Pear grafting in spring, summer and autumn
The pear is a rather finicky tree. Therefore, many gardeners hesitate to plant this fruit crop in their personal plot. But, if you graft a pear on another plant, you will be able to harvest a good harvest even in lean years. Consider how the pear is properly grafted in spring, autumn and summer.
Pear grafting
What the pear is grafted on
Before considering how to plant a pear in spring, autumn or summer, let's talk about which trees you can plant this fruit crop on.
Rowan and apple tree
You can plant a pear on a mountain ash (red and black-fruited) or an apple tree. As for the mountain ash, it is worth noting that this tree is frost-resistant. Accordingly, if you plant a pear on a mountain ash, it will turn out to increase the resistance of the fruit to frost. We also note that mountain ash, in contrast to the considered fruit crop, grows on swampy soils and soils saturated with groundwater. Accordingly, grafting pears on mountain ash is the only option that will allow you to grow fruit on overly moist soil.
You can also plant a pear on an apple tree. The result is an interesting hybrid on which the fruits of both fruit crops will hang in the summer. But grafting on an apple tree is quite difficult to do. And even with the observance of the grafting technology, the cuttings do not always take root on the apple tree.
Pear
You can also plant a pear of one variety on a pear of another variety. An unpretentious variety needs to be grafted with the one that needs this procedure. This can improve the frost resistance of some varieties. Experts recommend planting a varietal pear on trees of the so-called semi-cultivated varieties. They are the most unpretentious and are great for the climate of Russia. It is not recommended to use dichka for grafting. Practice shows that if a wild fruit crop is used as a rootstock, then the fruits are small.
Other options
You can also plant a pear on chokeberry, irga, quince or hawthorn. But a pear grafted on a hawthorn or quince will not be tall. Accordingly, it will be unable to produce a good harvest. Therefore, experts recommend opting for rowan, apple or another kind of pear.
You can also plant a capricious pear on cherry plum or plum. But it is far from always possible to grow a high-yielding plant from a given hybrid. In addition, the plum is prone to excessive root growth.
Grafting methods
At the moment, there are 3 ways to graft a pear:
- budding (grafting with a kidney or an eye);
- cleft inoculation;
- graft for the bark.
It is impossible to single out the most effective method of scion. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages. In addition, one or another method of scion can be used only in certain situations. If the stock is thicker than the graft, it is advisable to use the split graft. In the spring, it is best to graft the pear by the bark. The easiest way to do it on a pear is to do it.Therefore, this method is advisable to use for novice gardeners.
Grafting technology
Follow the instructions
Let's consider step by step how to properly inoculate a varietal pear in each way separately.
Budding
As a rootstock when grafting with an eye, you cannot use an old garden culture. You need to use a young seedling, which can be purchased at the nursery. At the time of the scion, the young seedling should already root well.
- We remove the part of the earth that covers the root collar. We remove all shoots located at a distance of 10-12 cm from the ground. We make an incision that resembles the letter T. The length of the incision is 30 mm.
- From the cutting of a varietal fruit crop, we cut off the bud with the adjacent bark and part of the branch, which has already developed well. This can be done correctly only using the budding knife. The length of the branch cut should be equal to the length of the rootstock cut.
- Using a sharp knife, we spread the bark at the place of the incision on the rootstock, and insert the cut kidney into the resulting hole.
- We wrap the incision with foil, leaving the kidney on the surface.
The harness can be removed no earlier than November. But experts recommend leaving it until spring. If the seedling develops quickly, and the bandage begins to pinch the trunk, we replace it with a new one.
Cleavage grafting
It is advisable to use this method in cases when the state of the bark on the rootstock does not allow the use of other methods. Spring grafting of pears using the splitting method involves the use of cuttings, which must be prepared in the fall.
- We cut or saw off the stock at a height of 150 mm from the ground. We clean it from dirt, and remove the old bark.
- Split the stock using a sharp garden tool. You can do it cross to cross, but you can cross. The splitting depth should be 75% of the rootstock diameter. If we are talking about an adult tree, after cutting down which a wide stump remains, then the depth of the splitting should be 5-7 cm. Before splitting such a stump, cut the bark. If this is not done, then when the hemp splits, torn edges of the bark are formed, and the scion may not take root.
- At the ends of the cuttings, we make an oblique cut, which will contact the cambium of the stock. The cut diameter should be 75% of the cutting diameter. The handle must have at least 3 eyes.
- Place the scion in the rootstock split, aligning the cambial layers. If the stock is much larger than the scion, several cuttings can be grafted.
- We cover the vaccination site with cling film or elastic tape, which can be purchased in specialized stores. We process all grafting sites that remain open with garden varnish.
The advantage of this scion method is the ability to use old trees that have already begun to bear fruit as a rootstock. With other methods, only those seedlings that have not yet begun to bear fruit can be used as a rootstock.
Bark grafting
When grafting on the bark, it is best to use trees that range from 2 to 10 years old as a rootstock. As a scion, we use fresh branches, and not cuttings harvested in the fall.
- We clean the stump used as a rootstock.
- Using a sharp tool, we make holes in the bark of the stock, 40 mm long. Then, carefully separate the bark from the tree trunk. A small pocket should form. If the diameter of the scion allows, we cut it in several places.
- We cut the scion branches into cuttings. Each cutting should have at least 3 well-developed buds.
- We insert a branch-cutting with a cut inward. 2 mm of cut should protrude above the cut of the trunk.
- We tie the vaccination site with polyethylene or twine. We process open places with garden pitch.
Best time to vaccinate
Pear grafting by budding is done in summer. Experts recommend performing this procedure in the second half of July or August.Also in the summer you can graft a pear for the bark. And the best time to graft a pear into a split is spring. It is advisable to have time to plant the cuttings while the stock is still in a state of sleep. A less suitable time is the awakening of the kidneys and the beginning of the movement of the juice through the tissues of the garden culture.
You can also graft seedlings in winter. They do this from January to April. Winter grafting involves the use of annual seedlings, which are dug up in the fall and stored in a cellar or basement. The timing of grafting is regulated by the timing of planting seedlings in the ground. All work must be completed 14 days before planting. If you plan to plant early seedlings, then we begin to graft them in the first month of winter. Winter grafting involves the use of seedlings with a stem diameter of at least 7 mm. The aboveground part of the seedlings is shortened to 30 cm. Most often, in winter, a fruit crop is grafted into a split method.