Combo apple at big box stores

[j-bird]

I was poking around my local big box store (Menards) at lunch today - just enjoying the sunshine and while I was seeing what trees they had I found this. The have trained a small apple tree around a larger one to support it of a different variety in the same container. I have never seen this before but as soon as I saw it I had that "The guys on the deer porn sight will get a kick out of this!" moment.


I have never seen this before and have my reservations about the practical value of it.....but I'm sure someone will buy them......I didn't check the price.

 

[OkieKubota]

So they start life immediately killing each other...

Looks to me like it would be better to just have both grafted to the same root stock...

 

[THE LLC]

I have a rootstock with three varieties I grafted to it. Pretty cool. This idea doesn't make much sense.

 

[j-bird]

I was thinking the same thing when I first saw it......why not graft 2 types to the same tree? But, what do I know. All I know is that the smaller of the two that is trained around the larger one I bet doesn't make it in the long run. Even so, someone will buy it I'm sure....people will buy almost anything.

 

[Nebraskaz71]

I saw those this morning at menards and said to myself what in the hell lol

 

[John Barnes]

Lowe's had some of those last spring. They were twice the price of a single tree.

 

[Native Hunter]

I'm starting to get some good ideas from this J-bird. Just thing of the TWISTED possibilities.

 

[THE LLC]

What you got going there NH?

 

[Native Hunter]

What you got going there NH?

That's one of those useless crabapple trees that makes the tiny little fruit. I topworked it by grafting a bunch of different, good apple scions to it just last week.

If the tree ends up dying, it will put out some root sprouts which should be about the perfect size to graft in a couple of years. IMHO, this tree was really to big to topwork, but I thought it would be fun experimenting.

 

[Fish]

Thats just a gimmick to sell product. But heck, i wouldnt be surprised if the two trees fused as they grew and fed each other that way. Maybe then with some keen pruning you could make it work to some extent.
I watched a video where a guy grafted over an orchard (bark grafting the cut stump)and the following season he took 2or3 upright grafts, twisted them together, tied and let them do their thing. I did this with a winesap i had grafted and today those original grafts are fused solid and make a single trunk.