Peach grafting: what is possible and how to do it right, timing of budding

Grafting a peach is no more difficult than an apple or pear tree. The technology and methods are the same. To carry out the operation, you need to acquire a quality tool and learn how to make even cuts at the right angle of the desired length.

Goals and objectives of peach grafting

Vaccination is one of the ways to propagate stone fruit crops. With its help, seedlings with certain varietal characteristics are obtained. This technique allows you to rejuvenate an aging tree, get a new variety.

Gardeners, using frost-resistant grafts, grow peaches with increased winter hardiness. Some, saving space, graft cuttings of different crop varieties onto one tree. This allows you to grow a crop of fruits of different tastes in a small garden.

Appropriate timing

Peaches are grafted at any time except winter, but with an eye to the climatic conditions of the region. The timing of the work is affected by the age of the tree and the method.

Spring

In spring, peach is grafted with cuttings by copulation, budding. According to gardeners, this is the best time to work. The weather and active sap flow contribute to the rapid healing of postoperative wounds. Copulation (budding) is carried out from March 10-15 to April 30.

Frost causes scion rejection. Therefore, vaccination operations are carried out after the establishment of stable warm weather. In late spring, peach is grafted after harsh winters. It takes time to assess the degree of freezing of the rootstock.

Summer

In July or June, peach is grafted into the crown by budding. You can spend it in August, but only at the very beginning. In order for the shield to take root successfully, the bark on the tree must lag behind. The engraftment process lasts 2-3 weeks.

Gardeners distinguish two categories of summer vaccinations:

early summer - from 1 to 10 June;
summer - from 10 to 30 July.

Autumn

The graft will not have time to take root before frost, so in winter it will freeze with a 100% probability. Gardeners do not plant peach in autumn.

Choosing the best peach rootstock

The choice of rootstock determines which tree will grow, its yield, ripening time, early maturity, fruit size. The table provides information on what a peach can be grafted onto. (type)

Description OP 23 23Semi-dwarf Hybrid of Chinese plum and cherry plumEureka 99Medium sizedCherry plum + cherry plum hybridFortuneMedium-sized Hybrid Chinese plum + peach felted + cherry plum + felt cherry)

		Hybrid
Spring Flame	Medium Size

They are most often grafted on in central Russia. Often grafted peach on peach. At the same time, marketable and tasty fruits are obtained. Trees on peach rootstocks show consistently high yields.

Apricot

For beginners, this type of stock is suitable. Experienced gardeners believe that there are no problems with survival. Usually wild apricot is used. Such a scion guarantees:

stable yield;
lack of flow;
survival rate 100%.

Plum

Plum is used as a rootstock when they want to increase the resistance of a peach to low temperatures. A he althy tree of a frost-resistant plum variety is chosen for a rootstock.

For cherry plum

This is the best type of rootstock. On its basis, peach seedlings are grown that are resistant to infections (virus, fungus). The fruits of peach grafted onto cherry plum have a more pronounced interesting taste. This type of stock has one drawback - numerous basal shoots. It has to be cut regularly. She takes nutrients from the tree.

For almonds

This option is suitable for the peach orchards of the south. Such seedlings can grow and bear fruit only in warm climates.

Rules and preparation of scion and rootstock

For the rootstock choose cherry plum, plum, apricot trees not older than 2 years. Suitable for those with a trunk diameter of not more than 10 mm. Cuttings (graft) are harvested in autumn, before the first frosts. There is a simple explanation for such harvesting dates - in winter, part of the annual shoots may freeze slightly. Early in the spring, you can not understand this. Frozen cuttings do not take root well.When preparing a scion, the following rules are used:

take the middle part of the shoot with a diameter of at least 5 mm;
cut a piece 15 cm long;
the branch should have 10 he althy buds.

In winter, the cuttings are stored in the refrigerator, sealed in a bag. The recommended storage temperature is 0-2 °C. A large amount of branches are stored outside in the thickness of the snow. First, they are covered with a layer of sawdust 30 cm thick.

The stalk may dry out during storage. Before vaccination check his condition. Bend it to check. Flexibility speaks to its viability. A high-quality cutting is kept in water for 1-2 days before vaccination.

