It’s not so easy to buy a good apple tree. Often in the markets they sell wild seedlings under the guise of varietal, and even in specialized stores they can be confused. The second caveat - good varieties are usually designed for a warm, southern climate, and freeze in cooler regions. No one wants to grow an apple tree for several years, which will one day freeze. Therefore, the last option remains - vaccination of the apple tree on the wild. This is not an easy task, you will have to try it many times before your scions start to take root and grow, but such a skill provides unlimited opportunities for your garden.
Stock - task number one
Vaccination of the apple tree in the wild is carried out in the presence of a good and strong plant. It will provide the cultivated apple with nutrients due to the powerful root system. If you already have a wild apple tree in your summer cottage , then it will serve as a stock. You can ask your neighbors gardeners, for sure, some of them on the site have the root of an old apple tree, which lost the cultural part, and sprouts of wild trees appeared from under the vaccine. It is enough to dig them up and give the opportunity to take root in a permanent place of residence.
We’ll tell you one secret: grafting an apple tree on a pear game is much more successful than on a similar plant. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to plant a wild pear on the site - be sure to use it.
Growing stock from seeds
This is a long process, however, if you do not plan to vaccinate in the near future, but want a good stock on the site, then it is worth planting several trees for these purposes. For the collection of seeds, winter-hardy, local varieties of apple trees are best suited. Seeds are harvested from ripe fruits harvested in the fall. It is advisable to take the largest and most beautiful.
Seeds taken from the fruit are well washed and thoroughly dried. If the harvest occurs in the fall, then the seeds must be removed approximately until mid-January. Then they will be stratified, for this, seeds need to be sprinkled with river sand and put on the lower shelf of the refrigerator. Replace the stratification procedure by sowing on the bed. In the fall, choose a convenient place and close the seeds to a depth of 3-4 cm. They will lie under the snow all winter, and in the spring they will give friendly shoots. Until the fall, they will turn into small, but strong seedlings.
Annual seedlings
We are talking about how to grow the wild game of the apple tree for vaccination. The first summer has passed, the seedlings have grown stronger, now they need to be identified in the main place. Two years later they will turn into real young trees, to which you can plant cultivated plants. By this time, you need to have time to prepare a scion. This will require beautiful ripe fruits of the variety that you want to grow on your site. The growing procedure is absolutely identical to the one we described above. Only time will be required a little less. If you sow seeds in the autumn in the garden, then by the next fall they will become thin seedlings, and in a year - real cuttings. Since the stock is already strong enough, grafting an apple tree on a wild game can be quite successful.
Propagation of apple trees by cuttings
Vaccination of an apple tree in the spring on a wild game is carried out when there is a ready stock and a suitable cuttings. As the first, a young seedling or plant grown from seeds is suitable. An excellent option would be a wild apple tree grown in nature. This option is better than everyone else, because a wild-growing tree is most adapted to the climatic conditions of your region.
It is not necessary to grow the cuttings for a long time from seeds, you can buy it at a market where varietal seedlings are sold, or even easier - cut from a tree from someone you know. The rest is a matter of technology. However, you need not only to know how to plant an apple tree in a wild game, but also to have sufficient skills. Perhaps someone from your friends has already done a similar procedure and will be able to help you.
Cutting preparation
Inoculation of an apple tree in the spring on a wild game should occur in one day. That is, strong twigs or annual shoots need to be prepared on the same day when you are going to perform the procedure. You should not procure too much material for scions, evaluate your capabilities and the amount of time. After the cuttings are cut from the mother plant, all leaves are removed from it, leaving only a part of the petioles. Further manipulations depend on the chosen technique. In order to make it easier for you to determine, we will describe the most basic types of vaccinations that you can use.
Basic Rules
Now we will talk in more detail about how to plant an apple tree in a wild game. However, we first emphasize the importance of following a few rules. First: at whatever time the vaccine is given, the stalk, that is, the graft, must have kidneys that have not begun to develop. To comply with this rule, they are harvested in November / March and stored until the vaccination in the refrigerator or basement, at a temperature of +2 ... - 4 ° C. When is the apple tree vaccinated in the spring for wild game? Timing is suggested by the second rule, which says that you need to be vaccinated when the sap flow begins. In this case, in the case of an apple tree, you can take your time in a hurry: all stone fruit can be grafted until the end of flowering. And the last: cultivated plants are grafted onto wild plants that are maximally adapted to the characteristics of the region.
