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Post by benmnwi on Mar 6, 2024 15:47:58 GMT -6
I hate throwing away scion for some reason. Some of my frankentrees exist only because it pained me to throw away scion without trying to graft it onto something.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 6, 2024 15:53:11 GMT -6
I hate throwing away scion for some reason. Some of my frankentrees exist only because it pained me to throw away scion without trying to graft it onto something. I end up tossing a bunch every year, but those are from my trees and I always cut/save more than I need. This McLaughlin pear was beyond elusive to find. It's supposed to be an old Maine variety that Fedco carried at one point in time. The gal says hers ripens in late October. Finding a late(ish) ripening, northern hardy pear has been a goal of mine since moving here. I figured the gal would send me a stick, not a number of sticks. I could tack extras on some of my mature pears I suppose.
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Post by Reagan on Mar 6, 2024 17:45:05 GMT -6
I’ve been grafting onto wild bradfords that I find. Trooper hooked me up with keifer this year. So far I have 2 trees marked for grafting. Hope to find some more.
I’ve only grafted for a few years but my pear success is 100%. It must be very forgiving.
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 6, 2024 18:41:11 GMT -6
I could top work it in a Siberian pear. I'll throw a stick in with your Pipsqueak scion if you want one. Thank you.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 7, 2024 8:49:09 GMT -6
I’ve been grafting onto wild bradfords that I find. Trooper hooked me up with keifer this year. So far I have 2 trees marked for grafting. Hope to find some more. I’ve only grafted for a few years but my pear success is 100%. It must be very forgiving. I'd say you are quicker to pick up on grafting than many. I remember Crazy Ed on the old forums (and on H-T) saying that he just couldn't get pear grafts to take. I think the most important thing with pears is to graft to older, well established rootstocks....like your wild Bradfords. I didn't have much luck with pear on clonal rootstocks until I started planting the rootstocks in place for a year or two, then grafting them later. The best luck I've had with pears is grafting them to pear seedlings (common domestic pear and ussurian). The OHxF series of rootstocks really need to be grown out before grafting IMO
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Post by Reagan on Mar 7, 2024 9:33:29 GMT -6
I can be a picky perfectionist SOB sometimes. I think that helps with grafting.
The established Bradford grow like weeds. So my grafts grow the same. A thumb sized tree last year grew 10 feet.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 7, 2024 14:35:03 GMT -6
I can be a picky perfectionist SOB sometimes. I think that helps with grafting. The established Bradford grow like weeds. So my grafts grow the same. A thumb sized tree last year grew 10 feet. I suppose I should be happy that invasive Bradford and Callery pears don't survive winters here, but I wouldn't be that mad if I had a number of them growing in the woods just so I could top work them. Today, I cleared out around a couple of wild crabs that I found earlier this winter. I'll be topworking those once it's spring. Nothing like free rootstocks
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 7, 2024 16:29:01 GMT -6
A box from Cummins just arrived. I guess I’ll be grafting this weekend.
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Post by Reagan on Mar 7, 2024 16:41:28 GMT -6
There were 4 bradfords in the cabin yard at one time. The 2 biggest fell apart before I owned it.
I killed 1 little one not realizing much about grafting and what I could do with it. The last one I grafted and it’s doing well. I have found about 10-12 others scattered around my place.
Go 2 hours west to Cincinnati and every patch of dirt anywhere has thousands of them growing. They can be vermin like autumn olive or bush honeysuckle.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 7, 2024 17:04:39 GMT -6
There were 4 bradfords in the cabin yard at one time. The 2 biggest fell apart before I owned it. I killed 1 little one not realizing much about grafting and what I could do with it. The last one I grafted and it’s doing well. I have found about 10-12 others scattered around my place. Go 2 hours west to Cincinnati and every patch of dirt anywhere has thousands of them growing. They can be vermin like autumn olive or bush honeysuckle. The folks I talk with from northern IL south say the same thing about Bradford/callery pears. Invasive, worthless, abundant, and apparently they stink when in bloom
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 7, 2024 19:03:23 GMT -6
The scions I got from Cummins are the best I’ve ever received. They were waxed on both ends and pencil sized. I’m used to the skimpy scions from Fedco. I’m hoping Coldstream ships my Siberian crab rootstock soon. I’ll graft up the M111 this weekend but, really want to go with the Siberian crab rootstock on my new land. I guess I’ll plant both and see how they do.
Now I’m going to have to pay $239 a roll for 5’ concrete mesh and $6.50 for 10’ emt. I used to pay $99 and $1.50. That’s worth an FJB.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 7, 2024 19:12:30 GMT -6
The scions I got from Cummins are the best I’ve ever received. They were waxed on both ends and pencil sized. I’m used to the skimpy scions from Fedco. I’m hoping Coldstream ships my Siberian crab rootstock soon. I’ll graft up the M111 this weekend but, really want to go with the Siberian crab rootstock on my new land. I guess I’ll plant both and see how they do. Now I’m going to have to pay $239 a roll for 5’ concrete mesh and $6.50 for 10’ emt. I used to pay $99 and $1.50. That’s worth an FJB. I must have gotten lucky with my scions from Fedco over the years. They were all pretty nice sized. Definitely not waxed on both ends though. Happy grafting
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 8, 2024 4:35:36 GMT -6
Yesterday, I helped out a friend by pruning his last ten trees or so. Stu and I did many of his trees a few years ago.
The day before, I pruned a few trees up north.
Pruning should be done and I will just do a few topworks this year. I have no plans to plant more fruit trees. It is time to stop doing that.
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 8, 2024 4:51:36 GMT -6
Yesterday, I helped out a friend by pruning his last ten trees or so. Stu and I did many of his trees a few years ago. The day before, I pruned a few trees up north. Pruning should be done and I will just do a few topworks this year. I have no plans to plant more fruit trees. It is time to stop doing that.
The guy I pruned for gave me a card that he had made from one of his drawings. Due to health reasons, he can no longer make drawings.
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 8, 2024 5:15:18 GMT -6
The scions I got from Cummins are the best I’ve ever received. They were waxed on both ends and pencil sized. I’m used to the skimpy scions from Fedco. I’m hoping Coldstream ships my Siberian crab rootstock soon. I’ll graft up the M111 this weekend but, really want to go with the Siberian crab rootstock on my new land. I guess I’ll plant both and see how they do. Now I’m going to have to pay $239 a roll for 5’ concrete mesh and $6.50 for 10’ emt. I used to pay $99 and $1.50. That’s worth an FJB. I must have gotten lucky with my scions from Fedco over the years. They were all pretty nice sized. Definitely not waxed on both ends though. Happy grafting I’ve gotten many q-tip stem sized scions from Fedco in the past. They were all small enough there was no option for whip and tongue grafting. I usually always just do clefts so it was never an issue. I may try w&t with these though. The GRIN were thicker but, still not as nice as these. These Cummins scions are 20-24” and all pencil sized. I’m thinking the freeze we had last spring that killed most of the apple fruit let the trees grow more vigorous last year because there was no fruit load.
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