Features and technology of reproduction of apple trees by cuttings

Apples are a tasty and healthy product. Everyone has their own fruit preferences and tries to plant their favorite varieties on their site. The time comes, and the apple trees need to be rejuvenated, the garden must be renewed with new plantings. There are many ways to breed this plant. In the article we will talk about the propagation of apple trees by cuttings.

The technology of growing apple trees without roots has been known for a long time, since the end of the 19th century. In the distant past, cuttings were carried out by RI Schroeder, IV Michurin and other great breeders, so today we have well-developed techniques. Let's list the advantages of this method.

• The new plant retains the characteristics of the beloved apple variety, from which the cutting is taken. And it doesn't matter if this tree is grafted or grown from a full-fledged seedling.
• Engaged in cuttings in any season of the year.
• The age of the donor tree does not matter.
• Cuttings are well preserved, they can be transported painlessly over distances.
• Trees need seasonal pruning for rejuvenation and crown formation. It is also used for the collection of planting material.
• Cutting allows you to get as many future apple trees as the gardener needs, and for free.

This method allows you to preserve the characteristics of the donor variety. The survival rate of planting material is from 30 to 60%. Green cuttings are harvested in late spring or early summer, when an adult plant acquires young shoots.

The process of obtaining seedlings from green growth occurs early in the morning.

• The green branch is cut from the bottom of the tree so that three buds remain on it. The cut is made directly above the lower kidney, and the second one is 5 cm above the upper one.
• The stalk has three leaves (according to the number of buds). So that they do not pull the juices, the bottom sheet is removed completely, the remaining ones are shortened to half.
• For cuttings, prepare water at room temperature, add activated carbon and drugs to stimulate root formation. No more than two branches are placed in each container.
• When the roots are formed, the cuttings are transplanted into containers with nutrient soil in the greenhouse.
• After 2 years, they are planted in open ground.

The second method of propagation of apple trees by green cuttings excludes their preliminary immersion in water. After cutting the planting material, a number of simple actions are performed.

• Low boxes are prepared for planting cuttings. Fertilized nutrient soil is poured at the bottom of the containers, and a wet layer of sand is placed on top.
• The cuttings are deepened into the ground by 2-3 centimeters, keeping a distance of no more than 5-6 cm between them. Then they are watered.
• The box should not be placed on a window sill above the battery; it is better to put it in a partially shaded place. A greenhouse is being built over a container with cuttings. For this, a frame is made in the form of arcs from a strong wire, and it is covered with polyethylene.
• Cuttings take root in 2-3 weeks. And before that, every 3 days, they remove the shelter for a few minutes and moisten the sand.
• When the cuttings acquire roots, the film is removed and the seedlings are looked after until autumn. Make sure that the sand is always wet, loosen and mulch the soil.
• In autumn, plants are transplanted into separate containers with nutrient soil, left in a greenhouse or other closed place for wintering. If the seedlings are planted in open ground, they are insulated, protecting them from frost.

You can propagate by cuttings of an apple tree without grafting, just make seedlings from them, achieving rooting of the planting material. Lignified 1-2-year-old cuttings are harvested in winter. Choose only healthy shoots from the central part of the crown. Here's what to do next with the cut branches.

• The handle is cracked so that it bends, but is not completely broken off. The place of the fracture is chosen in such a way that the kidney is 1-2 cm higher than it.
• In the fractured place, the branch is fixed with electrical tape, helping it to maintain a curved state. In this form, the stalk is left until the arrival of spring. During this time, the plant redirects vitality to the break, thereby strengthening it. The deformed place, covered with callus tissue, becomes corky.
• At the very beginning of spring, the tape is removed.
• Then, at the bend, the cutting is cut at right angles into two parts. The lower kidney is obtained above the cut. The top cut should be beveled and raised a few centimeters above the top kidney.
• Prepared cuttings are placed in water. For this, a two-liter bottle of dark plastic is cut off, a sponge is placed on the bottom. The sponge is well impregnated with water with diluted activated carbon. A stalk placed in such a vessel should protrude slightly above it with its tip.
• Twigs in plastic containers are left for rooting. After three weeks, roots up to 6-7 cm long appear on the cuttings. This is enough to start transplanting the plant into open ground.
• Cuttings should be planted in a light, but not hot place. To prevent the sun from drying out still weak sprouts, they can be slightly shaded.
• The plant will quickly take root if you organize a small greenhouse over it with the help of plastic wrap. After 3 weeks, when the seedlings take root, the film must be removed.
• In the future, you will need to care for the seedlings, periodic watering throughout the warm season.
• In the fall, grown plants are transplanted to places of permanent residence.