Preparation of the required tool
You will need a knife, make sure that the blade is very sharp and clean. You can conduct a simple check: if the blade easily cuts three or four sheets of paper at a time, then it is quite suitable. In addition, you will need a garden pruner and saw, plastic wrap or insulation tape. And do not forget to prepare a garden var and transparent bags of dense polyethylene.
The tools are ready, the stock is growing in the right place, now it's up to the cuttings. As such, well-ripened annual shoots without flower buds will be required. It is advisable that they be cut off on the south side of the crown. Have a good look at the branch you will plant. She should have smooth wood, a light cut and healthy, not darkened kidneys. Now we will consider the main ways of grafting an apple tree into a game to introduce an element of practice into our excursion.
Vaccination in stock, or simple copulation
It is carried out when the diameter of the scion and stock is approximately the same. This method does not require special skills and can be easily performed by any gardener, even a beginner. You need to prepare a stock - for this, choose a smooth place on the trunk or branch, without growths and buds, the diameter of which coincides with the handle. Now the exact movement "on yourself" will need to make an oblique smooth cut. Its diameter now exceeds the size of the scion. We take the shoot and cut the stalk from its middle part. In one motion we make an oblique cut on it. Now a matter of technology: we apply both slices to each other. Please note: cambial layers must be combined necessarily. At the same time, it is impossible to touch the slices with your hands so that there is no infection with pathogenic bacteria. The junction is tightly wrapped with a narrow polyethylene or insulating tape, not the adhesive side to the bark. Vaccination of an apple tree on a pear's wild game takes place with the same efficiency as on a wild game of a plant of its kind. Pay attention to the fact that you need to tie so well that even with effort, the stalk does not pull out of the harness. The upper cut is covered with garden var. When performing the procedure in early spring, you can put on a plastic bag at the vaccination site. The top cut should not touch the bag.
Improved Copulation
This is a more complex, but effective technique that allows you to vaccinate even in cases where the diameter of the stock and scion does not match. Vaccination of apple and pear in the wild in the fall is most often done in this way. Let's take a closer look at the technique itself.
It differs in that “tongues” are made on oblique sections of the stock and scion. For this, a shallow longitudinal incision is made at the rootstock section. A similar, from the same angle, is done on a stock. As a result, these two “tongues” enter each other, forming the best and most reliable bond. This facilitates the procedure for wrapping and securing the two elements of the vaccine, and also provides faster growth.
Bark grafting"
This method is popular for cases when a thin, young stalk is grafted onto an adult scion or a thick branch. It is ideal to practice this option with the beginning of sap flow, then the bark is easily separated from the trunk. Prepare a place for vaccination, for this, wipe the bark well, freeing it from dirt and dust. Now with a sharp knife you need to make a vertical cut under the bark. At the same time, a longitudinal cut on the scion should be performed and the surface should be cleaned. It remains to insert the scion deep beneath the bark, the upper part of the handle must fully enter under it. Now, as in other cases, it is necessary to tighten the vaccination site tightly to fix it and ensure adhesion.
Split vaccination
This is one of the most popular vaccination methods that every gardener will easily perform. Therefore, let us consider in more detail how to plant apple trees in a spring split. What is most remarkable, this method can be performed when the diameters of the stock and scion are the same or very different from each other. Here is such a spread. Most often it is used when the diameter of the stock is larger than that of the scion. However, judging by the reviews and experience of experienced gardeners, the vaccine "under the bark" in this case is more effective. However, this method also has a positive point: it can be used during the rest period, before the sap flow begins.
The technique is relatively simple: the stock is shortened a bit, after which it is split in the center, and a wedge is inserted into the split. Grafting cuttings take a length of 25 mm, with 2 or 4 kidneys. The lower cut is cut with a double-sided wedge. Here it is necessary to take into account the moment that the thickness of the rootstock bark is greater than that of the cuttings, so the latter is inserted into the cleavage to the full depth of the cut and slightly shifted into the hemp. Now the wedge is removed and the stalk remains tightly clamped. Now you need to tightly stick the scion to the stock and cover everything with garden var. In order for the vaccine to precisely take root, a plastic bag is put on it .
How to care for vaccinations
As soon as new growths appear on the scion, the tape should be removed, which provided reliable fixation of the cuttings and stock. This is done with a sharp knife. The plastic bag also needs to be removed in a timely manner when the first leaves appear on the grafted plant. All shoots that appear below the vaccine should be removed, as they will not yield cultivated fruits, but will take their vitality.
Vaccination is an affordable tool for every gardener, you just need to learn how to use it. A little practice - and varietal apple trees will grow on your site.