A Late Spring Update on This Year’s Grafted Apple Trees
I was down at the allotment this morning – checking to see if anything was desperate for a last drink of water before tonight’s forecasted rain hopefully drenches everything in sight – and took the opportunity to check on the progress of the two dozen new apple trees that I grafted earlier this year.
So far, so good. Sixteen of the twenty-four are showing signs of life that I’d describe as anything from “hopeful” to “impressive”. A couple in particular are showing pleasingly strong signs of just the sort of vigorous first-year growth that you hope for when you join scion to stock.
Here’s one of the two ‘Charles Ross’ trees; just look at those large, glossy green leaves:
‘Rosemary Russet’ – I have a tree or two of this variety already, but it’s always good to have a spare – is looking pretty good as well:
And I’m pleased that this ‘Sops in Wine’ scion seems to have taken (I think the red colouration on the leaf is a characteristic of the variety, rather than a nutrient deficiency, but I’ll be keeping an eye on it, just in case)…
…which is a relief, as the second one I grafted is one of the eight that are showing no signs of life just yet. There’s new growth on the rootstock section, so I know that’s alive. But the scion itself is staying stubbornly stick-like:
(Apologies for the blurriness, it’s just my phone refusing to focus on the subject rather than the clearly far more fascinating background texture, as it often does.)
These two ‘Golden Noble’ scions don’t seem to be showing any signs of springing into life, either.
I’m refusing to give up all hope just yet though. The scions seem to be tightly joined and their wood looks plump and healthy, not shrivelled or desiccated. Sometimes a scion can take a while to settle onto its new stock, and as long as there’s enough water transfer occurring to keep it alive, it can burst into late leaf just as you think it has failed and are about to take the tape off and throw the scion on the compost heap. That’s why I usually just keep nipping off the rootstock growth and hoping for the best, until it’s painfully obvious that the graft has definitely failed.
75% is a lower success rate than I usually hope for and is lower than I’ve enjoyed in the past. But it’s been a rather odd year since I grafted these trees, back in mid-March. Since then the weather has been mostly very warm and exceedingly dry – much more August than May – and I’ve had to water the new trees very regularly to prevent them from drying out completely. It’s possible that a few of the scions that haven’t sprouted any new growth yet have been adversely affected by the scorching weather – dried out before they could establish a connection with the rootstock – and have died as a result.
I do have to admit though that one or two of them are a little loose in their tape bindings, suggesting either that I didn’t secure them quite as well as I needed to, or that something has disturbed them since. We do have pigeons, cats and foxes on our allotment site, any of which are more than capable of knocking a scion loose in passing, or in landing. But I suspect they’re more likely a case of grafter-error.
Still, that’s sixteen new trees that will hopefully continue to grow on strongly this year and can be planted out in the new cordon section on the plot early next year. I’ll continue to keep a close eye on them and maybe post another update or two, later in the year.
How about you? How are your grafted trees looking? Mostly successes? A few failures? Any noticeable problem or patterns to report? Do please let me know, via the comments.
Hi Darren, I always enjoy your updates from the garden and allotment. I made a similar number of grafts this spring and mine are looking about the same as yours – maybe a little bit ahead as I’m in Bristol and it has not been quite so dry here as it was in Manchester. My grafts are mostly backups for some trees that got badly chewed by a vole (I won’t be letting the weeds grow up around the trunks again).
I also have a Sops-in-Wine graft and I’m happy to say I think the red leaves are characteristic of the variety rather than a problem and mine looks just like yours. My Rosemary Russet is one of the more vigorous growers of the grafts made this year. The only definite failure (so far) is a St. Edmund’s Russet that grew away but then declined. I looked more closely at the graft union yesterday and it was clear there was some kind of nasty canker infection, similar to the problem you had with your family tree a few years ago, which explains the decline.
