Grafting 114 Apple Seedlings Onto Dwarf Rootstocks, Apple Breeding Project

[@roberthevern6249]

We all need to be doing this and sharing results.

[@quakesin1982]

You have really great content! You should be waaay more popular. Keep it up! I really enjoy watching it!

[@SkillCult]

Thanks!

[@Ghost2743]

You're giving so much information in this series that's crucial for me right now, thank you brother.

[@SkillCult]

Excellent.

[@oldhighwayhomestead378]

dude this is amazing! I love all your material, such a high quality content and film. it feels I am watching an instructional movie, I have learned so much from you, thank you!, I bought some leaks from you and were amazing. Now I finally have some acres I can do some serious work. I will be one of your apples Woodstock future customers, I have ordered some apple rootstock among other trees, that I will be planting this year to make my own rootstocks. I totally get you, this is so exciting!

[@SkillCult]

Awesome feedback. Thanks! :)

[@fairandsquare1254]

Good to see you back mate , I love this series it really quenches my thirst for knowledge .

[@SkillCult]

We're close to done getting it all running, then it's a lot of waiting and testing. Should be fun!

[@JRHimself1]

keep breeding apples! You are contributing to a better futur for everyone! Also have you herd of the french trimming method to speed up fruiting spur production. with a bit of trimming you could probably have your trees fruiting in 3-4 years. Basically when the branch has 15 leaves you cut it back to 8 leaves. it should do 2 or 3 shoots from the expression of cytokine. you choose a single branch wait till it gets to 15 leaves cut to 8. Rince repeat. it increases sap pressure in the buds 1-5 and favorises spur formation.

[@SkillCult]

I have used that on cordon trees. Not as precise, but similar. I haven't tried it, but I doubt it will work on seedlings that are still in the original juvenile stage. I should maybe try it though.

[@vann8414]

Fascinating 'Johnny'. Sorry to hear of the continued health issues. Stay tough.

[@therawlifefamily]

Wow, this is an amazing project! can't wait to see the results!

[@danielberganza783]

Excelente trabajo haces con producir nuevas variedades te felicito

[@Dedo70]

Absolutely fascinating! I look forward to more apple project vids.

[@SkillCult]

There will definitely by a lot more.

[@canadianrenegade39]

That was a really great tutorial. The grafting portion was easy to see and understand. Thank you!

[@SkillCult]

Thanks.

[@scottcomella2264]

8 minutes of black screen but still a great video. Love the color of the last piece. Even if the fruit doesn't pan out the wood might be worth the time.

[@SkillCult]

I don't think the color will stay when the wood dries. I'll have to try it. thanks. I think I fixed the dead time.

[@byronnelson7967]

The idea of a red fleshed apple is wonderful. What a great idea. We live in an area where there are a lot of wild apples. Only one that I know of has red meat. We grow our rootstock from seed mostly from Honey crisp. We have seen a lot of red wood probably due to the neighbors large red crab.

[@SkillCult]

Very interesting. If you bred a well behaved red fleshed honey crisp, you'd could retire in luxury :) I would focus that effort with quality parents though.

[@grazvydasj6956]

Hi, thanks for your videos on apple pollination. I.V. Michurin wrote, that at young age apple trees (actually any tree species) are more easily influenced vegetatively (more prone to change if grafted on some rootstock by gaining qualities of the rootstock. Not necessarily it will be influenced, but it may.). He himself grew hybrids (that he pollinated and sown) on their own roots, eventhough they may take 10 years to start fruiting (and take a lot of space). Furthermore, he wrote that during first several years of fruiting, the new (hybrid) tree morphs (develops), until its' properties, like the qualities of the fruit, settle. And during this time it can be influence by grafting a "mentor" graft into the tree. (E.g. a red fleshed variety "mentor" may influence the new hybrid to gain somewhat red colour). Anyway - thanks for your material. I am yet to try myself apple breeding in the future.

[@SkillCult]

thanks. I've heard of his work. It sounds really interesting. I'm not sure what to do with it or not. There are other practical considerations for grafting and rootstocks too that might override other possible concerns.

[@suttonelms1]

That's well thought out. When I graft my seedlings (I do about the same number as you) I lose about 5 in every 100 because of graft failure or collar rot, so keeping the original seedling for a while makes sense. The other thing you can do is to keep the original seedling small by cutting through the tap root with a spade. (Nigel D, England)

[@SkillCult]

I've had excellent luck with both grafting and pollination. I usually get 100% take on grafts, or close to it. I lost some trees to borers last year, but that was really the first time. I'm concerned this year because of getting a late start, but I think it will probably go pretty well. I've been keeping the seedlings until they are in the way. I'd like to keep them all longer, but only so much room.

