enigma wrote:

Bill wrote in

news.net:

In article ,
enigma wrote:

my grandmother had a really wonderful crabapple at the
back of her garden in western NY. she died last year & now
my aunt is thinking of selling the house.
i want to know if i can get grafts of that tree & grow
them
on an old, non-producing apple tree here in NH. if that's
possible, how much time do i have between cutting the
scions & grafting them to my tree?

You have to take the scion pieces off the crabapple before the tree
goes out of dormancy. Take the new growth portion of the branches
for best results. You then should wrap them in saran wrap and put them
in a plastic sealed bag with a piece of damp toweling and place that in a
cool dark place like your frig. Spring is the best time to do apple
grafting.
Keeping them for next year would probably reduce their viability quite a
bit.

what time of year is
best? is it possible to just root cuttings from the
crabapple? i probably have a year or so timeframe to get
this done.

Your best time is to do it this Spring.



Tough Question. I¹d start now and do a few every month
till no longer
an option.

it's a 12 hour drive to get there. i don't get there too
often, but i will try if i have to.

Crabapples are tough so maybe they will excuse
multiple mistakes. Time ...unless you winter them in the
ground , I'd say the sooner the better. I do not know if
apple wood can winter over buried but if last resort give
it a try. Grape hard wood cuttings can.

i think i'll try the rooting pots that Lee Valley sells on
one branch, & take some cuttings to try to scion onto my
apple. i'm even willing to buy a young apple tree if that
might take a graft easier.

You may have better luck with a graft taking if you use a young
vigoruous apple tree, rather than an older tree. Better yet, get
a hold of a apple rootstock for this job. You can then prune
off all the rootstock branches, so that you will direct all the roots
energy into the scion you have grafted atop it.



Anyone know better practice ?

Just sticking my Bamboo Begonia in water works.

i've had that work with roses & willows (but willows will root
in just about anything).i just haven't had much experience
grafting or rooting apple

Grafting is probably a preferable technique than rooting.

Sherwin



lee