There is another method of using lignified cuttings for the propagation of apple trees. The technology has several stages.

• Cuttings are cut from biennial branches - with three buds, no more than 15 cm long. The material is collected at the end of December.
• Place it in a box, cover it with sand and moisten it abundantly.
• Until the beginning of spring, cuttings in the sand are stored in a cool room with a temperature of no more than +3 degrees.
• Shortly before planting, a container is prepared on the site, nutritious soil is poured into it. It is a mixture of black soil with sand, peat and humus. Neutral acid soil can be purchased at a gardening store.
• Then cuttings are taken out of storage places, and new, fresh cuts are made on them.
• The lower ends are dipped briefly into the composition to stimulate root growth.
• Twigs with an interval of 5-6 cm are planted in a container. The buds should not be covered with earth, and if this happens, the lower bud should be removed.
• The planted material is well watered. He still needs regular watering in the future, the soil should not oxidize and dry out.
• The seedlings are covered with a film, and left in a room with room temperature, waiting for the development of the roots.
• At the end of March, before planting seedlings in open ground, containers are taken outside every day during the daytime, helping the plants to acclimate, and only then are they transplanted into the soil.

Cuttings for growing seedlings are cut not only from the branches, but also from the root system of the apple tree.To make it clearer, root cuttings are fragments of roots taken from a donor tree under the age of 7 years. The roots contain frozen buds, from which young growth rises. This is what gardeners use for a relatively fast and productive growing of seedlings.

Planting material is harvested in the fall, when the tree does not spend energy on the development and maintenance of leaves and fruits, but concentrates them in the root system. For grafting, roots 1 centimeter thick are chosen. They are cut into fragments 10-15 cm long. It is necessary to ensure that there are several buds in each segment. During cutting, the ends of the fragments located closer to the tree trunk are marked with a felt-tip pen.

There are two ways to store cut root material until spring.

• A little sand is poured at the bottom of a wooden box, cuttings are placed in it and covered with sand until they are completely covered. The container is installed in a basement or shed, where the air temperature in winter will be within +5 degrees.
• You can also store the roots outdoors. To do this, a recess is dug at the site, sawdust is placed on the bottom, then the cuttings are laid and completely covered with a layer of sawdust. From above, the material is sprinkled with earth and insulated with spruce branches or any other insulation.

In early spring, 2 weeks before planting, cuttings are taken out of storage. Then proceed as follows.

• Sawdust is poured into a wooden box, then roots are inserted into them with a slope. In this case, the ends marked with a felt-tip pen should be at the bottom, and the upper ends must rise a couple of centimeters above the box.
• Then a layer of sawdust is poured abundantly with water.
• The container is placed in a warm place. The air temperature must be at least +20 degrees.
• Within a few weeks, buds swell on the roots, and shoots begin to germinate. At this point, the cuttings are transplanted into open ground.
• In the prepared area, recesses are made, seedlings are installed in them - they should be dug in correctly, at an angle. Sprinkle with earth, leaving tops a few centimeters high on the surface.
• After planting, the seedlings are watered, loosened, mulched.
• When the shoots appear, it should be watered 1-2 times a week until it gets stronger, loosen the soil, fertilize with mulch. An open area can be shaded for the first time.

Cutting gives good results and a high survival rate, if mistakes are not made that can destroy the fruits of long-term labor. In the process of work, you need to pay attention to several points.

• The lower cut of the cutting is made almost under the kidney, moving away from it only a couple of centimeters.
• If more than 2-3 leaves are left on green cuttings, the plant will suffer from moisture loss.
• All work on the site (cutting cuttings, planting material) is best done early in the morning, in cloudy weather.
• A sharp tool is needed to cut the branches so that the material does not squeeze.
• At the stage of growing roots, even before planting in open ground, mineral fertilizers are not used.
• It is better not to take planting material from an apple tree that has received a lot of nitrogenous feeding - the survival rate will be extremely low.
• Root cuttings should be planted with the thick end down (which was located closer to the tree trunk), otherwise they will not take root.
• Young growth should be protected from direct sunlight. It is better to shade slightly, and do not skip watering time.
• To protect the cuttings from infection, the cut sites must be treated with garden varnish or other similar means.