[@KingKoinPlays]

A little tip: when you do videos like this, write down the title. So when you do a follow up video of their fruiting or growth you can come back to this video and add that new video to the end screen. It'll keep people watching more videos repetitively. Nice content man!! 👌

[@SkillCult]

Anything with a series has a playlist. Usually I link the playlist in the endscreen, but these are old videos. I should go redo the end screens on them. Thanks.

[@fishcrazy82]

Awesome video I'm glad you're back

[@SkillCult]

thanks

[@albrown1388]

Brilliant work there Steven

[@GriffinBenchmark]

We take so very much for granted... great video.

[@digvijaybhandari7175]

Informative video. What's the result ?

[@suttonelms1]

If you get buds leafing out too early on a graft you can cover with a small paper envelope to slow down evaporation.

[@SkillCult]

I might try that. I try to use shade cloth, but this year I have too much row to cover.

[@homesteadrevivals]

Forgive my ignorance, but would it not fruit sooner if the scions were grafted to an established tree, rather than young rootstock?

[@neilsmall6518]

I am have started to learn how to graft trees so i can see what the seeds i have planted would be like. Unfortunately in Barbados i can't get root stock . There is something i was thinking of, that to graft to two wild tree to see if they will take. I know it is not the right thing to do but one tree in particular is just calling to me to try it.

[@SkillCult]

I would just use apple seedlings then. If the tree is related, it might work, like apple on pear or hawthorn etc. No harm in trying I guess

[@ts694]

I get it (on the compelling nature of breeding). I created a 6 year chicken breeding project so that I could get the traits I needed for my specific conditions. It's very exciting, and you know that each minute you spend on it is (in a way) a gift to the future of humanity. I'm excited for you to find an apple that suits your desires. I live in hardiness zone 1, and would like to cross my favorite (Trailman) with Chestnut and Wickson, in hopes of finding yet another delicious, super hardy, early ripening apple. Any chance you've got Wickson or chestnut pollen lying around that you'd like to sell?

[@SkillCult]

I may collect some or may have some already. I tried to sell it last year, but it was late and it didn't really work. I might be able to hook you up. Email me through my website. I heard Wickson might be hardy enough for the far north.

[@harrybowman6245]

Are there ideal positions for where to slice into the wood between buds also how important is leaving a church window ? I grafted a scion with red wood but then removed it as I was unsure if it had gone rotten because I didn't know the variety but it was still green so will know next time. Thanks.

[@SkillCult]

what do you mean by church window? It does make a better fit usually if you can slice between buds, otherwise it doesn't much matter. If there is a bud left in the graft region, I pick it off before wrapping.

[@harrybowman6245]

SkillCult I have seen people on other grafting videos call the gap of bare wood above the graft union a church window because of the arch shape from the cut. They say its important for the graft to heal stronger . Looking back you looked happier when you had more weight on maybe its connected with energy levels. Its great work but don't let it make you ill.

[@SkillCult]

I can see how grafting at a bud would be theoretically stronger, but you often can't graft between buds and I've never noticed any problems. It's very rare for a graft to break. Usually if you have to make the cut where there is a bud, you can cut the bud out completely. If not, just pick the bud off and don't let it grow. Works for me. My body weight is self regulating. I don't have a lot to do with it. I don't think it has much to do with my overall health, though I could stand to be more anabolic in general.

[@adronlamb9334]

Have you found fall leaf color of seedlings to be any indicator of Apple quality or type? For instance I have young seedlings, some are more purple like a crab, others are yellow or green before dormancy. I expect the purples are more of an apple crab?

[@SkillCult]

Type to some extent. Red fleshed apples do tend to have red/orange fall color, but it's not reliable. Otherwise haven' noticed anything.

[@gabeolson-jensen8676]

How long do you let them heal and what temperature do you heal them at? Thank you

[@Boz1211111]

im not that patient gardener.. haha if i plan something one year ahead thats impressive like to see this and i learned a lot from you, thanks for all great info

[@SkillCult]

Yeah, not for everyone :) I'm an lot more patient than when I started....

[@XoroksComment]

Really cool project! Only recently found your channel! Good stuff :)

[@bglover1984]

Any comments on why you are grafting long shoots rather than cutting the scion down to just a few buds?

