Topworking and healing over

Native Hunter

Well-Known Member
I was walking in my tree planting yesterday and took a few pictures of the graft unions of some trees that I topworked over the last 3 years. Most of them have healed over well and already closed the gaps. Below are a few examples:

This first one is where I converted a Callery Pear to a Hunter's Choice Pear. This tree has produced good crops the last two years.
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The second one is a native male persimmon that I did a sex change operation on. You can still see a little swell at the graft union, but it is healed over completely. This tree had a bumper crop last year.
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This is an interesting one. The original tree was a huge crabapple (with tiny apples) that I felt was too big to topwork. I don't think it could have ever healed over. I sawed the tree off at the groundline, and put a cage around the stump. When shoots started coming from around the stump, I cut all of them off but one and nurtured it to make a new small tree. Then I topworked it to a desirable variety. I'm expecting fruit from this one maybe next year.
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This is another persimmon that I was worried about, because it was so big when topworked, I was afraid that it might not heal over well. However, it is now completely healed over and making big persimmon crops.
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This is a non productive apple that has now been converted over to a Yates. I'm expecting a crop this year.
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Here is another apple that lacks some time completely healing over. However, it isn't far away and may close the gap this growing season.
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Here we see the agony of defeat, where my grafts failed to take on a persimmon tree. I really don't know why I failed on this one, but it obviously did. New limbs below my grafts have shot out now. I will let this tree grow another year and go back and try again.
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This last one is where I ordered what was supposed to be a productive crabapple variety from a nursery, but it turned out to be an ornamental crab. I topworked it to a nice Dolgo variety that drops heavily in November, so in a couple of years, we should be good to go.
CTdCdsR.jpg


Just say no to non productive trees - topwork them and get what you need......
 
i was thinking of doing this to few trees this year, as have number of wild trees that didn't quite get the good disease resistance traits but laid down heck of a root structure, so figured worth a shot.

How big of a tree is probably too big most of the ones i want to do are probably about that 4" - 6" stump.
 
Cool thread. I just potted 8 root stock last night (M111 and Antonovka). Planning to graft to those and top work a few trees this year.


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i was thinking of doing this to few trees this year, as have number of wild trees that didn't quite get the good disease resistance traits but laid down heck of a root structure, so figured worth a shot.

How big of a tree is probably too big most of the ones i want to do are probably about that 4" - 6" stump.

So far I’ve not had one so big that it didn’t eventually heal over. I have an apple at home that was about 5 inches at the cut. It’s the biggest I have done, but this was last year and it’s far from healing. I think it gets tricky at over 4 inches.

The most important thing is bracing the grafts from wind damage the first year. I use duct tape and cane (native bamboo) poles to brace mine.
 
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