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| hello I have several red delicious apple trees with mm106 as rootstock in my orchard and want to propagate them. what would the result be if I take cuttings from the branches above graft line (about th tree height and size, fruits, first bearing time, disease resistance, ...)? thank you so much |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by Appleseed70 6 MD (My Page) on Mon, Sep 22, 14 at 2:16
| Are you talking about rooting some cuttings or taking scion wood with the intention of grafting? I'm not understanding the question. |
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| I'm sorry; I intend to root some cuttings. |
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- Posted by 2010ChampsBCS 7B St Clair Co (My Page) on Mon, Sep 22, 14 at 7:56
| Hesamaf. Most apple cuttings are difficult to root but not impossible. The preferred method is to graft scion wood onto a rootstock. Good luck, Bill |
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- Posted by Appleseed70 6 MD (My Page) on Mon, Sep 22, 14 at 10:18
| Hesamaf...save some of your apple seeds and plant them. There are instructions online on how to do this. Grow the seedlings out in pots for 1 year (take up vey little space since they grow vertical). After growing out for 1 year or so graft your scions (cuttings) over onto the top of the seedlings. Your results will be much better this way. Do the grafting just after breaking dormancy when the largest leaves are the size of mouse ears. I don't know what month this would be in Iran and I don't know where in Iran you are located. I read that January is the coldest month and March is the month with heavy rainfall, so maybe sometime around April (about the same time as here in Maryland). I do know the disease resistance of the rootstock from cuttings would likely be variable just as with seedlings. If you could get some real Antonovka seeds from near Siberia I'm guessing it would be better and more uniform. I would guess that apples grow quite well with little disease issues in Iran due to the arid summers...is that right? Do you have to irrigate them or is there ample rainfall? |
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| It is more fun and exciting to add new varieties rather them multiples of the same. Many apples are much better then Red delicious. I would encourage you to read up on varieties. But to start from cuttings, you would cut pieces before the buds open. 2 or more below ground 1 or 2 above. put them in potting so in and keep them watered. The above ground will leaf out, but this does not mean success. If it starts to grow a stem, once you get past 2" of growth you can get your hopes up that it has actually rooted and is viable. unrooted ones will sit there with leaves all summer. If you are going to do it get 100 pieces in hopes of getting one success. With M111 rootstock, I have a success rate of 20% do this. But one thing that all rootststocks have is easy propagation. What i have outlines is not the normal way of propagating rootstock though. |
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- Posted by Appleseed70 6 MD (My Page) on Tue, Sep 23, 14 at 1:17
| I don't know that I've ever ate an apple worse than Red Delicious and that includes the old untended Rambos that used to grow in the alleys around here when I was a kid. |
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| Thank you so much guys for these great and very useful instructions. But I just still have some things ambiguous in my mind. How much will the grafted seedlings grow up to? How long does it take for them to bear the first fruits? What is the best way (whip, chip budding or T budding) to get the seedlings grafted in large numbers? How much will the success rate of cuttings increase through using rooting hormone? In addition, it's true the time in Iran would be sometime around April and fungal diseases are less but the more important issue is controling insects such as aphids that are easily controled by proper insecticide use. |
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- Posted by nyRockFarmer 5A South Central, NY (My Page) on Tue, Sep 23, 14 at 10:37
| Rooted cuttings and grafted seedlings will make a full size tree (20-30 ft.) that will take 5-10 years to get into production. The mm106 rootstock nearly halves both the tree size and time to production. However, the deeper taproots of full size trees might be helpful for areas that are prone to summer droughts. Success rate of getting cuttings to root is low even with rooting hormone. Expecting them to root without it is like asking for a small miracle. In an case, success depends on preventing dehydration of the cutting before roots get established while not water logging the root area such that the cutting begins to rot. Since leaves and direct sunlight will dehydrate the cutting, it makes sense to attempt this in cold, shaded place with dormant cutting of previous years new growth. Promote root growth over leaf growth by heating the soil only with seedling heat mat or other heat source. Place them in humidity enclosure or at least wrap the upper portion of the cutting with parafilm. Use well drain soil to prevent rot on the lower portion. |
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