I am hopeful for the one Wickson graft that has produced a modest amount of growth from one bud. Of the grafts I made last year the two Wickson were the only failures. I wonder if this variety is harder to graft than others. The other buds on the scion have shrunk underneath a dried out shell, something that happened to the other scions I tried to graft.
I hope you got all the forecast rain last night!
Thank you Tom, much appreciated. Sorry to hear about the vole issues. Not something we have to worry about on our allotment. The local cats and resident foxes take care of most rodents in fairly short order, so that’s one pest problem we don’t have to worry about.
Glad to hear the red leaf on Sops-in-wine is typical. Knowing it’s a red-fleshed variety I rather suspected so, but a confirmation is always welcome. My St. Edmund’s seems to be growing strongly, so if you need a scion next winter or a bud-stick later in the year for a replacement, do let me know, I’d be happy to snip a bit off and send it down to Bristol.
I’m not familiar with Wickson, is it the U.S. variety sometimes called ‘Wickson Crab’? It’s meant to be a very good apple if so. Fingers crossed that grows well for you this year.
And yes, thank you, we’ve had a good soaking over the weekend. I’ve been a work so haven’t been down the plot since Friday, but I’m hoping everything will be well watered and happy.
Hi Darren,
Thanks for the generous offer of a St. Edmunds Russet scion – that is very kind of you. I am still hopeful that the vole chewed trees will pull through despite the pretty horrendous bark loss (they have leafed out and haven’t wilted yet, fingers crossed) but if I do need it next year it would be great to see if we can arrange a trade.
Yes, I mean Wickson Crab – Stephen Edholm (Skillcult) in Northern California seems to love it so despite the very different climate here I thought it worth a try. It will be interesting to see how it compares with some of the older English small-apple varieties such as Pitmaston Pine Apple and Golden Knob.
Ah, yes, I’ve been fascinated by Mr Edholm’s work since I first came across it a few years back. Every year when he announces his scion auctions I think about chucking in a bid or three. But then I think about the delivery costs, the potential customs implications, the phytosanitary regulations around importing plant material from the U.S. and… yeah, no scions for me.
Pitmaston Pine was one of my (mew to me) discoveries of last year. Delicious apple. Hopefully my cordon will produce a few fruits this year, as the tree at work has turned distinctly biennial so I don’t think we’ll get much from it this autumn.
You are doing well. I was told at the Moot in February that “Sops in wine” is not a single variety but a generic name. My graft (mid Feb) is showing but not at all red atm. Last years “Tickled Pink” still has red(ish) leves, but I expect them to green up now the rain is here.
Of the apples I grafted in mid February all but 1 took. No plums did though.
Of the apples I grafted at the end of April only 1 rootstock is showing and it has a graft on it which is doing OK. The other 11 rootstocks I got have not shown a leaf , so I suspect that the person who supplied my rootstocks was robbed by her supplier.
Hi George – The (Manchester?) Moot in Feb is where I picked up my ‘Sops in Wine’ scion as well, so you and I could be growing clones of the same tree. It’d be interesting to compare notes through the year, see how they both get on.
Plum grafting is, by all accounts I’ve heard from those who do it regularly, really rather tricky. One chap I’m in contact with regularly sends updates on his grafting efforts, and in the past he’s used heat collars, thermostats and all sorts to try to give his plum scions the best start. Mileage may vary, of course, I’m sure some folks just splice in a scion and off they go.
It occurs to me that and end of April grafting might have been adversely affected by the heatwave? The scions might have dried? Then again, if the rootstocks themselves aren’t leafing up, then, as you say, they might not have been in the best condition when they got to you. For the past couple of years I’ve ordered mine from Walcott Organic and I’ve been impressed with the health and consistency of thickness as well. I’m happy to recommend them on that basis.
I’d second a recommendation for Walcot. Compared to some other suppliers the rootstocks that I have received from them have had lots of fibrous, healthy roots and aren’t wrapped up too tightly for posting. It’s noticeable how scions grafted onto their rootstocks seem to have a head start relative to others.
