The budding of fruit trees , sometimes also referred to as summer grafting, is one of the ways to graft fruit trees. It consists in joining a leaf bud (eye) of a noble variety with the rootstock. For many people it is considered a much more reliable and faster way of grafting fruit trees than the so-called vaccination together. Here are step by stephow to budding fruit trees !
Budding fruit trees - picking bud from scion
Budding Date
Optimalthe term of budding of fruit treesis the time of creative tissue activity, which is called the pulp time by nurserymen. There are 2 budding dates:
- May-June - live eye budding (the bud grows in the same season)
- July-September - budding with a sleeping eye (the bud grows the next spring).
Remember!In practice, in amateur crops, budding with a sleeping eye is performed from mid-July to mid-August, remembering that slips must have well-developed leaf buds for budding. The first rootstocks of bird cherries are inoculated, then pear and apple trees, and finally ałycz (plum) and an antipyan (cherry).
Sprigs from the inoculated buds will grow in the next year, and the first harvest of fruit will usually be possible 2-3 years after inoculation.
How to graft fruit trees?
Step 1 - preparation of rootstockAppropriate rootstocks for fruit trees must be used for budding, usually the seedling-derived species to which the noble variety inoculated belongs. Two weeks before inoculation, the rootstock should be watered and dug in abundantly so that the bark peels off well during work. 1-2 days before vaccination, it should be wiped with a cloth to remove all soil.
Step 2 - harvesting the graftsIn the morning, on the day of budding, obtain the grafts for grafting. For this purpose, we break one-year-old shoots, but only those from the sunlit part of the crown, from the middle or upper part. Then we remove all the leaves and the top from such a shoot so that no moisture escapes. From such a shoot, cut flat our budding scion.The scion should have 1 leaf bud on the bark with a thin layer of wood.
The dimensions of such a strip (scion) are approx. 1 cm long and 0.5 cm wide. From one one-year shoot, we can have as many scions as there are leaf buds.
Step 3 - making buddingIf we have prepared slips, we can continue budding:
- cut the bark of the rootstock in the shape of a large T letter,
- gently insert the graft into the incision on the root of the rootstock (everything must adhere well), top down,
- we tie the budding site with string or garden foil.
Note! An incision on the rootstock is made 5-6 cm above the root neck on the north side to prevent the bud from drying out.
Budding fruit trees - picked bud from scion
put under the bark of a properly cut rootstock, then
the place of budding is secured by wrapping with string or garden foil
Step 4 - checking if the vaccination has taken placeThe rootstocks after inoculation are dug up with moist soil.After 2 weeks, we check whether the vaccination has taken place (together with the buds, they should have a fresh, he althy appearance). If so, we bury the plant again so that it can gain strength before spring.
Step 5 - cutting the rootstockIn spring, cut the top of the rootstock 15-20 cm above the inoculated bud. Thanks to this, when a bud of a noble variety develops a shoot, it will be able to be tied to the remaining, upper part of the rootstock so that it grows vertically upwards.
How to facilitate the vaccination procedure?
When grafting trees and shrubsthe most difficult moment is to properly prepare the rootstock and scions so that they join wellIt is difficult to properly trim the grafting surfaces. This activity takes a lot of time and requires experience. Usuallyyou need to get multiple vaccinations before finally getting into practice
However, this taskbecomes much easier if we use a special secateurs for vaccinations Thanks to its use, the incision on the scion and the rootstock will fit together perfectly. The pruning is also done very quickly, like a regular pruning shears.A special blade in the grafting pruner is responsible for shaping the trimmed surface.I highly recommend this device if you want to avoid failure in grafting plants!
