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How to properly vaccinate apricot in the summer with your own hands

Grafting an apricot is the easiest and most effective way to propagate it. Of course, a tree can be grown from a stone, but in this case, chances are good that instead of a cultivated variety, you will get wild. Own-rooted plants (grown by cuttings) have low resistance to negative environmental factors, diseases and pests.

To get a strong, hardy varietal plant, grafting is used. The varietal graft is grafted onto a seed-grown young stock, an adult apricot tree, or other crops suitable for the procedure. Most gardeners prefer to vaccinate apricots in the summer - during this period, the chances that the tissues will grow together increase.

Features of the summer grafting of apricot

Grafting is the process of growing one part of a plant (scion) to another (stock). In the process of grafting, the tissues grow together into one whole... The grafted tree has the properties of all its parts.

The apricot can be planted in spring, summer, autumn and even winter. However, the last two methods are suitable for southern regions and do not always give results.

Many gardeners believe that successful grafting of apricots, regardless of the region, can only be done in the spring. However, as experience shows, summer vaccinations take root just as well. The main thing is to choose the right time and get the job done right.

Objectives

Often novice gardeners are afraid to plant an apricot, considering this procedure too difficult. In fact, vaccination can solve several problems:

Saving space. If there is not enough space in the garden to grow a large number of fruit trees, grafting will solve the problem. With its help, from one tree it will be possible to obtain fruits not only of different varieties of apricots, but also of some other stone fruit crops.
Formation of a beautiful crown. The direction of growth of the grafts is easily adjustable. Several grafted branches will set the direction of the crown and facilitate the formation process.
Aesthetic look. The grafting allows you to combine several crops: peach, apricots of different varieties, thorny plum, cherry plum, plum. Plants strewn with fruits of different colors and sizes look unusual and beautiful.
A second life for trees. If the plant is strong enough, but yields poor or bad yields, it is not necessary to uproot it and replace it with another variety. It will become a quality scion.
Increased endurance. As a scion, frost-resistant, hardy plants with high immunity are usually chosen. These qualities are also transferred to the scion. Thanks to this, in our country, it is possible to grow varieties that do not have such characteristics.
Improved fruit taste. Grafting a branch of sweet varietal apricots on wild and semi-cultivated varieties will improve the taste characteristics of the fruit.
Acceleration of fruiting. The grafted branches begin to bear fruit within 1-2 years after the germination of tissues. This is much faster than propagating the plant by cuttings or seeds.

Fundamental rules

Even a novice gardener can cope with grafting an apricot, but you should not underestimate the complexity of the work either.

It is important to act carefully and follow the basic rules:

Sharp tool... It is important that the tool used for the grafting is well sharpened. Using a blunt knife or pruning shear will not be able to achieve a perfectly even cut, and the junction of the rootstock with the scion will be loose. This will reduce the chances of proper tissue healing.
Disinfection... If fungi or bacteria are introduced into the vaccine, the tissues will start to rot and not grow together. The risks of contamination of the entire tree will increase. To avoid problems, the instrument is disinfected with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate, copper sulfate or alcohol. It is also recommended to disinfect the graft by dipping it into a light pink solution of potassium permanganate.
Lack of direct sunlight. Vaccination work is carried out on cloudy days early in the morning or in the evening. During high sun activity, the likelihood that the branch will take root is reduced.
Tight connection... The scion cut must match exactly with the rootstock cut. It is important to connect the parts as tightly as possible, fastening them securely with electrical tape.
Sterility... You need to work with clean, sanitized hands, preferably with gloves. Do not touch the slices.
High quality grafting material. The graft and rootstock must have the correct shape. It is important that there is no damage, stains, cracks in the bark and other signs of diseases and pests.
Work speed... In summer grafting, the rootstock with the scion is combined immediately after cutting. The more time elapses between harvesting and grafting, the less chances of success of the procedure.
Protection from direct sunlight... The vaccination site is shaded.
Treatment... After inoculation, open areas of the cuts on the stock are covered with garden pitch.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Summer Vaccination

Many gardeners choose summer over spring for grafting. This is due to the benefits of summer vaccination:

With summer grafting, the slices grow together in just one year. The plant survives wintering easily.
The risks of overexposure of the stock are minimal as it is grafted immediately after cutting.
If the grafted branch dies, the gardener will have time to repeat the procedure.
In the summer, you can use all the cuttings that have been selected for the stock.
In the summer period, the most active growth of callus is observed. Thanks to this, the junction of the scion with the stock is durable and invisible.
Spring grafts rot more often than summer ones.

