The time of grafting stone fruit in the spring and the optimal timing of harvesting cuttings

Tell me the time of grafting stone fruit in the spring. We bought an apricot and did not guess with the zoned characteristics. Probably, for our climate, it is too thermophilic, because it freezes every year. But I still managed to try the fruits - about five ripened last season. A very tasty variety, I would like to keep it, so they decided to plant it on cherry plum. We have several trees, one we want to use for grafting. When is it better to do this and is it possible to graft if the leaves have already blossomed?

If apple and pear wintering well, then peaches and apricots in the middle lane often come out of wintering with damage. Grafting them on a more winter-hardy crop, which is most often carried out in the spring, will help prevent the situation. And here it is important not to miss the time of grafting stone fruit in the spring and to guess exactly with the optimal period in order to get a high survival rate. In addition, it is necessary to take a responsible approach to the choice of grafting material and prepare cuttings on time.

Subtleties of harvesting cuttings

One-year growth suffers most from frost, and in fact it is just what is needed for vaccination. If a pear can calmly wait for spring, then apricots most often they freeze. In addition, in pome crops, even shoots "touched" by frost still take root. It will not work like that with stone fruits: a frozen cutting loses up to 50% chances of survival.

It is advisable to harvest stone fruit cuttings in December, before severe frosts set in. For this:

1. Chop annual healthy shoots.
2. Roll up in plastic.
3. Dig in a snowdrift.

If the snow melts early in the spring, they can "lie down" in the cellar. The cellar is not suitable for long-term storage. There cuttings most often rot or wake up early. Unlike pome fruits, stone fruits with swollen buds take root worse.

You can also graft twigs cut in the spring. But "winter" cuttings take root better.

Stone fruit grafting time in spring

The spring period, during which it is possible to plant stone fruit crops, is quite long. Gardeners have a lot of time - from late March to early summer. All this time, you can vaccinate using both fresh and harvested cuttings from winter.

However, the highest survival rate will be given by a vaccination made a week before the start of sap flow. It is impossible to say the exact date, each region has its own, since it depends on the climate and weather conditions. This is approximately the last decade of March - the first decade of April.

Grafting early will not only increase the chances of success, but also save you the hassle of further storing winter cuttings. But this does not mean that you cannot do garden work later. Stone fruits are inoculated and after the juice begins to circulate along the branches. Only it also appears on the sections and quickly oxidizes in air, forming an invisible film. It interferes with fusion and reduces the percentage of survival.

Spring grafting of plums on cherry plum - video