The grafts of fruit trees are used as methods of multiplication and reproduction in a great variety of plants and trees, being very effective in this type of trees. In general, the process of grafting consists of making a cut in a branch and inserting it into another tree. However, in practice, this process is much more complex and there are different techniques to ensure that the graft is a success and the fruit tree continues to grow and bear fruit.
If you want to know well how to graft fruit trees, keep reading this Green Ecologist article in which we tell you two techniques and more details.
Before I start talking about the techniques for grafting fruit trees, it is necessary to know the reason for this process and its objective. As we mentioned, a graft is used as a method of multiplication and reproduction of a tree. In this case we define a graft as a piece or piece of the bud or stem of a tree that we fix to a pattern (which is the plant that will receive the graft) in order to produce leaves, flowers, fruits and stems. A graft is not always carried out for commercial purposes to obtain larger fruits, more resistant plants or even self-pollinating varieties.
Before performing a graft, we must know the compatibilities between the different fruit trees to increase the likelihood that the graft will develop well. That is to say, you cannot insert any branch in any fruit tree you want. It is advisable to make grafts on trees that are of the same family, for example, a variety of orange on another orange tree. The usual thing is to choose a pattern to make the graft that is as resistant as possible to diseases and that develops well on the soil in which we are going to plant it.
There are different types and techniques of grafting such as yolk, english or approximation techniques, but the most used is the double slit or crown technique. The technique will depend on the objective to be achieved with the graft and the time. For example, those of yolk are usually made closer to the spring season. Multiple grafts can also be performed on the same pattern.
As an example, the vast majority of fruit trees are produced by grafting buds of the desired variety onto a cultivated stock. If we look closely, we can see a small bulge or curvature at the point where the bud was grafted. That is, a vast majority of fruit trees are actually roots of one species of tree and the trunk or buds of another. There are some varieties that do not need to be grafted, such as olive or fig. On the other hand, the rose bushes that we buy are usually grafted and many ornamental plants such as mimosa or cypress, are also grafted.
The basic steps to graft a fruit tree are:
Double cleft grafting is one of the oldest grafting techniques and is currently the most widely used in horticulture. It is usually used for change the variety of a tree or rejuvenate a tree aged. Usually, this graft is usually applied to trees with a trunk diameter that does not exceed 10 centimeters and the time when it is usually done is during winter.
For Make a Double Cleft Graft on a Fruit Tree the following steps are followed:
To finish with this guide on how to graft fruit trees, we recommend that you also consult this other Green Ecologist guide in which we tell you how to take care of fruit trees.
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