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Training Cherry Grafts

Categories: Fruit Growing

I have grafted a lot of seedling cherries, leaving two or three buds on

each piece of grafted wood. In planting these out, shall I put the union

under ground (they are grafted at the crown of the root) and shall I

loosen the cloth a little later when they start to grow? How can I get

the head for the tree? Should I let only one shoot form, and when it is

as high as I want it, cut it off as I would a tree gotten from a

ursery?



If you have used waxed cloth in your grafting, it will be necessary to

loosen it after the tree gets a good start. Common unwaxed cloth could

be trusted to decay soon enough, probably, but it should be looked at to

see that it is not binding. The union should not be placed much below

the ground surface, although it can be safely covered, and the future

stem may look the better for it. One shoot could be allowed to grow from

each graft, choosing the best ones and pinching the others so that they

will stop extension and hold leaves during the first season. These can

be cleanly removed at the first winter pruning at the time you head back

the main shoot to the proper height.



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