What did you do in your orchard today?

[wyoDreamer]

@CrealCritter If you were closer I would get you some cuts off our apple trees.
I'm not sure what type of apple they are as they came with the house, but a friend who is into making apple Cider says the apples from our trees make the best cider. Not so good for baking though, as they turn into apple sauce when cooked.

 

[CrealCritter]

Day 4 I believe this chip has took. After 4 days I think it would have dried up by now if it wouldn't have took. Pretty encouraging sign This grafting stuff is completely new to me. "book" learning only gets me so far. Self teaching, I learn best by just doing and observing.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

@CrealCritter If you were closer I would get you some cuts off our apple trees.
I'm not sure what type of apple they are as they came with the house, but a friend who is into making apple Cider says the apples from our trees make the best cider. Not so good for baking though, as they turn into apple sauce when cooked.

Almost sounds like you have a Fameuse apple tree? Do the apples.look like this?

Snow (Fameuse) - New England Apples

newenglandapples.org

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[wyoDreamer]

That may be it! The description is pretty close, though it is more of a yellow/green apple with red stripes and it is best the first week of August, not October. To eat fresh, it has to be slightly underripe - a more green undertone than a yellow look to it. When ripe (turns yellow) it is more of a mushy, juicy apple, not really any crunch to it like you get from a red delicious.

 

[CrealCritter]

That may be it! The description is pretty close, though it is more of a yellow/green apple with red stripes and it is best the first week of August, not October. To eat fresh, it has to be slightly underripe - a more green undertone than a yellow look to it. When ripe (turns yellow) it is more of a mushy, juicy apple, not really any crunch to it like you get from a red delicious.

Look like these?

Empire Apple Scionwood - Fedco Trees

Fall-Winter. (McIntosh x Red Delicious) New York, 1966.Medium-sized round-to-conic dark red fruit with cream-colored flesh. Firm, aromatic, excellent fresh eating. Very popular in Maine and throughout New England. Stores up to 5 months. Vigorous tree, bears young and annually thereafter...

www.fedcoseeds.com

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[wyoDreamer]

Less red. More of a red blush on the apples.

 

[CrealCritter]

Less red. More of a red blush on the apples.

Is there any gold coloring in the skin on top of the apple around the stem?

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

FYI... Fedco Trees opened ordering today for rootstocks, scionwood and pre-grafted bare root fruit trees.

Catalog Search - Fedco Trees

Catalog Search - Fedco Trees

www.fedcoseeds.com

I ordered rootstocks and scionwood. Grafting my own is the least expensive way I know how to get an orchard going. When this order comes in, in March it'll be my first attempt at whip and tongue grafting. But I believe I've done my homework, it'll just be time to put all the book and video learning into practice.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

I got curious, it's been two weeks since I chip grafted. So I took my pocket knife and sliced the parfilm loose. All but one graft callused over. The one that didn't was a larger diameter root stock. I don't think I got my cuts deep enough. When I took off the parfilm the chip came off with the parfilm. So I checked the others and couldn't budge the chip with my thumb. so I say they took and are now a dormant bud on the root stock. I'll have to wait and see what happens come spring, after dormancy. If the bud grows I'll cut off the trunk above the bud and the bud will grow into the new tree trunk.

This is my first time ever grafting a fruit tree. But I taught myself a good lesson. Late summer chip budding seems to work well, when the bud stick and root stock are about the same diameter. It's easy to get the chip and the root stock cuts to match. But when the root stock is larger in diameter than the bud stick, T budding seem to be the better grafting choice.

Here's the chip bud graft, it's callused over and now a dormant bud on the root stock.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

Can you gently bend the suckers out to the side a little farther away from the trunk and then feed them through the bottom of a pot? Fill the pot with dirt with some rooting hormone but leaving the top of the sucker sticking out, and add more dirt as it gets taller? Then in spring before the leaves start, check to see if it has grown roots in the pot. If yes, you should be able to cut the sucker off at the bottom of the pot and it will be a separate plant, to put into a bigger pot or plant in the ground elsewhere.

I seen this in the 2023 Fedco catalog, that came late last week. Yep... I immediately thought of your post

Jesus is Lord and Christ