[@SkillCult]

Just an experiment. some say it's best to take just the tip. I'm unconvinced either way.

[@quercusrobur5004]

Thanks for the video, I really like your apple breeding series. I’m wondering to what extent the use of dwarfing rootstocks might influence the taste of your self-bred apple varieties? Over the years I’ve grafted several heirloom varieties (e.g. Gewürzluiken, King of the Pippins) on M9 and M27 rootstocks, only to find out that they taste bland and are no comparison to the old standard tress I’ve cut my scions from. As i know now this seems to be a common thing with some heirloom varieties on weak rootstocks…

[@SkillCult]

I haven't heard of stocks having a drastic effect on fruit quality very often and I haven't noticed it. If the trees are growing in different locations, I'd be more inclined to believe the difference was cultural. Trees that get less water and fertilizer tend to make more densely flavored fruit in my experience. Dry farming in general has the effect on fruits, depending on the situation. I could certainly see a dwarfing stock having some negative effect just because it's collecting fewer resources, which would include nutrients and not just water, but then again it is growing less tree and making less fruit with those same resources. One potentially positive factor with small trees is that they are getting more light on all sides and into the interior of the tree generally. If you're trees are pampered, consider making them tough it out a bit more and see if the fruit quality improves. The fruit quality on my interstem trees is very good, but they do have a larger root system than a normal dwarf.

[@timobreumelhof88]

Hmm, I already started grafting the old varieties (and old trees) on the farm we bought, but this sounds very interesting too...

[@SkillCult]

If you have established foundation trees it's easy to throw on a few seedlings and see what happens. Breeding apples is a gamble but it's fun and no risk, no gain :)

[@timobreumelhof88]

@@SkillCult right. I already thought about it a bit and your video convinced me to start doing this. Thank you for the great content! :-)

[@prat1421]

Brother you can also topgraft the scion on large trees to gain preliminary samples at earliest in about three years. On rootstock it will take much longer'..............................isnt it so ?

[@SkillCult]

That has not been my experience so far. Someone left a comment that you have to graft to smaller branches that are already in fruit, so I may try that. The ones I've grafted to established trees have been similar or maybe a bit slower if anything to those on dwarfing rootstock. Also, it takes time to grow and establish that many foundation trees.

[@fouroakfarm]

My dwarf trees are on G41. Still too early to tell how it is but I have high hopes. One nice thing though is that they propagate via cutting or stool very easily

[@SkillCult]

I know some of the G series are hard to root. I've gotten one (maybe g16? I can't remember) that barely had any roots. They worked out okay in the end, but I can see that they were barely getting them to root in the nursery.

[@suttonelms1]

I have found bud9 difficult to root. MM106 and M26 are easy.

[@oxbowfarm5803]

Did you get a new mike? The audio sounds a bit different, kind of farther away? Very red looking wood, seems like a great way to screen for red flesh if you were only looking for that trait.

[@SkillCult]

Most of the red fleshed parent I'm using don't show a lot of red pigment in other parts of the tree. Grenadine shows it in the flowers a little, but that's about it, nothing in the wood. That's interesting, because that one with the bright pink ring of wood is a grenadine seedling crossed with chestnut, which doesn't even have red skin. Lots of the maypole seedlings have red wood, but then so does maypole. I forgot to pay attention to whether I go any red wood in the pink parfait x rubaiyat crosses, both of which have red flesh, but niether has red wood. Same on camera mic. I notice it really pics up any echo at all off objects or hillsides if I'm not right up on it and that was pretty far away. I don't use external mics. I would if i could plug them into the camera. I was able to edit out the dead time in the youtube editor. I think anyway.

[@GraniteValleyDave]

What happens if you try to graft to different types of plants together (eg apple scion on an orange root)? Does it just die or does something else happen?

[@trinkladd]

Why strengthen the seeds? When u are cloning the plant onto a preferred rootstock. Just to have seeds, that produce more consistently?

[@SkillCult]

I don't understand the question. I'm growing new varieties of apples by seed. The clonal rootstock is just to create a dwarfing effect and hopefully induce earlier fruiting.

[@starrtraveler29]

Ever tasted Whitney Crab Apple? It's very sweet.

[@SkillCult]

I haven't. I have grafted it, but I'm not sure of the status, if it survived or not. I should check or get a hold of it. thanks

[@starrtraveler29]

@@SkillCult My mom planted it when I was a kid, long long time ago. The taste really is smooth and sweet. Not sure I can describe it the way you describe your many varieties :D Anyway, that one my mom grew died recently and I planted a new one. Will be pruning this late winter, let me know if I can send you some more scions.

