Could anyone help me with some scions (small twigs for grafting) of a Victoria Plum? I am gardening in Italy where we have some plum trees which bear uneatable fruit.

I suspect they were at one time the rootstock of Apricots, of which the Apricot part has died.

The victoria plum seems to be unknown in Italy; I would like to try grafting it onto the plum rootstock.

I can offer a weekend B&B for free in Tuscany as a reward for anyone who can supply the scions.

Joseph


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redonda wrote:
Could anyone help me with some scions (small twigs for grafting) of a Victoria Plum? I am gardening in Italy where we have some plum trees which bear uneatable fruit.

I suspect they were at one time the rootstock of Apricots, of which the Apricot part has died.

The victoria plum seems to be unknown in Italy; I would like to try grafting it onto the plum rootstock.

I can offer a weekend B&B for free in Tuscany as a reward for anyone who can supply the scions.

The fruit might have been used for making plum brandy

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a Victoria now.

--
Rusty

"redonda" wrote in message
...
Could anyone help me with some scions (small twigs for grafting) of a
Victoria Plum? I am gardening in Italy where we have some plum trees
which bear uneatable fruit.

I suspect they were at one time the rootstock of Apricots, of which the
Apricot part has died.

The victoria plum seems to be unknown in Italy; I would like to try
grafting it onto the plum rootstock.

I can offer a weekend B&B for free in Tuscany as a reward for anyone who
can supply the scions.

Joseph

Isn't this the wrong time of year to be doing 'stuff' with plums?
I thought you were only supposed to prune etc. between about May and
September when actively growing so that any wounds could heal.

Don't have a Victoria any more, but know where one is (our old garden).

David WE Roberts wrote:

"redonda" wrote in message
...
Could anyone help me with some scions (small twigs for grafting) of a
Victoria Plum? I am gardening in Italy where we have some plum trees
which bear uneatable fruit.

I suspect they were at one time the rootstock of Apricots, of which
the Apricot part has died.

The victoria plum seems to be unknown in Italy; I would like to try
grafting it onto the plum rootstock.

I can offer a weekend B&B for free in Tuscany as a reward for anyone
who can supply the scions.

Joseph

Isn't this the wrong time of year to be doing 'stuff' with plums?
I thought you were only supposed to prune etc. between about May and
September when actively growing so that any wounds could heal.

Don't have a Victoria any more, but know where one is (our old garden).

Well, actually it's a little late.

One cuts the scions off, a bit longer than you intend using, after the
leaves have dopped, and heel them in. Then, before the buds burst, (for
apples, early April, dunno bout plums) you dig them up, trim to length
and cut the graft.

Bind the join tightly and seal, with insulating tape, grafting tape,
cord, etc, then cover with wax.

I use a mixtue of beeswax and the wax some cheeses ae covered with.

--
Rusty

"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
David WE Roberts wrote:

"redonda" wrote in message
...
snip
Well, actually it's a little late.

One cuts the scions off, a bit longer than you intend using, after the
leaves have dopped, and heel them in. Then, before the buds burst, (for
apples, early April, dunno bout plums) you dig them up, trim to length and
cut the graft.
snip

Problem being that you are not supposed to prune (?) plums - errr.....what
is it called when you turn plums in to prunes?......reboot outside the
growing season because of the chances of silverleaf infection.

It used to be illegal IIRC but that was when plums were grown commercially
and there were real fears that amateur fruit growers could spread silver
leaf disease and ruin the commercial crops.

Regardless, you are only supposed to prune them when they are growing
strongly so that they have time to heal before winter.
Also, silver leaf spores spread during the winter months.

I must assume, therefore, that you are only supposed to graft them during
the growing season for similar reasons.

Apples, on the other hand, are generally pruned over winter when they are
dormant - and from your description they are grafted over the same period.

So I don't know if you take the scion earlier and overwinter for longer or
if you do a straight cut and graft around June when the trees are growing
strongly.

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_2155542_graft-plum-trees.html says to take the
scions in winter then keep in the fridge until April/May.
However I can't see how you can take a scion without cutting the parent tree
and again I can't see how it is O.K. to take scions from plum trees over
winter but not to prune them.
Not sure how accurate 'ehow' guides are - possibly slightly less than
Wikipedia?

