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Yakov Pavlovich
Professor, Head of the Department of Vegetable Growing
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Apricot is easily propagated by cuttings due to their good survival rate. It is better to plan this procedure for the summer. As a result of this propagation method, new plants are obtained with improved characteristics and increased winter hardiness. Experienced gardeners already know how to properly graft an apricot so that it takes root successfully and begins to bear fruit as soon as possible. It is useful for beginners to familiarize themselves with the nuances and subtleties of doing this work.
Is it possible to graft an apricot onto an apricot: grafting apricots in spring
The apricot tree is one of those fruit crops that react sharply to improper care. Apricots need a sufficient amount of mineral fertilizers for tasty fruits to appear on the tree. Therefore, one of the options for obtaining a good harvest is the grafting procedure.
Apricots can only be grafted onto stone fruit trees. Depending on the conditions, grafting is carried out in early spring or early May. However, there are options when vaccination is carried out in the summer.
Plants are grafted in several cases:
- When they want to get a young plant with the same qualities as the mother tree,
- To get a stronger tree,
- In order for a new fruit crop to adapt to the soil,
- If you need to update the variety,
- When they want to get a new fruit with an original taste.
Grafting apricot onto apricot has a number of advantages:
- complete identity of the scion and rootstock, therefore the fusion of species occurs quickly,
- simultaneous onset of fruiting
- almost complete absence of growth.
It is worth using apricot grafting onto apricot when it is necessary to renew an already aged tree. The ideal option for grafting varietal apricot is wild apricot. Wild Manchurian apricot often plays this role. As a result of such selection, when a varietal apricot is grafted onto a wild apricot, a drought-resistant and winter-hardy crop is obtained.
Although both an adult varietal apricot and a two-year-old apricot seedling can be used as a rootstock. You should know that in the case of undergrowth, the fruits can be obtained earlier than in the case of planting a young tree-sapling.
The most used option is grafting using cuttings. This process can be carried out in March-April, and by the beginning of the third month of spring, all procedures should be completed. The intense sap flow that occurs during this period helps the grafting process to occur quickly and reliably. If grafting is not done in a timely manner, the new shoots may not have time to take root well.
If grafting is used using the budding method (by eye), then this procedure can be carried out in August, when the growth of shoots has practically stopped.
Harvesting, storage conditions and scion preparation
Cuttings are cut from branches with a diameter of 5 mm. It is necessary that there are 5-10 buds on a scion 10-15 cm long. To preserve them, it is necessary to ensure conditions under which the kidneys do not begin to awaken. To do this, use a refrigerator or a room with a temperature of +2 °C.
Autumn is the best time to take cuttings
It is also important to monitor the humidity level; at elevated levels, the bark begins to rot, which leads to damage to the buds.
Before starting vaccination, the kidney should be examined for suitability. To do this, cut the bottom one with a blade and if it has a green tint, it means the cutting has not deteriorated during storage.
Additional Information ! Before grafting, you can also inspect the cutting for suitability by bending it. It should take on the shape of the letter P without crunching and return to its previous shape.
Is it possible to graft an apricot onto a plum?
In terms of its composition, apricot has much in common with plum. Plums are considered the ancestors of apricots. For apricot grafting, wild or half-wild plum varieties are often used. Such crops have stronger immunity and adapt more quickly to different weather conditions. Therefore, an apricot cutting that has taken root on a frost-resistant plum tree has good adaptation characteristics.
In addition, as gardeners note, there are practically no growths at the grafting site, which once again proves the good compatibility of these crops. Another advantage of this subdevelopment is the fact that the plum does well in acidic soil. Therefore, such a plum-apricot tandem will also be good for those areas where there is acidified soil.
Is it possible to graft an apricot onto a cherry?
Grafting apricot onto cherry has not gained much popularity. As a rule, gardeners say that it is difficult to select varieties of fruit crops so that the grafting process has positive results. According to statistics, only about 20% of grafting of apricot onto cherry has a positive result. In addition, cherry branches are fragile. Therefore, during the grafting process, violations of the integrity of the branches are possible, which leads to the fact that fruit crops do not grow together well after the grafting procedure. Experienced gardeners advise first to graft a cherry plum or a plum cutting onto a cherry, and the next year, if the cutting has taken root, then directly graft an apricot onto it. This type of grafting is called insertion grafting or sometimes you can also hear another name - intermediate grafting.
