Many apple trees that have been grafted onto half-stem or standard trunks are available from specialist plant and garden supply stores. But you can also refine a home-grown seedling through copulation.
How to graft an apple tree through copulation?
To refine an apple tree through copulation, you need an apple seedling, at least one scion, clean planting scissors and raffia to hold it in place. Cut the scion and the apple seedling at an angle to each other and connect the interfaces. Fix and protect the connection with binding tape and a wax-like coating.
The difference between seedlings and grafted apple trees
Basically, an apple seedling you grow yourself from a core can also produce a bountiful apple harvest. However, the result of the expected fruit from an ungrafted tree is difficult to predict. This is because when apple trees reproduce, the genetic information from their own tree is merged with that from the pollen of another apple tree. Since this foreign component can hardly be controlled during pollination in the open field, surprises occur during the apple harvest after a growth phase of around seven to ten years.
Copulate a scion on the apple seedling yourself
With a little luck and skill, you can also copulate a branch of a proven high-yielding variety onto an apple tree grown wild from a core. To do this you will need at least the following things:
- an apple seedling as a base
- at least one scion
- clean planting scissors (€14.00 on Amazon) for straight cuts
- some raffia or similar means for fixing
Since the degree of success of this method is not 100 percent even with a little practice, you should, on the one hand, seek help from an experienced garden expert and, on the other hand, carry out several copulations at the same time if possible.
The process of copulation in the apple tree
The best time for copulation for apple trees is late winter. The scions can also be harvested during winter pruning to save time. These are placed with an oblique section on an oppositely cut trunk end of the base and fixed with a suitable material or binding tape. Wax-like coatings also protect the open area on the tree trunk from susceptibility to disease and fungal attack. The budding in March and April shows whether copulation was successful.
Tips & Tricks
Copulation with a scion can be useful not only for young seedlings. This method can also be used to graft poorly fruiting apple trees with a new apple variety.