What tools and materials will be needed

The operation must be done quickly with sharp, clean instruments. For a good result, the cuts need to be smooth without burrs, chips and fringes. Peach grafting growers use the following set of tools:

secateurs;
knife;
wood saw (for old trees).

From auxiliary materials you must have at hand: PVC film, electrical tape, gauze (bandage), garden pitch, newspapers. Paper is needed in the summer in order to cover the vaccination site from hot sunlight.

Experienced gardeners, often involved in grafting fruit and stone fruit crops, purchase special garden pruners. They are not cheap, but they allow you to make even grooves of the desired shape and size.

Common Grafting Methods

There is no need to invent new methods of peach grafting. The methods have long been known, they just need to be mastered. Any variety can be propagated by green cuttings. Own-rooted peach seedlings are grown in this vegetative way.

Root cuttings in a substrate consisting of compost, land from the garden.They fill the container. The top layer is covered with sand. The planted stalk is covered on top with a transparent 1 liter jar. Care is reduced to watering and airing. After the roots are formed, the seedling is planted in a greenhouse or on a bed in the garden.

Copulation improved

This method guarantees a high survival rate. Improved copulation is done in the spring from late March to mid-April. Need 1-2-year-old shoots of the same diameter.

Slices for scion and rootstock are made at an acute angle (30°), of the same length. It should be equal to 3 diameters. The upper part of the cutting is cut off at a right angle. 3 or 4 buds are left for the scion.

To increase the area of contact, longitudinal cuts about 10 mm long are made at the corners of the cuts. The resulting tongues lead to each other. The docking place is wrapped with electrical tape, covered with garden pitch.

Copulation regular

Beginners learn how to graft a peach using this method. It is quite simple. It is carried out according to the following scheme:

stock is cut at an angle of 30°;
a similar cut is made on the handle, placing it directly under the lower kidney;
connect both parts;
wrap with duct tape;
coated with var.

The winding is removed when the shoot grows and reaches a length of 25 cm. Before winter, the wood on it will have time to mature. Fruit buds will form on it in autumn.

Budding in the butt of the kidney

The method is quite complicated for beginners. It is used by experienced gardeners. The operation is carried out in early April. A shield with one dormant bud is cut from a cutting harvested in autumn. They try to keep its length about 30 mm.

A piece of bark of the same size is cut off at the grafting site. Apply a shield to this place, fix it with electrical tape. Remove the winding after 30 days. The operation site is coated with garden pitch.

T-shaped budding in the crown of the rootstock

This method is considered the easiest. An incision (T-shaped) is made on the rootstock (bark) with a special pruner or a sharp garden knife. Try not to damage the wood. A shield about 25 mm long is cut from the handle: 15 mm above the kidney, 10 mm below the kidney.

The layer of wood should be minimal. The shield is inserted into the T-shaped incision as quickly as possible. From 2 to 3 shields can be grafted onto 1 crown branch, keeping a distance of 5-7 cm between them. Film is used for tying.

Remove it exactly a month later, not grafted shoots are cut out. The place of inoculation is noted. Next spring, stepping back from it 5-10 mm, the branch is cut off.

For the bark

Old trees are grafted over the bark. They are rejuvenated in this way. Bark grafting is done from the end of March to April 10-15. At a peach, a trunk or a thick skeletal branch is cut at a right angle.

Prepare a few cuttings. They cut off the lower part at 30 °, leave 3-4 buds, cut off the top. On the rootstock, the bark is cut from the cut down by 5 cm. Shoots are inserted into the resulting cuts. The vaccine is fixed with tape.

Tree care after grafting

After 4 weeks, remove the covering bandage. The place of operation is smeared with a layer of pitch. List of activities that will help the tree to endure the stress caused by grafting:

control the soil moisture of the root circle, water at least 1 time in 2 weeks, 1-2 buckets of water are spent per tree;
control the appearance of shoots below the vaccination site, cut it regularly;
inspect the aerial part, treat it with insecticides, fungicides in case of detection of pests, symptoms of a fungal disease.

At first, novice gardeners make mistakes. They work with a dirty, unsharpened tool. They do not follow the necessary rules for caring for a grafted tree. They forget to remove the winding in time, do not cover the operation site from the sun. Do budding on the south side of the trunk. There will be no problems if you avoid repeating these mistakes, strictly adhere to the correct technology.