How and what can apricot be planted on?
It so happens that apricot cultivated for several years, the very first harvest disappoints the gardener with tasteless or low-quality fruits. There are two ways out of this situation: uprooting or cutting down the “unsuccessful” tree by planting a new seedling in its place, or planting cuttings of good apricot varieties on the plant.
The vaccine will be a good solution, since in this case the harvest will have to wait much less than after planting a new seedling. This article will describe the basic rules for apricot vaccination.
The purpose and benefits of vaccination
For the first time hearing about the possibility of grafting cuttings of elite varieties on fruit trees, gardeners who are not too knowledgeable try this procedure, but the vaccine often does not take root. A successful transplant operation requires knowledge, a careful approach and the correct execution of the procedure.
Important! If the graft of one plant is grafted onto the root system of another, then the variety to which the stem belonged will eventually grow. But if the root system belonged to a tree with good winter hardiness, then these qualities will be transferred to the grafted part of the tree.
The need for vaccination arises when there is a need to improve the grade of a fruit tree, for which several parts of individual plants are brought together. To perform the manipulation, parts of two different plants are needed - the scion and the stock.
The stock is a viable plant, or its lower part, with which they want to reunite the cuttings of the selected variety. A graft is a part of a plant that needs to be planted on a stock. The vaccine is designed to connect the parts so that they eventually grow together and become one.
The stock delivers nutrition and moisture to the grafted graft, thanks to which it quickly adapts, grows, and after a while pleases the owner with a harvest of varietal fruits. The grafted plant not only retains its best qualities (taste and size of fruits, productivity), but also acquires winter hardiness of the tree to which it is grafted.
This is very important, as large-fruited varietal apricots rarely have good resistance to low winter temperatures. Therefore, it is important for the gardener to responsibly approach the choice of stock, and choose the most winter-hardy. Usually, game-grown birds have increased winter hardiness.
Did you know? Gardeners establish bird houses on trees, thereby “ inviting ” birds to settle in them. Several bird families can protect the garden from caterpillars, codling moths and other pests.
Methods and terms for grafting apricot in spring and winter
Cuttings for future vaccinations are harvested in advance, optimally from the fall, since in winter the buds on the branches can freeze. The best time for grafting is the end of October. Sliced cuttings are stored in a plastic bag on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator or in wet sawdust in a cool basement. If blanks have not been made since the fall, then it is possible to carry out cuttings in the spring, but it is worth remembering the possibility of frozen buds on branches.
Novice gardeners often do not understand when, in which month, trees can be planted, and how to carry out the operation so that the vaccination is reliable. In spring, plants can be grafted both before the movement of juices in the wood begins, and later.
It is advisable to have a transplant before the kidneys open. The most suitable time is March and April. Early treatment will allow plants to grow together before the onset of winter cold. August is a very good time for splicing, since by this time the apricot wood is ripening well. The readiness of the tree for vaccination in August can be determined by the easy separation of the bark from the sapwood.
At the end of August, in the fall, planting activities are carried out only by residents of the southern regions. This is due to the fact that the stalk does not have time to take root before the onset of cold weather, it does not have enough warm days for it.
Did you know? According to popular beliefs, it is time for the gardener to start vaccinating stone fruit crops as soon as the soil in the garden thaws to the depth of two bayonet shovels.
In winter, vaccinations are also carried out, but there is always the possibility of freezing in severe frosts. Basically, this procedure is practiced by large fruit nurseries and carried out in a warm room, where the positive temperature is constantly maintained.
Types of vaccinations:
- “Lateral” - when a lateral incision is made in the trunk, where the scion stalk is inserted at an angle of 45 degrees. The diameter of the stem section must match the diameter of the handle, the insert must be tight. The junction is fixed so as to fix the vaccine.
- “Split” - to conduct a branch, the diameter of which is larger than the diameter of the future scion. In a thick rootstock branch, a transverse (rather deep) cut is made, where the stalk of a varietal plant is inserted. The cuttings are pre-cut obliquely (at an angle of 45 degrees). The point is that the wood of the scion and stock should be firmly in contact. A clamped stalk is well fixed.
- Copulation is a variant of vaccination, where the thickness of the cuttings and stock is the same. They are connected to each other end-to-end, after which one plant as if continues another (visually). The junction is tightly fixed, and after three to four years, the plants will grow together tightly and become one. People often call me this distorted word “tinting”.
- “Over the bark” - this method is a bit different from the methods described above, since during the procedure no damage to the wood is carried out. On the tree to which the cuttings will be grafted, they cut a little, and, as it were, unfold the bark. Next, graft cuttings are applied to the bare wood of the rootstock, and they cover it with the previously drawn bark. The place where the two plants are combined is tightly rewound with fixing materials.
- Okulirovanie - vaccination with eyes. To carry it out, a small part, on which the fruit kidney is located, is carefully cut from the maternal apricot bark. An incision is made in a bark on a rootstock tree with a sharp knife, into which a scion with a kidney is placed. The junction is tightly rewound for fixation. This method is less reliable, since it takes a long period for parts to take root, therefore, in this way trees are planted only in summer (since the beginning of July).