Possible mistakes
If the result disappoints you, most likely you did something wrong. Let's try to figure out what mistakes you might have made.
- Low-quality or dirty tools were used in the work;
- The cuttings were harvested at the wrong time, or their storage conditions negatively affected their quality;
- You have loosely tied the “surgical intervention” site;
- The vaccination was not carried out in accordance with the recommendations, the location was poorly chosen, etc.
Grafting an apricot, regardless of what time it is carried out, is not a difficult task, interesting and quite exciting. Even if you did not get the expected result the first time, this is not a reason not to repeat the vaccination. Do you want to get a record harvest? Then feel free to get to work, and be sure that this time you will do no worse than a professional breeder.
Is it possible to graft an apricot onto a peach?
Depending on what they want to get from a new plant, various grafting options are used. So, in the case of grafting an apricot onto a peach, it is necessary to take into account that the peach has a capricious character and does not tolerate low temperatures, so this procedure will have positive results in the southern regions. But in the northern regions, such a rootstock may simply end in the death of the cuttings.
Watering apricots
With proper tree care, apricots produce a good harvest. One of the procedures that affects the condition of the tree is proper watering. The apricot itself is a plant that is well tolerated in various natural conditions.
The need for irrigation depends on several parameters:
- degree of soil moisture,
- apricot age,
- climatic conditions in which the tree grows,
- season of the year.
Gardeners say that it is necessary to water the tree before flowering. One of the options is to carry out the watering procedure while the tree is flowering. When watering apricots, it is necessary to take into account what kind of winter it was and how wet the spring was. Since apricot is one of the first crops to bloom, it is necessary to take into account the weather conditions in which this tree grows. If the winter was not snowy, the spring is warm, with little precipitation, then the tree needs watering before flowering. If you see that the humidity is sufficient, then you should refuse to water the apricot.
And then you should water the fruit crop after flowering, when the appearance of the ovary is already expected. However, if weather conditions continue to be unfavorable, then the need for irrigation depends on the ambient humidity.
Pruning apricot trees in spring
The apricot tree is characterized by a rapid growth rate of shoots, as a result of which its crown quickly overgrows. Due to such rapid overgrowth of the tree crown, its productivity decreases. Therefore, it is necessary to properly prune the fruit crop. In addition, pruning helps to rejuvenate the plant, which helps increase productivity.
By pruning apricots in spring, the following goals are achieved:
- access of sunlight to the tree improves,
- prevention of plant diseases,
- good ventilation is ensured inside the tree crown.
In addition, thanks to pruning the apricot, the plant is easier to care for and harvests faster.
Thus, apricot pruning is carried out in the spring in order to:
- form a tree with the correct crown, which is easier and faster to care for,
- regulate the growth of the tree itself,
- improve the quality of the fruits that appear on the tree,
- influence fruiting, avoid the situation of fruit appearing on the tree every other year, and not every year.
Gardeners note that apricot pruning must be carried out even before the buds begin to open, that is, in fact, the tree must still be asleep when the procedure is carried out.
At the same time, disputes often arise about what ambient temperature is optimal for pruning (gardeners call the temperature from -10 to +5). In any case, pruning is carried out before sap flow begins.
Why is this procedure needed?
If you have so far only used ready-made seedlings to propagate fruit trees, then it’s time to study in detail what scion and rootstock mean, and feel free to take up the pruning shears. What does the summer resident get in this case? He combines a tree with an excellent root system that is not afraid of frost and drought, and also develops a cultivated variety that is distinguished by high yield and quality of fruits. As a result, the root system of the “parent” ensures rapid growth and development of the scion. Let's look at the benefits behind this.
Treatment of apricot in spring: from diseases and pests
Already in early spring, it is necessary to carry out the first work to protect the fruit tree from various diseases. The apricot tree is susceptible to various ailments, which are often caused by various pests. Timely spraying of the garden is the key to a good harvest in the fall.
