lumen is completely closed.
4. Tie vaccination site with a film. Slab the upper cut of the cutting with a garden pitch.

Usually use improved copulation. This method provides a stronger connection of the cuttings of one plant with the trunk of another. Such a coupling is possible due to the presence of a "tongue" - an additional cut in the cut.

In the side slot

1. On the supply of wood, make an oblique incision.
2. On the bark of the grafted variety, make 2 oblique cuts of the longitudinal type. Attach the graft in this section, joining the edges so that the cambium coincides.
3. When the cutting goes into growth, remove its upper part with a grafting knife.
4. The place where the jigging was performed, tie it with a synthetic film, and cover the sections with a garden pitch.

Behind the bark

1. Cutting Carefully cut a large branch, in this place the vaccination will be performed.
2. Clean out the place cut. Strip the cut end of the branch with a sharp knife to smoothness. For a good survival of the stalk also need a little trim.
3. Make a cut. Cut the stalk long and narrow. This will facilitate its entry into the graft.
4. Enter the stalk. It needs to be pushed under the bark so that it fully accommodates there. Gardeners sometimes advise to make a small shoulder in the upper lobe of the cutting. This helps limit the progress of the material used.
5. All well tie a film.

Common mistakes

Further care of the grafted apple tree

Well-established vaccinations require additional care. Already after 20 days, cultural grafts are overgrown with a layer of cambium, and branches.Therefore, the main rule of care is the timely removal of branches that cut off the food to the planted escape. Also, remove foliage that obscures the graft.

Inspect the harness systematically, and in order to avoid constrictions during enhanced shoot development, it is better to loosen it.

If the vaccination is growing at an active pace, it is necessary to slow down its growth by pinching the apex.

Professional gardeners highlight a few common mistakes made by amateurs when grafting an apple tree:

• Novice gardeners often take branches (cuttings) containing only 1-2 buds (eyes) for jigging in the lateral cleft, while there should be at least 3-4 buds on them.
• An error is also the reproduction of an apple tree by jigging of an awakened bud. The graft material should be a kidney (peephole) formed last summer.
• Often, neglecting cleanliness, depositing is carried out with the help of contaminated inventory. This is unacceptable, all tools must be clean.

Thus, with strict observance of instructions and deadlines, the procedure for grafting apple trees in the spring will not be difficult, and having familiarized with various types of vaccinations, you will be able to choose the most suitable option for yourself.

For beginners, it is better to use the splitting method, which is quite simple and effective. Good luck in your gardening experiments!