What trees can be planted apricot
If a gardener has enough experience and has already “got his hand” in vaccinations, he will be able to plant a stalk on almost any tree. In this case, it is not even necessary to ensure that the scion and rootstock belong to the same variety of fruit trees.
For example, as a stock for a peach or apricot, you can choose plum or cherry. A stalk that has taken root will possess the qualities of a mother plant, that is, it will remain a representative of its variety.
Important! After the stalk has been clipped, a garden var is applied to all damaged areas or the damage is painted with oil-based paint (varnish). This precaution will protect vulnerable areas from pests, moisture and dust.
On apricot
The most optimal is the graft of apricot cuttings to a stock of the same type. Before starting the procedure, the gardener should critically evaluate the age of the tree to which the grafting will take root, the diameter of the branches and whether it is possible to carry out the operation at this time of year.
When planting plants of one species, the procedure can be carried out in various ways, the result, most often, will always be successful. Peach trees can be used as apricot grafts, in this case it must be borne in mind that the grafting will be slightly frost-resistant, because peach stocks can not tolerate frosts well.
On cherry
It is also possible to successfully plant apricot in cherry rootstock. But the gardener should remember that the success of such a vaccination will be less likely than after conducting other fruit crops. This is because not all varieties of cherries can be used as stock.
One of the minuses is that after successful grafting, the branches of the grafted tree become overly fragile and need to be further strengthened. A very reliable, but very time-consuming option is a graft of plum or cherry plum that has previously been grafted onto the root system of the cherry, on which, later, an apricot is already grafted.
Read also about the features of cherry inoculation in spring for beginners, and how to plant plums on plums.
On the plum
Fixing apricot rootstock on plum trees is very popular, since plums are very frost-resistant plants. Both fruit crops have good mutual compatibility and take root practically without the formation of an influx of bark at the junction.
In addition, grafted apricot becomes resistant to plum rootstock at low temperatures. Apricot is grafted onto the plum both by the copulation method and by grafting the cuttings.
Apricot and plum can also be grown by deep cutting:
How to plant apricot?
Apricot can be grafted using any of the above methods. For a successful vaccination, it is important to choose a not too old rootstock tree. As practice shows, in trees older than 4-5 years old grafts take root worse than in two-year-old seedlings.
On stocks of this age, grafts are not only bad and rarely take root, but as a result of transplantation, trees begin to hurt. They often develop moniliosis and other fungal diseases, as a result of which the bark becomes moldy, and the tree gradually dies.
Did you know? Russian, and later a Soviet scientist, Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin was the founder of the method of grafting fruit trees. On one tree, the gardener grew dozens of different varieties, and all of them bore fruit.
How to plant apricot properly:
- The tree to be grafted is selected. It is desirable that this was a young seedling of apricot wild game, in the colloquial name of the toad.
- The central branches of the wild game are cut. The place of their saw should be close to the trunk.
- Apricot, on which large, sweet fruits grow, is chosen as a stock. I cut off thin branches (cuttings) 10-15 cm long from the mother plant.
- Cuttings are grafted onto wild apricot, for example, using the “under the bark” method. To do this, the bark at the vaccination site is slightly separated from the tree, the stalk is firmly inserted there. Since the vaccine does not always take root, experienced gardeners recommend making them in the amount of 3-5 pieces. If extra cuttings take root, then they can always be cut. When all the cuttings are inserted under the bark according to the cut diameter of the apricot branch, they are tightly bandaged at the junction, in a circle, over the rootstock bark.
- The open part of the tree stump with attached cuttings is poured with oil paint intended for the streets, or garden var. The application of the protective layer should be plentiful, so that there is not a single untreated joint. Both oil paint and garden varnish serve as an insulating material that prevents pathogens from penetrating wood.
Video: Apricot inoculation
If the vaccination was successful, the gardener will be able to understand by whether the graft of another tree grafted to the stock develops. If leaves appeared on it and its length gradually increases, that is, the stalk develops, which means that the graft has taken root.
Tips for beginner gardeners
If the gardener lives in Siberia or the Urals, he should not plant southern varieties of apricots on the local wild, as they are too thermophilic for this climate, and are likely to die from frost in the first winter. But in the middle zone of Russia, the southern varieties of fruit trees perfectly take root, partially acquiring resistance to frost from a wild stock.
We recommend finding out why the apricot tree does not bear fruit.
When planting cuttings of equal diameter (by the method of copulation) for 1-2 summer seedlings, it is not necessary to process the vaccine with garden varieties or other protective compounds. The easiest way to put on top of the junction is a regular plastic bag and tightly fix it on a thin trunk of a seedling.
Combining one tree with another is a very interesting activity. If desired, up to 10 different apricot varieties can be grown on one rootstock. The more a gardener practices vaccination, the less misfires occur.