Apricot trees are processed several times:
- In early spring, when the tree is just beginning to wake up, before the buds swell, it is necessary to carry out treatment against diseases. Apricot, like most stone fruits, is susceptible to moniliosis. The guidelines for spraying are dry, sunny weather and above-zero air temperatures at night. For processing, use one of the following options: Bordeaux mixture 3%, oxychome, nitrophen, urea.
- The second time the tree is sprayed against pests and diseases. This treatment is carried out when the bud begins to swell, but the flowers have not yet appeared. This phase is also called the rosebud phase. For spraying use: speed, chorus, calypso.
- Treatment in the active flowering phase is carried out without the use of chemicals. At this point, they use products that do not harm pollinating insects. These remedies include: Signum, “Luna Experience”. You can also perform foliar feeding during this period.
- After flowering until fruit formation, treatment can be carried out to prevent tree diseases.
- The last treatment can be carried out at the fetal stage, the size of which is no larger than a pea.
You can find out how best to spray apricots
Tree care after grafting
Much of the survival rate of cuttings also depends on how properly the care is provided. There are few rules:
- be sure to remove the shoots that grow thickly near the trunk; numerous shoots actively consume nutrients from the soil, weakening the tree;
- If, during grafting, the cut is tightly wrapped, make sure that the trunk is not overtightened; after a month, loosen the bandage;
- the engraftment period is considered to be the entire current year; pruning the tree is allowed only after a successful winter;
- every beginning of the month during the warm season, add nutrients; apricots desperately need a lot of useful substances to restore strength.
Young leaves must be protected from pests and diseases - spraying, using traditional methods. Water the grafted tree with caution and avoid overwatering. Do not use fertilizing for the first year after surgery.
Grafting an apricot, if you carefully understand the technology, is not difficult. The main thing is to strictly follow the requirements and rules, check the quality of the cuttings in advance, and not engage in experiments that are dangerous to the plants. If you avoid mistakes, you will certainly be able to grow a tree that, in just 2-3 years, will delight its owners with a bountiful harvest of sweet fruits.
Apricot neighborhood
Apricot is one of those tree species that have a weak root system. Therefore, apricots must be planted on a small mound or elevation. In addition, since the apricot tree loves warmth and sunlight, it is necessary to carefully select a place for planting. This should be a warm, well-lit place where groundwater is approximately 2.5 meters deep.
However, another important condition for the apricot to successfully take root in a new place is the presence of good neighboring trees. It is believed that apricot is an individual crop that does not like its neighbors too much.
Therefore, it is advisable to simply plant a few more seedlings of the same tree next to the apricot. Then these fruit trees will be able to act as pollinators for each other, which will help solve the problem with pollination and obtaining ovaries.
peach
If you plant a peach at a distance of about 2.5 meters from the apricot, the first crop will not grow well. Even if the shadow of the peach does not fall on the apricot, the latter will begin to lean away from the peach, which can lead to damage to the tree. Apricot does not get along well not only with other fruit trees, but also with various shrubs. So, the presence of raspberries and currants near apricots is undesirable, because there are many pests on these bushes that can lead to tree disease. The root system of the apricot tree, located very close to the top, can be damaged by the proximity of other trees. Therefore, the area where apricot seedlings are planted should be separated from other plants by various outbuildings and vegetable beds.
cherry
Apricot is a southern fruit crop. Therefore, gardeners say that apricot trees should not be planted next to those crops that grow well in central Russia. These crops include, in particular, cherries, plums, apple trees, nuts, pears, and rowan. Experts note the fact that these crops will simply press down the apricot and will not allow it to develop well.
apple tree
There are recommendations that it is not advisable to plant apple trees next to apricots. Apricots have very fragile branches, so apple trees simply may not allow the southern fruit tree to take root and bear fruit. Experts say that it is advisable to plant apricots at a distance of about ten meters from seedlings of other fruit crops. Using the video, you can learn how best to plant apricots in the garden
Today you can please yourself with twelve different flavors of apricots. Until recently, this culture was poorly distributed. However, thanks to its characteristics and beneficial properties of the fruit, apricot has become very popular. Caring for this tree requires a lot of attention and knowledge. But with skillful, proper care, the apricot tree will delight its owner with amazing fruits.