Hi
of the grafts I did before I went away at the start of feb, the only variety that is not doing well is the sops-in-wine. Since I got back in to action only 1 of the dozen rootstocks I got has shown any growth. I suspect it was just a duff batch,
I unbound the grafts last week and they all looked just right except Lanes-prince-albert which is very waisted.
I want to learn to bud because I have a couple of rootstocks left over from last year I want to use up.
As it happens, I haven’t done any bud grafting yet either. I’m tempted to just give it a go later in the the year, try the method, see what happens.
My first 4x grafting attempts after reading the post on z-grafting were a little late on so no joy yet, one has been dislodged sadly but a breakage in a recently purchased whip of ‘roberts red crab’ have been well healed by binding with grafting tape and has lots of new growth (dogs and children in a small garden can be perilous for the graft union it seems!). But all the g213 rootstocks i got to graft onto next year when they have rooted well seem to be happy enough.
My pendragon on m26 at the allotment has red foliage and tender stems much like sops in wine – as does the roberts red crab here at home. A good marker of anthocyanin production.
My also recently purchased wickson crab on mm106 has thrown out some good new growth and we are not far from you Darren if you ever wish to take a cutting. We’re in Stockport and are also friends with your old colleague Faye who now works at RHS Bridgewater.
Hopefully now the rain is here there will be less aphids to pick off new growth tips.
Hi Luke – Great to hear from you. I think Faye might have mentioned you the other week when I bumped into her at Bridgewater. Do come on down to Quarry Bank to see our orchards some time!
Now then, ‘Pendragon’ sounds like a really interesting apple. I’ve had a quick look in my copy of James Evans and A Cornish Pomona and it’s likely to be closely related to Malus pumila ‘Niedzwetzkyana’, and yes, the anthocyanin levels are off the scale. I also liked their declaration that “It is NOT “an 800 year old Cornish apple” as widely stated on the internet, which is an unnecessary, invented history!” – got to love a good debunking.
And ‘Roberts Red Crab’ is a new one to me. The pics on the Frank P Matthews website look superb though. Definitely one I’d consider, if I had room for a crab apple anywhere.
Hi Darren,
Thanks, Faye and I are going to try and make it down to visit at some point.
I’m glad to read that there are more level headed appraisels out there of Pendragon, it seemed a little optimistic for a nice red chance seedling.
Since my last post the ‘tickled pink’ graft has thrown some leaf growth out which is excellent news. I recall only reading to soak the scions to prevent drying out halfway through my batch so perhaps that was a telling factor given the heatwave they endured.
Glad to hear ‘Tickled Pink’ is showing signs of life. I think one or two more of mine have started leafing up since I posted as well. Maybe the slightly cooler recent weather has helped.
See you down at Quarry Bank some time, all being well!
We collected a few scions from their winter prunings at Hanbury Hall in February 2024.
All took after grafting.
It pays to go in winter and ask a member for permission.
I want to get some from Hidcote old Orchard before it’s too late.
They have a wonderful golden coloured apple there which I’d like to propagate and identify.
Hi Nick – Congrats on the success rate! Which grafting method did you use? I visited Hidcote a few years ago but we were there in June, so of course nothing was anywhere near ripe yet. Do let me know how you get on with the scion requests, and whether you manage to identify that golden apple (it’s okay, I can wait a few years for an update…)
“I’m refusing to give up all hope just yet though. The scions seem to be tightly joined and their wood looks plump and healthy, not shrivelled or desiccated.”
Having been kindly sent scions of two varieties. I was at 50% only success however noticed in the last 2 weeks some sprouting so have 75% now which is perfect for both family trees
They must be like me and very slow
Hi Russ – Yes, as it happens, I re-checked all the trees last week as I was weeding around them, and those two ‘Golden Noble’ have both sprouted, albeit weakly. So that means there are now only 6 definite failures, and 18 trees that should hopefully grow on well next year. As you say, slow like the both of us 🙂