Cheers

Dave R

My information comes from 'The Grafter's Handbook' by R.J.Garner -
rather an ancient treatise. Garner seems to think top grafting may be
done (in England) from February to June. The principal controlling
factor seems to be that the scion should be dormant. Hopefully your
UK winter has kept them that way so far!

My guess at the original use of the plum trees is that the remains of
a neighbouring espaliered Apricot produced a shoot of what appears to
be the same plum from its lower trunk.

Joseph


On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:29:50 +0000, Rusty Hinge
wrote:

David WE Roberts wrote:

"redonda" wrote in message
...
Could anyone help me with some scions (small twigs for grafting) of a
Victoria Plum? I am gardening in Italy where we have some plum trees
which bear uneatable fruit.

I suspect they were at one time the rootstock of Apricots, of which
the Apricot part has died.

The victoria plum seems to be unknown in Italy; I would like to try
grafting it onto the plum rootstock.

I can offer a weekend B&B for free in Tuscany as a reward for anyone
who can supply the scions.

Joseph

Isn't this the wrong time of year to be doing 'stuff' with plums?
I thought you were only supposed to prune etc. between about May and
September when actively growing so that any wounds could heal.

Don't have a Victoria any more, but know where one is (our old garden).

Well, actually it's a little late.

One cuts the scions off, a bit longer than you intend using, after the
leaves have dopped, and heel them in. Then, before the buds burst, (for
apples, early April, dunno bout plums) you dig them up, trim to length
and cut the graft.

Bind the join tightly and seal, with insulating tape, grafting tape,
cord, etc, then cover with wax.

I use a mixtue of beeswax and the wax some cheeses ae covered with.

wrote:
My information comes from 'The Grafter's Handbook' by R.J.Garner -
rather an ancient treatise. Garner seems to think top grafting may be
done (in England) from February to June. The principal controlling
factor seems to be that the scion should be dormant. Hopefully your
UK winter has kept them that way so far!

I have a very dormant looking Victoria at the moment.
Although I can't really offer anything from it, as it's only
a year old, so don't want to chop into it right now!

David WE Roberts wrote:

"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
David WE Roberts wrote:

"redonda" wrote in message
...
snip
Well, actually it's a little late.

One cuts the scions off, a bit longer than you intend using, after the
leaves have dopped, and heel them in. Then, before the buds burst,
(for apples, early April, dunno bout plums) you dig them up, trim to
length and cut the graft.
snip

Problem being that you are not supposed to prune (?) plums -
errr.....what is it called when you turn plums in to
prunes?......reboot outside the growing season because of the chances
of silverleaf infection.

Yup, but you're cutting off the cut ends of the scions, and covering the
graft with Edam-flavoured wax, and silverleaf just doesn't go for Dutch
cheese.

It used to be illegal IIRC but that was when plums were grown
commercially and there were real fears that amateur fruit growers could
spread silver leaf disease and ruin the commercial crops.

Regardless, you are only supposed to prune them when they are growing
strongly so that they have time to heal before winter.
Also, silver leaf spores spread during the winter months.

You're not pruning, you're grafting. Silverleaf spores don't burrow, and
assuming you're quick with your grafting and waxing, and clean the two
mating ends of the graft (which you'd do anyway, wouldn't you?),
silverleaf is unlikely to be quick enough to get in.

I must assume, therefore, that you are only supposed to graft them
during the growing season for similar reasons.

Nope. You hould always graft as the sap in the stock is rising.

Apples, on the other hand, are generally pruned over winter when they
are dormant - and from your description they are grafted over the same
period.

So I don't know if you take the scion earlier and overwinter for longer
or if you do a straight cut and graft around June when the trees are
growing strongly.

April, before the buds burst.

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_2155542_graft-plum-trees.html says to take the
scions in winter then keep in the fridge until April/May.
However I can't see how you can take a scion without cutting the parent
tree and again I can't see how it is O.K. to take scions from plum trees
over winter but not to prune them.

You disinfect the cut(s) and seal them.

Not sure how accurate 'ehow' guides are - possibly slightly less than
Wikipedia?

I prefer to consult a good gardening book - preferably one which has
passed through several editions.

Mine were first published in 1940 and 1943, and have no mention of
fridges...

--
Rusty