Apple Tree Grafting

This weekend I was lucky enough to take an apple tree grafting class taught by Patrick Haulman of the Arizona Rare Fruit Growers. At the end of the class I had my own brand new apple tree that I made by cleft grafting a piece of Sundowner scion wood onto a M-111 rootstock. Sundowner is a new apple in Phoenix and is considered to be the only red apple that will grow in Phoenix. Everything is still in the we'll see how it does mode. I also learned from Patrick that you can grow any apple in Phoenix and get varying results and production. That's right you can plant a Granny Smith and you just might get some apples off of it. The ratings of what and where apples will grow are actually set by commercial growers but the home orchardist can still get results just not on a commercial scale. I'm going to have to rewrite my intro.

M-111 rootstock

M-111 rootstock cut in half the red handled knife is a grafting knife and it only has an edge on one side.

The begining of the graft, slice down the middle of the rootstock twice the thickness of the knife.

This is the Sundowner scion wood and I've carved it into a V shape.

Next insert your V cut scion into the rootstock. Here is the important part all your cuts must be touching each other, any gaps and the graft will fail. I had to redo my V cut several times to get the perfect fit.

Now cover the entire graft in parafilm paper, this holds the graft together but allows it to breath.

Finally cover everything in green strechy tape, the tape comes off in a month. We'll see if I did a good graft, the tree should start budding out in a couple of months. When it does I'll transplant to a 2 gallon pot for the summer and once fall arrives I'll plant it out in the yard. If it grows????