Thread: Whip and Tongue Grafting

I have a client that has an apple tree that was planted some years back (she says one hundred years ago - the house is almost two hundred years old). The apple tree is now rotten through the core. It is still alive, but it could easily fall with heavy rain or wind.

She wants us to cut the tree down, but she is very sad to have to do so as this species of apple tree no longer exists. I was thinking of somehow propagating the tree for her for no charge. If I succeed it will be great, if I fail no big deal.

Does anyone have any tips on how to go about this? I was thinking of attempting whip and tongue grafting. I am planning on using a piece of its own root to attempt this. Any advice?

Thanks

Here is a good paper I've used before. I've found/heard that the tape works better then tar, seems for the same reason tar is bad as pruning paint, it kills meristem.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...re/DG0532.html


Here is the search I refound the UMN paper with.

http://www.dogpile.com/dogpile/ws/re...7?_IceUrl=true

My experiance with grafting is that you need to do at least several to get one to take. If it is your first time, doing many is even better.

Thanks.

That's the only apple tree of it's kind in the world? If it's that rare, perhaps a local University would be interested in trying to propagate it.

Here's the dumb question - does it have fruit? Can you plant the seeds?

I don't know if it is that rare. All I know is the client is really sad to see it go and it is obviously very old - I will post a pic tomorrow.

It does have fruit. I just checked it out again today and saw several small size apples hanging.

edit: What we want is a clone of the tree. So I don't know if planting seeds will do it.

Thanks JPS. I finally found some time to read over that paper. Very informative, I'm definitely bookmarking that.

Someone advised me that I should try the shield budding technique. Supposedly, the success rate for beginners is very high. I will probably try a few methods from your link and the shield budding technique. I plan to do 20-40 depending on how much time I have.

Originally Posted by memetic

Someone advised me that I should try the shield budding technique. Supposedly, the success rate for beginners is very high. I will probably try a few methods from your link and the shield budding technique. I plan to do 20-40 depending on how much time I have.

I think you will find that it is just another name for bud grafting.

Originally Posted by John Paul Sanborn

I think you will find that it is just another name for bud grafting.

Yes, and I learned earlier today that it is also called "T budding".

Originally Posted by memetic

Yes, and I learned earlier today that it is also called "T budding".

Aint the internet great, I can still remember my awe when I was first studying online and found I was doing research from the University of Warsaw, Poland.