Scion Wood Preparation

From the California Rare Fruit Growers, these are the instructions for making scion wood cuttings for their exchange.  

NB:  THE FIELD TRIP TO CRFG IS FEBRUARY 9th NOT THE 16th AS DESCRIBED IN OUR SYLLABUS.  

Select straight wood from last year’s growth and cut as near to our scion wood exchange date as possible.

Wood should be ¼” – 3/8” diameter (pencil size) and contain several buds.

Cut to lengths that fit easily into a Ziploc-type bag.  Cut with a slanting cut on the top (distal) end and flat cut on the end that would have been nearest the trunk (medial).

Bundle by variety in a moist paper towel(s) and place in a Ziploc-type bag,  leaving a slight opening in the Ziploc bag for the wood to breathe. Put only one variety in each bag. Make sure that the towel(s) stay damp as long as the wood is stored.

Label the outside of the bag with fruit type and variety, as well as any additional information you feel is pertinent (i.e. minimum chilling hours; needs pollinator; vigor; area where successfully grown, etc). It’s nice to add your name so that those collecting your wood know where the wood came from and can ask you questions about the parent tree.

Keep the scion wood bag in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator until the morning of the exchange.  Be careful not to let the scion wood freeze!

At the exchange, please wait to make your selections until directed by the Chair.

Please limit your selections to two of any variety, until everyone has had an opportunity to collect wood.  Then feel free to go back. Please do not collect wood you do not plan to use.

What to do with your collected scion wood after the scion exchange:

If you don’t plan to graft as soon as you get home, remember to add moist paper to the bag and refrigerate until you have the time to graft. Do not freeze! Be careful with the label. An all too frequent mistake is to put the label in the bag with the wood. Then, when you add moist paper, the label becomes unreadable. To avoid bringing disease into your garden, immerse your chosen scion wood cuttings in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water for 10 seconds.

Pruning Fruit Trees (This Week's Hand Out)

Fruiting Characteristics of Common Fruit Trees

Type of Tree	Location of Fruiting Buds				Age of bearing	Amount of Pruning
	Long Branches		Spurs or Short Branches
	Laterally	Terminally	Laterally	Terminally
Apple		Minor		Major	8- 10 yrs.	Moderate
Apricot	Minor		Major		3 years	Heavy
Fig	Major		Minor		1 yr & new shoots	Various
Peach/Nectarine	Major		Minor		1-2 yrs	Heavy
Pear, Asian	Minor	Very minor		Major	6-8 yrs	Moderate to heavy
Pear, European	Minor	Minor		Major	8-10 yrs	Moderate
Persimmon	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	New shoots at the tip of 1 yr branches	Light (thinning)
Plum, European	Minor		Major		6-8 yrs	Moderate
Plum, Japanese	Minor		Major		6-8 yrs	Heavy
Pomegranate	Minor		Major		Short new shoots	Moderate
Quince	Major	Minor			New shoots	Light (thinning)

Tools For Pruning

      hand held pruners – I prefer Felco

      loppers

      saw

      pole saw

      sharpener

     pruning knife (rarely used)

Pruning and Pruning Cuts

First, prune off any damaged or broken branches. Take them back as far as you can.

Secondly, prune off what we call 'crossing branches.' These are branches that come through the center of the tree, crossing from one side to the opposite, or are branches that are parallel and close enough to be touching other branches. They can abrade the branches they touch when moved by wind and that wound can be an entrance point for insects or other pests. These must come out; take them back as far as you can.

Thirdly, do some pruning to shape the tree. Part of 'shaping' for fruit trees is to limit their height. I know it will somewhat lessen your fruit crop, but any apple tree humming along at full production, will inundate you with way too many apples. A little off the top so you can easily harvest from the tree without fancy footwork or ludicrous convolutions will not be missed – the ease with which it can be picked will gladden your heart. And save your back.

Always use clean pruners – if you have pruned a tree that even might have a disease, or if you have pruned a tree from a different location, clean your pruners with Listerine or some disinfectant. I was taught to use a bleach solution, but unless you are a masochist, I'd suggest avoiding that. It ruins your skin, your clothes and your tools – although it does disinfect. Still, there are kinder ways to do this.

I prefer to use my hand held pruners for most cuts.  The saw is my next favorite tool with loppers being third.  Their cuts are less than clean and a clean cut heals faster for the tree.  The pole cutters and saws are the least favorite of all because of the lack of control you have over the cuts.  I use a chain saw for tree removal – or branch removal on some branches that have got to come out – I rarely prune large branches on trees I care for because I take them out when they are still small enough to be pruned out by my hand-held pruners.  

david 

Always try to cut back to an area that will heal. This isn't always possible, but to the degree you can, cut back to an area called the bark branch ridge. In this graphic, on the left side, the red line shows where the pruner will make it's cut – just below the red pruner handle, you can see a branch cut correctly. The bark branch ridge contains cells that will enable the plant to heal the wound. On the right of the graphic, you can see the three cuts needed to remove a large branch without tearing into the tree causing unnecessary harm.

Preparing for Our Field Trip (Saturday) to CRFG

Scion Wood Preparation

Select straight wood from last year’s growth and cut as near to our scion wood exchange date as possible.  

Wood should be ¼” – 3/8” diameter (pencil size) and contain several buds.

Cut to lengths that fit easily into a Ziploc-type bag.  Cut with a slanting cut on the top (distal) end and flat cut on the end that would have been nearest the trunk (medial).

Bundle by variety in a moist paper towel(s) and place in a Ziploc-type bag,  leaving a slight opening in the Ziploc bag for the wood to breathe. Put only one variety in each bag. Make sure that the towel(s) stay damp as long as the wood is stored.

Label the outside of the bag with fruit type and variety, as well as any additional information you feel is pertinent (i.e. minimum chilling hours; needs pollinator; vigor; area where successfully grown, etc). It’s nice to add your name so that those collecting your wood know where the wood came from and can ask you questions about the parent tree.

Keep the scion wood bag in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator until the morning of the exchange.  Be careful not to let the scion wood freeze!

 

 At the exchange, please wait to make your selections until directed by the Chair.

Please limit your selections to two of any variety, until everyone has had an opportunity to collect wood. Then feel free to go back. Please do not collect wood you do not plan to use.

What to do with your collected scion wood after the scion exchange:

Try out the techniques you have learned as soon as possible! If you don’t plan to graft as soon as you get home, remember to add moist paper to the bag and refrigerate until you have the time to graft. Do not freeze!

Be careful with the label. An all too frequent mistake is to put the label in the bag with the wood. Then, when you add moist paper, the label becomes unreadable.

To avoid bringing disease into your garden, immerse your chosen scion wood cuttings in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water for 10 seconds.

Have fun creating your trees!

From the CRFG Santa Monica Chapter's newsletter...

david

The Date of Our Field Trip Has Been CHANGED!

I just received an email from the California Rare Fruit Growers, West LA Chapter, that they have switched their meeting from the planned day of February 13th to February 6th.  Evidently a long standing chapter member died and his memorial was scheduled on the 13th as well so they switched their date to accommodate so many of their members. 

Therefore you will get the workshop on grafting before we actually cover it in class.  I will attempt to come up with a strategy that will mitigate any learning difficulties that arise from this awkward scheduling.

We are going to CRFG on Feb 6 at 10 AM; not on Feb. 13th which will leave everyone with more time to get ready for Valentines Day!  

I have heard said that life is what happens when you are making other plans. 

david