Fruit tree grafting

GardenRN · Tue Nov 29, 2011 8:38 pm

I thought I'd post and ask the advice of some more experienced members before attempting this.

2 Years ago I bought a peach tree and a pear tree and planted them in the back yard. I made a dumb move (partly because the trees were so small) and planted them WAY too close together. They are doing well but by the end of next summer they will definitely be branching into one another.

Call me lazy, I don't want to attempt to dig up the pear tree and move it. That's a lot of digging, and I generally don't have luck trying to dig up trees. The hard VA clay grips the roots and always ends up doing a lot of damage. Not to mention digging through the clay is a bear!

I thought I might try grafting the pear tree onto the peach tree and then just take out the remainder of the pear tree. I did some researching and video watching on "bark grafting" and I think that seems like the best way for me to go.

Any restrictions or suggestions? It doesn't matter that they are two different types of fruit tree does it? I watched a guy grafting three kinds of peaches together but I would think most any two fruit trees would work ok.

JONA878 · Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:06 am

Only one snag Garden RN.
Pears and peaches do not mix.
They will not graft together I'm afraid. They are different species and any union would not hold.

You cannot even graft pears to apples. Worst luck as this would be a very useful garden tree.

DoubleDogFarm · Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:49 am

Sorry Jeff, Not compatible. Do you have any wild hawthorn? You may try grafting your pear to it.

Eric

!potatoes! · Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:21 am

could always get some rootstock over the winter and graft some of one or the other (or both, you'd just need a couple different rootstocks) on them.

GardenRN · Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:53 pm

crrrrrrrrrrrrrap! Figures. I don't think it's worth the effort to get another root stock. I'd have to dig a hole and I may as well just dig up the pear tree if I'm going to do the digging anyways. Oh well. It was worth the thought and knowledge gained from the research. As always, glad I asked here before I cut up my trees. Thanks everyone!

soil · Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:11 pm

I dig up wild quince suckers for pear rootstock.

really though buying rootstock is dirt cheap, and if you have the tree for scion wood. you can graft hundreds of trees if not more depending on the size of the tree.

bwhite829 · Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:46 pm

Sorry to dig up an old topic, but I'll be doing some grafting when we finish building our house, and maybe doing some grafting and planting for our friends who just bought a house so they can have some fruit trees. What do you mean suckers? my grandfather said there are little roots that run all over the lawn. is that what you mean? he's got like 10 different trees he's grafting for his family this year. thanks for the info.

JONA878 · Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:20 am

bwhite829 wrote:Sorry to dig up an old topic, but I'll be doing some grafting when we finish building our house, and maybe doing some grafting and planting for our friends who just bought a house so they can have some fruit trees. What do you mean suckers? my grandfather said there are little roots that run all over the lawn. is that what you mean? he's got like 10 different trees he's grafting for his family this year. thanks for the info.

There are two types of growth that are called 'suckers' b.White.

The first comes from the roots.
Many root systems....especially plum and pear stocks....often send up shoots from their spreading roots. These are mainly a darn nuisance in the garden and need to be cut off every year to keep the ground clear. They can however be used as future root stocks if you like to do your own grafting and growing.

The second are shoots that grow from the lower main structure of mature trees. They are also often called ' water shoots '.
They are no good to you unless you need to re-structure the tree when they can be used as a new starter branch.
Otherwise they are removed from the tree each winter as they will become dominant if left and fill the centre of the tree with excess growth.

Hope that helps.

bwhite829 · Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:07 am

how do you use the small ones as new trees? I'd imagine since they are part of the mother tree you can't just dig it up root and all since its in the same root network. do you clip it off and root it by itself like a cutting? and hen when it gets large enough on its own you graft it and then transplant it?

JONA878 · Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:17 am

bwhite829 wrote:how do you use the small ones as new trees? I'd imagine since they are part of the mother tree you can't just dig it up root and all since its in the same root network. do you clip it off and root it by itself like a cutting? and hen when it gets large enough on its own you graft it and then transplant it?

Your right bwhite.
The normal method would be to cut a shoot off and root it up. Then it can be planted and used as a rootstock ready for grafting and planting.
If you wished you could also use it as the start of your own stool bed.
Leaveing it to grow on a raised ridge and cutting the resulting suckers off complete with roots.
That's how root-stock beds are made in the first place.

bwhite829 · Sun Mar 18, 2012 2:44 pm

when grafting like this, how long does it take for these grafted suckers to produce? or how long does it take rooted hardwood to fruit if you take cuttings from a yearly pruning?

JONA878 · Mon Mar 19, 2012 9:06 am

It's a slow old job from cutting to fruiting in the case of top fruit.
It will take the first year for the cutting to root and then a further year to grow on ready for planting out. Then another four years or so to the start of fruiting.

Remember that without the buffer of a rootstock you will be battleing against the unknown as regards growth rate and desease resistance.

Breeders regard ten years being the time to allow as to whether a new var is suitable or not. This is from first planting to first real harvest.