Budding And Grafting Almonds

Categories: Fruit Growing

Is it better to bud or graft bitter almond seedlings of one year's

growth, and, as they must be transplanted, would it be proper to do the

work this season or defer it for another year's growth?



Your almond seedlings should have been budded in July or August after

starting from the nut, which would have fitted them for planting in

orchard the following winter as dormant buds, as they cannot stay where

the are another season. Now you can transplant to nursery rows in

another place: cut back and graft as the buds are swelling, allowing a

good single shoot to grow from below on those which do not start the

grafts into which you can bud in June, and cut back the stock to force

growth as soon as the buds have taken. In this way you will get the

whole stock into trees for planting out next winter. Some will be large

and some small, but all will come through if planted in good soil and

cared for properly. Of course, you can plant out the seedlings and graft

and bud in the orchard, but it will be a lot of trouble and you will get

very irregular results.