got a deal on combination trees

[kawalekm]

I was at the local Home Depot and saw that a new batch of bare-root seedlings had come in. I wandered over to see what was there and discovered some were "combination trees" for the same price as regular. A "combination tree" is one that has more than one variety grafted onto a branched rootstock. I got an apple containing "Anna", "Beverly Hills", "Dorsett Golden", "Eim Shemer", and "Fuji". I also found a pear with "Bartlet", "Anjou", "Red Bartlet", "Comice", and "Flemish Beauty". Lastly, I picked up a cherry with "Lambert", "Royal Ann", and "Van". Each was only 17.99$ Stuff I've seen on the internet was running about 45-50$/tree. What's even better is that except for the Fuji and Anjou, they are none of the varieties that I already have. I have some apple and pear seedlings in the back yard now and I'm going to use the trimmings off of the newly planted combination trees to try my hand at grafting. Wish me luck!

[Smoky]

Good luck! Were the various branches marked so you know which is which? That's a lot of varieties to keep up with, hope it works out for you.

[kawalekm]

Each variety has a plastic tag on that branch to identify the variety. I suppose I'll have to keep an eye on the tags to make sure they don't start to fade or deterieate, but my experience is that they'll last at least a year or two in full sun.

[shadowwalker]

I have read where over the years, the grafted limbs usually die off and the origional tree stock prevails. So what ever that is will be your permanent tree.

[kawalekm]

Update on my combination trees.

What I didn't mention earlier was that after planting I trimmed the trees heavily as is usually recommended. Rather than discarding the branches I tried my hand at grafting. I started some seedling apple, peach, and pears from store-bought fruit and they're a year old this spring. In January, I decapitated the seedlings and grafted them with the combination tree cuttings with a classic tongue and grove whip graft. I bound the grafts up in white electrical tape, and set them aside.

Now six weeks later the cuttings are starting to sprout and it looks like the grafts are going to take!
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/kawalekm/GraftedAnjouPear.jpg

This cutting is an Anjou pear branch that I spliced onto an Anjou pear seedling. I tried to match up the cutting with the rootstock as closely as possible to prevent graft rejection. All together, I have about 20 newly grafted apples, peaches, and pears, and it will be exciting to see what the total survival rate is by the end of the summer.

It appears that the timing on the grafted cutting is lagging by about 2-3 weeks. Most of the buds on the planted trees are burst and leafted out, but the grafted branches are just at the bud bursting stage now. I'll add another picture of the grafted trees later this summer if it appears that grafting was a success.

[DV8]

Please, keep us informed. it will be interesting to note the growth rate of the newely grafted fruit. it will as well be interesting to see the seed stock that comes from it.

How exactly do they grow them ? have they produced a seed stock from the grafted plants that will now grow multiple varieties ? or are all such trees sold grafted cuttings ?

Truth is I was going to order some myself from www.eburgess.com so this intrests me a bunch !!

how good does the fruit taste I wonder ? how many years untill they produce edible fruit ? I have never grown a fruit tree before tho there are a few old ones on my land that produce great fruit (appricots, & some type of yellow pear) The deer really love them, as do the birds etc.. but thats in my valley fields, & my house which is located on the mountaintop has none. we still see alot of deer, but I think I could bring more with fruit trees on the top, & so I was going to order 3 of the trees.

So can ya maybe help me out with some answers to my basic questions ? & if you have any suggestions, like what type of sunlight/shade they thrive in or what types of soil/additives I may want to use.. the top of the mountain is VERY rocky soil about 1 & 1/2 feet under the dirt top, so this may have a bearing on how they will do, but I dont know, & I appreciate your starting this Great thread !!

~DV8

[kawalekm]

The seeds were sprouted directly from store-bought fruit. *I used the seeds from McCintosh and Honeycrisp fruit for the apple rootstock, and Anjou pear seeds for my pear stock. *I don't know what variety the peaches are. *I found that apple and pear seed sprouts immediately after planting (2 weeks) but peach requires "winter chilling" and they all sprout in the spring. *I cracked open the peach pits with a vice-grip and planted the "kernel" only. *I have planted flats of cherry pits, but haven't yet got any to sprout yet. *

I did the grafting during Christmas vacation. *Some of the apples and pears started to sprout within 6 weeks, but others are just sitting there. *They're still alive though because the scions are still green and plyable. *I think it must have something to do with the day-length.

For peach, I tried both whip grafting and chip budding. *The chips sprouted much faster than the scions. *They're about 4-5 inches of new growth while the scions are just starting to budburst.

I should say though that one disadvantage to do-it-yourself grafting is you don't get any desireable rootstock traits like dwarfing or rot resistance. *At maturity, the trees will be full size, that is 25-30 feet tall. *I'l have to spend time pruning them some day to keep them at a manageble height. *The fruit however should be identical to the scion they came from. *That is, a Fuji apple scion will produce exactly Fuji apples and Bartlet pear scions will produce exactly Bartlet pears. *I'll take more pictures of the growing trees soon for an update.

I have a lot of animal damage myself and have to surround each seedling with chickewire to protect from the deer and also groundsquirrels. A Ruger 10/22 is another form of groundsquirrel protection. Most fruit trees need full sun for the entire day, or as much as they can get. I'm lucky. I have very deep wind-blown loess soil that is virtualy rock-free. They are doing very well and I haven't fertiized them at all in two years. I'll assume that with rock only 18 inches down your trees will be sensitive to drought. I would think that a heavy layer of compost would both add nutrients and help retain water.