[@gabeolson-jensen8676]

Do you find t budding or bench grafting faster? Also do you see a difference in success rate with these two?

[@SkillCult]

I very rarely use budding at all and not for this purpose. I'm more likely to use chip budding than t budding.

[@gabeolson-jensen8676]

SkillCult sounds great thank you

[@keenang4705]

Hey sorry if this is off topic but ive been searching online a lot and can't find the info I need so I'm asking a expert. Is it possible to graft a regular sized plumeria tree scion onto a dwarf plumeria tree?

[@SkillCult]

I don't know that plant. If it grafts well, probably. In some species there can be genetic incompatibility between individuals, but I think it more there is not.

[@michaelfuller2005]

It's refreshing to observe a human projecting himself into the future while "BEING" fully here to get there... Bravo! Here's a quote for you and others: "There is a perennial nobleness, and even a sacredness, in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works; in idleness, there is despair. Doubt of whatever kind, can be ended with action alone." --Thomas Carlyle

[@SkillCult]

Good quote. I see meaningful work as something like a human need.

[@Serega_Lebedev]

Super...

[@saleemkhan-yi7op]

Dear ihave a apple garden having6000 trees nowaday in my area tapmrature is 10C to28C now i want to graft apple trees please guide me which type of graft is better for earlier fruit and also guide me about air layer

[@SkillCult]

I have not done very much air layering, so I'm not the best person to help with that. Are you grafting big trees to a new variety of apple?

[@saleemkhan-yi7op]

SkillCult i want to gtaft big trees with new verities now please guide me which type of graft i can use ?

[@SkillCult]

If possible, I like to use frameworking. You keep the main wood of the tree and add side branches for fruiting. It is less common than topworking, where the tree is cut off to large stubs. Frameworking requires more time and more scion wood, but it will give fruit much faster and doesn't harm the tree as much. I talk about it a little bit here, but I don't have a long video just one frameworking yet. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3TXe3SvYr6bmNk

[@rvk671]

Nice video agn ! Why u buy rootstock as u might have multiplied yourself by stooling ,or are these propagated by tissue culture method which are more fruit producing rootstocks as ive heard so

[@SkillCult]

It takes a lot of space to grow that much roostock. It would be worth it if I planned ahead, but then I'd have a lot of stocks in a few years that i may or may not need. I have some and produce about 20 stocks a year. I also use suckers sometimes.

[@rvk671]

SkillCult What your take on tissue culture based roostock, are they really better than cloners

[@SkillCult]

I have no idea about that. The old way seems to work fine.

[@byronnelson7967]

WE use an older mother tree to graft into to speed the taste testing. The tree was damaged by voles below the graft it sent up 10 or 12 shoots. Have you heard of drilling a cone shaped hole the size of a pencil then sharpening the scion wood in a pencil sharpener and pushing it in the hole and waxing it in? I read about it in Mother earth news or some other magazine 30 or 40 years ago. We got a drill bit from harbor freight that is just the right size. We will give it a try this spring. Also we watched a video where two guys are bench grafting thousands of trees then they dip them into a clear vat of something . Any idea what vat was full of ? It did not turn white so it would not be paraffin wax.

[@SkillCult]

I don't remember hearing about that. it makes sense only if you get the fit just right so that the cambiums contact. The scion will end up different every time depending on diameter, and the hole will have to be adjusted accordingly. I'm sure there are modern preparations for sealing bench grafts, probably emulsions. hot wax is used that way too though.

[@TravisHoeffel]

I'm planning on breeding a red flesh for my climate. We have issues growing around here without using loads of spray because scab, phytothera and fireblight are awful here. So considering crossing some type of red flesh with williams pride, prima, priscilla, goldrush. Only have pink pearl though, and a few malus sierversii seedlings which may be red flesh, unsure yet. Any recommendations for other red flesh apples to use and a scion source, if you sell any ill buy.

[@SkillCult]

William's pride already has red flesh, so that should be your star. I have gold rush crossed with Grenadine, so when i get anything promising (make that if ha ha :) maybe I can get you some pollen to cross with william's pride to reinforce disease resistance? I'm not sure what each is supposed to be immune to. It seems like a lot of red fleshed apples are prone to scab, but I'm not really sure. A lot of apples are prone to scab. The reddest apples I've tried that are approaching desert quality are grenadine and rubaiyat. Both can be good when they are at their best, but that is not very often. They also are both late apples. pink pearl might be good since it's early. It's not a good desert apple really, but crossed with william's pride, maybe you'd reinforce the red flesh trait and add some good characteristics from WP, which is just an excellent apple all around I think.

