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

Here is a bowl of Dolgo crab apples getting chopped prior to juicing them out for jelly.

Just a freakin' Awesome shot Bud. Thanks for posting. We hit 105 degrees today and my new Crab Apples are looking kinda sad. My neighbor has a artisan well and I'm ferrying 55 gallon drums of water from their well to my trees. I think I'm going to use your picture for a screen saver.

Certainly has been hot. Hard on plants and people alike

The picture doesn't do the color justice but those red peels make the prettiest red jelly ever.

Originally Posted by 6poundtest

The picture doesn't do the color justice but those red peels make the prettiest red jelly ever.

Dang that looks good. I wish I had some I could try. Oh, wait....


And good job Rojo, always fun to solve a mystery.

Very interesting stuff!
did a lot of budding/grafting working in the nurseries years ago but never ever thought you could bud something into a big tree like you have shown! Pecan is my favorite nut and Love me some Mayhaw jelly!
thanks for sharing!

I don't know if I wrote earlier but each 10in stick of Pecan wood I bought was $12.50. I had to buy a Cigar box full. Now that I have wised up a bit I need scion wood for grafting the predominantly wild male Muscadine vines on my place to a good / choice variety. I ordered a total of 11 new vines but the bare root stuff won't ship till later in the year.



I didn't like the looks of the roots when they arrived because you could see they were root bound. To eliminate that, get the plants hydrated up, and improve their overall health re-potting is needed along with Root Pruning.



I like recycled potting mix for this stuff so the tender new roots do not get burned. Old potting mix is depleted of fertilizer. I cut the roots with a pair of Scissors before up-potting into a larger container. I need these to spring back quickly so a liquid fertilizer will be used in a month or so to boost the wood and root growth. Once dormant I can harvest the scion wood for grafting this spring. I can take 10 year old wild Muscadine vines and Top Work Graft them over so the second year all will produce a crop.



During this process just a little morning sun is allowed till the plants vigor returns. By buying 6 $20 plants I will end up with 25-30 scions to graft plus still have the original vines.

Awesome. I need to really learn more on this to apply to our plants/trees.

John I’m wondering if you have any knowledge, experience or tips you could share on figs? If possible I’m wanting to go to where my grandparents lived and take cuttings from those fig trees. I know one was a brown turkey fig the other I’m unsure. Possibly Celeste or black mission fig. I’m thinking of everything they had and grew that might be the best for me with limited grow space I have. Muscadine and scuppernong grapes, Asian and American persimmons and pecans I’m not sure about. Figs should grow in containers that I can move.

Originally Posted by SuperDave336

John I’m wondering if you have any knowledge, experience or tips you could share on figs? If possible I’m wanting to go to where my grandparents lived and take cuttings from those fig trees. I know one was a brown turkey fig the other I’m unsure. Possibly Celeste or black mission fig. I’m thinking of everything they had and grew that might be the best for me with limited grow space I have. Muscadine and scuppernong grapes, Asian and American persimmons and pecans I’m not sure about. Figs should grow in containers that I can move.

I have a few exotics I propagated that can't be planted even where I live, they are all in pots. What hurts is when the temps go from 40 degree nights to 2-3 weeks of 65 degree nights with 80 degree days. The sap starts flowing then a late freeze comes and freezes the sap in the trees. Brown Turkey, Celeste, Hardy Chicago, Violette de Bordeaux are the top cold Zone performers in the ground. My Missions are in containers. If you stay with the four above when you get to a place to plant all of those can be transplanted into the ground without a hitch. The cutting harvesting of figs are done when dormant, February is the usual month for that. You want the cuttings 8-9in long and at least as big in diameter as your pinky finger. Storage is in a ziploc bag I use the freezer bags, then placed in a refrigerator with a very wrung out wet paper towel, very wrung out. You roll the bag and cuttings so most of the air is removed then place in the warmest area of the refrigerator. Storage temps are better in the upper 30's than closer to freezing. Usually the bottom of a fridge is the coldest. Place a thermometer around inside and figure out the best spot well before putting your cuttings inside. I have a little trouble with rooting due to our humidity, cuttings rot. I just read that the rooting hormones promote rot. You can look up the "Fig Pop" method of rooting as this is the method I'm switching to. The large figs I have in pots were in the ground and froze in the super late freeze this year. I used my backhoe to dig up the roots and potted to save the plants. Most will be replanted this fall in a better location. 5 gallon buckets are very popular for container figs. You cut the figs back to 18 inches or so each winter as figs grow fruit on new growth. Breba crops are grown on numerous figs Hardy Chicago does not, but breba figs grow on last years wood. My exotics do grow Breba crops so a balanced pruning is required so I get 2 crops. Very northern zones do not have a long enough growing season to ripen two crops unless you can move the plants inside when a freeze comes.

Here is a link to a video with the best root pruning figs in 5 gallon buckets to maintain size and production.
Up Potting Fig Trees - YouTube