There are also disadvantages to summer vaccination:

It will not be possible to prepare the grafting material in advance. The rootstock with the scion is connected after cutting.
Summer budding does not take root as well as in spring. In the summer, it is better to use whole cuttings rather than buds. In this case, more grafting material will be needed.

Timing

Summer inoculation is carried out at the beginning of June, when the flowering has already been completed, but hot weather has not set in the street or from mid-July to mid-August, during the second sap flow.

During these periods, the plant actively grows tissue, which contributes to the rapid accretion of sections.

Selection and preparation of grafting material

For the vaccination to be successful, it is important to properly prepare the material. Attention is paid to both the scion and the stock.

Rootstock

An apricot is grafted to a tree no more than 7-10 years old. Old trees grow together worse with the tissues of young branches, so most grafts die. Even if the grafting procedure on an old plant is successful, the yield of such a plant will remain low.

Planting apricots on too young trees is also not recommended. Here, the likelihood of tissue fusion is also low. The optimum age for the rootstock is 3-5 years.

When choosing a stock, attention is paid to both the condition of the entire tree and directly to the part on which the cut will be made. The selected plant must be resistant to negative environmental factors, high immunity.

It is important that there are no seals, extraneous formations, cracks in the bark, spots on leaves, and other signs of infection and pests.

Zoned rootstock varieties are selected for each locality. The root system must be strong and well developed.

Branches of a dark brown color are not recommended for grafting. This color is a sign of frostbite.

Note! Wild trees are considered the best scions. You can grow them yourself from seeds.

If the apricot is grafted onto the trunk, then the plant is cut, retreating 5-20 cm upward from the surface of the ground. When grafted onto skeletal branches, the cut is made, stepping back from the trunk 10-50 cm. In this case, the shoot will not take root, it will quickly break from the wind or under the weight of the fruit.

All leaves are removed from the stock. The cut site is cleaned with sandpaper.

Graft

In summer, grafting is done with fresh cuttings, that is, the scion is used immediately after cutting. The longer the branches are stored, the less chance they will take root.

The grafting material is taken from healthy, productive trees with high-quality fruits. The branches must be of the correct shape.

For summer grafting, take green one-year-old shoots, the diameter of which is at least 1.5 cm. A growth bud should be present at the top, and leafy ones on the sides. Preference is given to the upper shoots, which are well lit by the sun.

30 cm recede from the top and cut with a sharp pruner or knife at an angle of 45 °. Cut cuttings are placed in water or a growth promoter. Some gardeners recommend dipping the grafting material in a light pink potassium permanganate solution.

Leaves are removed from cut cuttings, but buds are left. This is necessary so that moisture does not evaporate through the sheet plates.

Important! Cuttings are carried out in the morning or afternoon in cloudy but not rainy weather.

How to plant an apricot correctly

For the branch to take root, it is important to choose the right plant for grafting. Remember that stone fruits are grafted onto stone fruits, and pome fruits are grafted onto pome fruits.

On apricot

Apricot branches are best grafted onto apricots. The cuttings take root quickly, the tissues grow together easily.

Usually cultivated varieties of large apricots are spliced with frost-resistant ones to obtain large tasty fruits in the climate of the central regions. Both zoned varieties and hardy game grown from seeds are used.

To other trees

Apricot is grafted not only on apricot, other trees related to the culture are also suitable.

The list contains the most common options: How to properly vaccinate apricot in the summer with your own hands

Plum. It is considered the best option for grafting an apricot, since it has greater frost resistance. It is recommended to choose wild or semi-wild varieties as rootstock.
Cherry plum... It has even greater frost resistance than plums. Easily fused with apricot. With this tandem, the fruits are especially large and juicy.
Tern. A cultivated plant variety is used - thorny. There are no problems with tissue fusion, but the blackthorn throws out a lot of growth, which draws strength from the plant. It will have to be permanently removed.
Cherry... When the apricot is grafted directly onto the plum, there is little chance of survival of the branch. Even if the procedure is successful, the grafted part will need support. It is much more effective to graft an apricot on a branch of a plum or cherry plum that was previously grafted onto a cherry.
Peach... Much less hardy than apricot, so it is impractical to vaccinate on it. Usually apricot acts as a rootstock for a peach. However, in the southern regions, such experiments are possible.

Step-by-step instructions for vaccination

The effectiveness of vaccination work depends on the correctness of their implementation. It is necessary to take into account all the nuances.

