The standard six acres, which in the recent past made up a suburban area for most gardeners in our country, is difficult to fill with different fruit plants so that you do not have to infringe on your own imagination. Very little space. Given the fact that some buildings will be located on the site, it becomes very sad. It turns out that a way out of the situation can be grafting fruit trees. Having developed a certain skill in the correct execution of this simple job, you can decorate your garden with apples or pears, on the branches of which fruits of different varieties will grow. We’ll introduce you to the best ways to plant fruit trees.
Introduction to Key Concepts
First, you should familiarize yourself with the basic concepts that will be applied when we talk about vaccination technology:
- Rootstock. This is the name of the plant on which we will plant a new variety. As a rule, vaccination is done at the bottom of the plant. It can be a trunk (shtamb) or a root.
- Priva. This is the part of the varietal plant that will be grafted onto the stock. The scion will form the upper part of the plant, which is responsible for its varietal characteristics.
The stock and scion should fit together. Otherwise, engraftment may not occur. Usually pick plants that are in a botanical relationship. You can’t plant a pear on a birch. A forest pear or quince is suitable for her, if the creation of a dwarf variety is planned. However, pears, on some branches of which apples grow, are very common.
This plant compatibility chart helps you quickly figure out which of the rootstocks can be grafted using the scion plants.
Technology of vaccination of fruit plants
For vaccination, it is important to choose the right time. The active movement of juices in the plant helps to take root in a scion faster, so spring or summer is the best time for such work.
The following methods of grafting fruit trees are widely used in horticulture:
- budding by the kidney (eye);
- using the handle.
As a rule, both summer and spring periods are chosen for carrying out budding, and spring is still considered the best for working with the cuttings.
Option 1 - eye budding
When budding, the scion is the bud of a varietal plant. From what stage of awakening it is at, the optimal time for carrying out the budding depends.
The result of budding with a kidney (eye) is perfectly visible in this photo: in spring this kidney will become active, and the new branch will have all the signs of a grafted variety
For an awakening kidney, the best time is considered to be the beginning of sap flow - spring. Strict requirements are also imposed on the stock itself: the plant must have an elastic and soft bark. When using a sleeping kidney, the second half of summer is considered the best time for work.
Preparation of stock for vaccination
Around the rootstock plant, it is necessary to loosen the soil well for two weeks and free it from weeds. Water the tree if necessary. You do not need to be vaccinated on the southern side of the trunk of the plant, because the kidney can dry out under the influence of the sun, and before it really has time to take root.
Work procedure
We remove the kidney from the handle. For this job we need a sharp knife. A poorly sharpened tool can damage the grafting material and render it completely unusable. Together with the kidney, we cut off the shield - a small area of the cortex. We try to capture wood as little as possible. If the work is carried out in the summer, an incision is made over the kidney and under it at 1.5-2 cm, after which it is cut from left to right. If it happens in the spring, it makes sense to make the lower flap 1-1.5 cm longer.
There is nothing supernatural in the performance of this work; over time, having received the skill, you will perform it almost automatically
We prepare the stock, for which we cut the bark on it and partially separate it. In the spring it is very easy to do. The notch should be in the form of the letter "T". We bend the corners and get a pocket, which in size should coincide with the scion. If the shield is too big, we cut it. The kidney is inserted into the resulting pocket with an exact movement from top to bottom. We do this carefully, holding the scion for the upper honor of the visor. We fix the position of the kidney strapping from the film.
If the budding of fruit trees was carried out in the spring, then after 15 days the bud should germinate. This fact indicates a positive result of the work done. Remove the harness, carefully cutting it across the turns. In the case of summer budding, the bud will have to wait until next spring.
Option 2 - grafting with a graft
The grafting by cuttings of fruit trees is used in cases where:
- budding did not give the desired result;
- the tree is damaged, but you intend to save it;
- you need to replace one plant variety with another;
- the crown of the tree is well developed from only one side and for the other side new branches are needed.
When using the cuttings, the work is also carried out in different ways: in the cleavage, copulation, in the half-split, behind the bark, in the lateral incision, etc ...
Simple and improved copying
For grafting fruit trees in this way, cuttings and rootstock branches are chosen of the same thickness. With a simple copulation on the rootstock branch and on the handle, we make oblique sections with a length of about 3 cm. We superimpose a section of the handle on the rootstock section and fix the place of their connection with a film or tape. Grease the upper part of the cut with garden var. This work is carried out at the beginning of spring, and it will be possible to talk about the result in 2-2.5 months, when the rootstock will merge with the scion.
The figure clearly shows how simple copulation differs from improved: in the second case, a large contact area will allow plants to grow more actively
For improved copulation create an additional surface for plant splicing. At the same time, the cut on both plants is not made smooth, but in the form of lightning. This zigzag forms a kind of lock when connected, which provides better docking.
A scheme is a scheme, but photography always better conveys all the specifics of the work performed. Well, make sure there’s nothing complicated about her
Using a side cut
A cut is made in depth on the lateral surface of the rootstock so that approximately 3 cm remains to the opposite side. We cut a length of 4-5 cm. A cut is made in the lower part of the handle so that a dihedral wedge forms. We insert a wedge into a split on a stock. Its wide side should coincide with the outer surface of the branch. Firmly fix the position of the handle.
When vaccinated in a lateral incision, the scion enters the rootstock as a kind of wedge, and it is very important that the surface of its bark coincides with the bark of a branch; In this position, they need to be fixed
When the stock is much thicker
With a thick rootstock, a vaccination for the bark is used. On the bottom of the cuttings make a cut at an angle of 30 degrees. The bark is cut into a stockstock, after which a stalk is inserted into the formed pocket. However, the bark can just not be cut. To do this, thoroughly bandage the stock so that the bark does not tear during the work. After that, carefully separate the bark from the trunk. To do this, it is better to use a copy knife, which has a special bone for this purpose. We place the handle in the pocket, fix the vaccine with the film, and grease its place with garden var.
When vaccinated over the cortex, the surface of the cortex can be incised, or you can simply gradually pull it back, after strengthening it well so that it does not
Create a new variety
For this purpose, re-grafting of already mature fruit trees produced in a split is best suited. We leave about 10-30 cm from the site of the plant-rootstock. We cut away all skeletal branches from it. In the stumps, we make longitudinal splits with a depth of about 5 cm. If the branch is thick, then even two scion cuttings can be placed in it. For a thin branch, a half-split (not pass-through) is suitable. Cuttings are cut so that "shoulders" (straight ledges) are formed, with which they will rest on the surface of the hemp. Clays are filled into the cleavage, and the top of the cuttings and hemp are greased with garden var. The place of vaccination is fixed.
Vaccination in the cleft is most often used to create a new plant variety, if the old one did not suit the owner of the garden with something.
This list of options is not complete. With the development of gardening, we will learn about other possibilities.