[@SkillCult]

Oh, I forgot Pink Parfait. it is the best of the lot dessert wise, but not that red. But crossed with WP, I think that is an excellent mix. Again, hopefully reinforce the red flesh trait, which is weak in both. The other option is to plan further out, make various WP crosses and then cross those together, or again, use pollen from my crosses. You can contact me about scions. not sure if I can help. There is no contact option on you youtube profile.

[@dsstroyer]

great vid.

[@SkillCult]

:)

[@ZachVance108]

How do you grow your own dwarf rootstock ?

[@SkillCult]

Plant a rootstock and grow it for a year or two. cut it off at the ground. as it grows back up, cover the roots in damp material, like sawdust and keep it damp all year. Most rootstocks are produced that way. the bases of the shoots grow roots. it's easy.

[@elliotk73]

Which zone are you in? I want to get an idea on timing of grafting for me in zone 6

[@SkillCult]

I'm not sure what zone I'm in. I always forget. just before and during blossom is okay. Join the Growingfruit.org forum. Lots of knowledgeable people there from all over.

[@ludlowfilms5183]

First three minutes of this video is kind of like a poem.

[@icryostorm3727]

And i dont even need to know about apples .... 20 mins later - Ah great video...........

[@SkillCult]

Maybe you do :)

[@seandwyer2020]

It's not easy. I have planted nursery stock trees in my yard and my brother's yard and the results were often abismall (I'm pretty displeased with the quality I got from Fedco, most of the nursery trees were DOA). Now, I've been trying to learn grafting. It has not been a great success. Grafting, at least starting out is hardly cheap and unless one prepares months ahead, all the rootstock and a good portion of scions are no longer in stock. I don't even have a place of my own to plant these trees. I'm growing them in pots and looking for anywhere I can plant them, such as abandoned orchards. It's not for me that I'm expecting, or at least hoping that these trees grow and outlast this mortal coil and hopefully will be found by someone with an interest in such things. A lot of hope, a lot of despair.

[@SkillCult]

You might want to just grow apple seeds out for rootstock. It's free and that is what everyone used to do.

[@tubui2374]

Hello, I am Tu, from Vietnam. I really love apple. I'd like to buy apple tree from you. I want to grow apple from rootstocks, only 2-3 years can produce fruits. Please help me. Thank you so much!

[@SkillCult]

Go to Kuffel Creek nursery and talk to them. They specialize in growing apples in the tropics and might know some people in Vietnam or close by. I can't send you trees and most apples will not grow well there. You need kinds that are tested for growing in the tropics. www.kuffelcreek.com/ Good luck!

[@tubui2374]

Thanks so much for your infomation! I will contact them to know more before decide to grow good amount of apples. Because it depends on climate and soil much. Have a nice day!

[@olddave4833]

apparently the natural oils from your fingers have no effect on the grafting as we were always told to never touch the cut wood.

[@SkillCult]

I haven't paid much attention to that. My guess is that it doesn't matter as much as it's said to, but it might depend on what is being grafted too.

[@AsdAsd-ej3wz]

You tube let see your channel After5 year of searching for this stuff. U should be able to see al video On a subject not only recommended

[@SkillCult]

yeah, very annoying, but that's how it is.

[@johnlord8337]

10*

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

How can the wood nearest the tip be more mature? That's not how plants grow. Put a nail into a young tree, and come back in a few years, that nail will still be in the same place. If the tips really were more mature, then the nail should move up the tree. Which trust me, it won't.

[@SkillCult]

It has to do with hormonal/sexual maturity. The very early growth of the plant (buds) are less mature, like child vs adult. How that actually works and if there is a gradation or just a strickt cut off, or does the shoot itself need to mature over time, vs just the new growth I wouldn't know.

[@Anson120]

Hey look honey! A channel that is about REAL busting the ass homesteading ,and he dosent say "proper" all the freaking time.No bible too!

[@SimeonKelly]

just curious which channel you're talking about. lol, probably most of them.

[@trinkladd]

Bible was a lil far fetched. I'd rather have nice conservative children who are not sheep. Than liberal self entitled crybaby's that think the world revolves around them. Just saying