Required materials and tools

To carry out vaccinations, not so many tools are needed:

secateurs for cutting green shoots;
hacksaw for scion preparation;
a sharp gardening or painting knife for shaping the sections of the desired shape;
electrical tape or special garden tape to fix the junction;
film or bag;
garden pitch or other means for processing slices;
sandpaper for cleaning stock sections;
flat screwdriver for creating a hole when grafting into the split.

Different ways of vaccination

There are five main methods of vaccination. Each of them has its own nuances. The choice depends on the preference of the gardener.

Into the cleft

Many gardeners find that the easiest way to graft an apricot is in a split. This method is suitable even if the rootstock diameter is much larger than the scion.

Splitting technique:

The lower end of the cutting is cut from both sides to a height of 2-5 cm so that a thin wedge is obtained.
In the rootstock, a split is made, the depth of which is equal to or slightly greater than the wedge on the scion. A knife, hatchet or screwdriver is used depending on the thickness of the stock.
Cuttings are inserted into the split so that the bark and its layers on the scion and rootstock coincide at least on one side. If the scion has a large diameter, then several cuttings can be inserted into it.
The junction is tightly wrapped with garden tape or electrical tape and treated with garden varnish.

For the bark

Apricot is grafted for the bark if the cuttings are much thinner than the rootstock.

The technique is as follows:

The lower part of several cuttings is cut with a transverse wedge. The thicker the stock, the more grafts are taken.
A cross section is made on the bark no deeper than 5 cm.
The slit shutters are pulled apart. Cuttings are inserted into the resulting pocket so that the place of their cut fits snugly against the bark.
The resulting structure is wrapped with electrical tape. For coating, a garden pitch is used.

Budding

Summer budding involves the use of a kidney. Usually the procedure is carried out at the end of the summer period.

Summer budding instruction:

The bud is selected on the central part of an annual green branch. Leaves are pinched off from it. Then it is cut off together with a section of bark 1.5-2 cm in size. During the preparation of the scion, the peephole is wrapped in gauze.
A T-shaped incision is made on the bark of the stock (preferably in the area with the bud).
The bark is gently pushed apart. A kidney is inserted under it.
The bark flaps are closed so that only the kidney remains outside.
The junction of the scion with the stock is wrapped with electrical tape so that the bud remains uncovered.

Copulation

Copulation is used if the rootstock and scion have the same diameter.

The instruction for copulating is as follows:

The lower part of the scion and the rootstock cut are cut at an oblique angle. The length of the slices is 3-4 cm. The sizes of both slices must be identical.
The stalk is applied to the rootstock cut so that they completely coincide and fit tightly to each other.
The junction is tightly wrapped. The upper cut is covered with garden var.

Bridge

The method is used to save trees whose bark has been damaged due to frost or animals.

Bridge grafting is especially suitable for trees with bark removed in a circle.

Bridge grafting:

Choose a place where the bark ring is missing. The edges of the bark are trimmed evenly on both sides. Wipe the exposed area with a clean cloth. On the upper part of the bark, vertical cuts are made according to the number of cuttings. Opposite the upper incisions, the bark is incised in the lower part.
Cuttings are sharpened with a wedge on both sides. One side of the cutting is inserted into the lower cut on the bark and fixed with electrical tape. The cuttings are bent with a bridge and their second cut is inserted into the upper incision on the bark.
The grafting site is treated with garden varnish.

Apricot care after vaccination

Cuttings after grafting are shaded so that they do not burn out when exposed to direct sunlight. The tree is watered as the soil dries.

If a shoot forms on the tree below the cutting, then it is removed. Otherwise, the grafted branch will not have enough strength.

2 weeks after the buds appear on the grafted part, the tape is removed. If the stalk blooms in the first year, then all the inflorescences are cut off so that they do not draw strength from it.

Tips on the topic

Here are some tips to make the vaccination process easier and get better results:

It is recommended to fix the electrical tape with an adhesive layer outward. This will help prevent damage to the connection when removing the winding.
Var hardens and does not apply well in cold weather. It leaves greasy stains on clothes, so many gardeners replace it with a whitewash that does not have such disadvantages.
It is convenient for beginners to use the grafting gun, which allows for perfect cuts. The more accurately the cut is made, the higher the chances of survival.
Leaving the harness for more than a year will damage the connection.
It is desirable that the ripening dates of all varieties grafted onto the tree coincide.

Conclusion

Grafting of apricots will increase the endurance and immunity of the plant, improve the quality and quantity of the crop. Experienced gardeners recommend doing the procedure without fail.

Summer is considered a good time for vaccination. During this period, the tissues grow together quickly and the new branch has time to take root and get stronger before frost.