So what we were doing today? We were grafting apple plants! In the horticultural world, the definition of grafting is to insert a scion of a plant into a like stem or stock of another plant in which it continues to grow. The result of this process is a united rootstock and scion. This is a widely used practice all over the world and not just with apples, watermelons, avocados (to name a few) all use this process to produce high yields of fruit.
Why graft?
We graft our apple plants for several reasons. By taking a rootstock of one variety and a scion (top) of another we are able to create a strong, disease resistant plant that also produces flavorful, high quality fruit; the best of both worlds. This is especially important because the plants are going into the same ground every season rather than being rotated year to year. We replenish the soil health every season with compost and other fertilizers, but it’s not enough to ensure the best quality fruits. Grafting is the best way to ensure top quality fruit and lots of it—plus, with strong plants they can continue to produce fruit for a longer period of time.
First, the plants are selected according to stem size and maturity level.
Next the plants are sorted into two groups - scions (tops) and rootstocks (bottoms).
The leaves of the scion variety are trimmed a bit. This allows for the plant to focus more on healing rather than photosynthesis.The rootstock leaves are cut off with a clean, straight edge razor.
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