Thread: Fruit, Nut, and Vine Grafting, Tree Propagation, Tree Care

My wife's favorite is Key Lime Pie.

The "Fig Pop" method of propagating Hardwood cuttings is the simplest way I have found to propagate fig trees. I decided to try it on other fruiting trees & bushes to see if it works equally as well. Several have ask for Blueberry bushes but my plants didn't produce "babies" well this year so the next test will be using blueberry cuttings.



I have already done the Peach scions & Fig scions, here is cuttings from a Warren Pear tree. The first thing I do after cutting the scions to leave 3-4 buds above the rooting medium is to paint the variety on each scion.



Using the edge of my pruners I scrape each side of the scion and remove any bud below the rooting media line. I leave at least 3 buds to break when rooting starts. Once scraped I brush my preferred rooting hormone Clonex on the scrape areas. I never dip a scion or contaminated brush into the jar I pour a bit of the rooting hormone into the top of a water jug and dip my brush in it.



With the rooting medium in a pan I use the pvc shovel to scoop medium into the poly bag filling it enough to root the scion in. After I use a fat screwdriver to make a hole in the medium before placing the scion in the bag. Once in the bag I wrap a rubber band around the top then around the bottom of the bag compressing the medium around the cutting.



Once I have a batch done, using a candle warmer I place a tin of tree grafting wax on it to melt the wax. Tree grafting wax is bees wax based with added ingredients that retard insect & disease infection's.



Now that these are finished they will sit in a warm but dark spot upstairs above our fireplace till most have leafed out. At that point I will move the trays to a sunny window. Pear varieties are Warren, California, Monterrey, & Keiffer. Since Bon Temps raises more Pears than he can use I plan on harvesting some more of his Pears for Pear wine when needed. I takes a pear tree 3-4 years to start bearing but you really want to hold them back from bearing till at least year 4 so you can develop the structure of the tree otherwise it will send all shoots straight up slowing the pear bloom development. You want the limbs at least 45-55 degrees out from the trunks.

Awesome post. I'm looking forward to the results. I haven't started anything yet but it's time. If it works for you on the blueberry, pear, etc. then I wouldn't mind being a customer...lol.

I tried to use Organic tree care practices for years now but discovered the Organic Oil sprays was actually Killing my Trees! I was using Neem Oil and other types of organic insecticides, miticides, & fungicides. Last year I switched to systemic treatments to my trees and the Blooms this year are 25 times better than I ever have had. I took some pictures of the early bloom varieties of fruit trees. Numerous trees still have to bloom but you can see blooms all the way to the tips of the trees.



This Burgundy Plum tree was completely blown over by the Tornado that hit us last April. I did what I could to save it although it killed my Flavor Punch Pluerry when it dropped onto it. Look at the blooms opening up already on it.



I have thinned the interior wood and topped the tree since the roots are in a weakened state. This is a main pollinator for the Pluots early blooming & mid season blooming. I will have to thin the fruit that sets on all the trees this year. Organic disease & pest controls doesn't work this far South. It kills the trees.

Wow, I'm surprised by the organics. I'd never have thought that. Good information. Are you planning to replace the Fruit Punch tree?

Originally Posted by SuperDave336

Wow, I'm surprised by the organics. I'd never have thought that. Good information. Are you planning to replace the Fruit Punch tree?

I wanted to but the trees kept sun scalding on the trunks which in reality was from the Neem oil & Horticulture oils applied not the tree themselves. I just figured that out. I have several Dave Wilson trees with sun scalded trunks, it got so bad I have switched from painting the trunks to wrapping loosely with aluminum foil. The aluminum foil works fantastic. I plan to air layer the trees that are damaged this year and order a few replacements next summer when the booking season opens. You have to order most 6-8 months ahead of time. The other thing is shipping costs, East of the Mississippi freight costs is very high so 6 trees fit in one box so I would like to make the freight as minimal per tree as possible.

I wrapped my Owari Satsuma trunk in aluminum foil. I don't blame you for wanting the biggest bang for buck on shipping which is sky high nowadays. Hope the air layers work for you. I had mixed results trying fig air layers. Not exactly sure where I went wrong. More practice this year, hopefully I figure it out with better success.

Originally Posted by SuperDave336

I wrapped my Owari Satsuma trunk in aluminum foil. I don't blame you for wanting the biggest bang for buck on shipping which is sky high nowadays. Hope the air layers work for you. I had mixed results trying fig air layers. Not exactly sure where I went wrong. More practice this year, hopefully I figure it out with better success.

I'm not sure "Ringing" the limb of a fig tree is the best practice. I have nothing left to try a air layer on a fig. It is looking like rot is settling in on top of the stumps of 1/2 the figs I propagated and planted last year. Never has 9 degree days hit the coast like this, 9 degrees for days at that. Still I will dig up and replant what dies with the fig tree scions I have rooting now.

So Owari trees that were huge, in between houses, still were killed with this freeze event. We are not use to a freeze lower than the high 20's for more than 3 days and a freeze like that once maybe twice a year if at all.

Well any figs or anything I have you’re welcome to. Just let me know. Hate it was so rough for you this year. Crazy cold this year.

Originally Posted by SuperDave336

Well any figs or anything I have you’re welcome to. Just let me know. Hate it was so rough for you this year. Crazy cold this year.

Thank you. I'm not going forward with a few varieties. Geeen Ischia is a good example. If it gets too much water for just a few days it splits open like a flower opening it's petals. Hardy Chicago even froze to the ground. No Braba crop on that variety so I won't plant another. We can get rain for a week straight here on the Gulf Coast. I repotted several fig trees today, post to follow. Anyway our mutual friend's fig trees only had roots on one side. I broke 2 repotting. The Magnolia, Smith, Caesar Lemon (my original cuttings), LSU Purple, LSU Gold, Ms Hall all can handle water if it's around. Mission is ok, I really like eating them dried so Mission, Black Italian both are tasty. The Southern Celeste comes with Scuba gear! I have Texas Everbearing & Texas BA-1, these were in pots that were put in the shop for the freeze. All in all the 258 you have would be a nice cutting this fall. VDB survived but the roots were only rooted in one spot as well as the Smith I bought. I will propagate myself the VDB so it roots all the way around the scion.