Nursery schools mainly use oculum or eye grafting to propagate fruit trees because this has many advantages over other techniques. The method is quite easy and quick to carry out, and the growth rates are very high.
How do you seed a fruit tree?
To inoculate a fruit tree, choose the right time (May-June or July-August), cut grafting shoots, prepare the base, make a T-cut, cut the noble eye, add it to the bark pocket and connect the finishing point with rubber or raffia.
The right time
The perfect time to oculate is either spring from May to June or summer between July and August. In the spring the oculation takes place on the floating eye. This means that the inserted eye will still sprout in the summer and form a shoot. However, this often does not yet ripen and therefore freezes back in winter. Therefore, native fruit trees are propagated primarily through inoculation on the sleeping eye. This won't sprout until next spring, but that doesn't mean it won't start growing until then.
Occulating a fruit tree – instructions
Occulation should be applied at a time of good bark solution. In addition, it should be late enough in the year that the eye no longer sprouts. A good time is therefore between July and the beginning of September. The rootstocks used are usually one to two years old.
Cutting grafting veins
Cut the grafting shoots shortly beforehand from this year's strong shoots. To reduce evaporation, cut off all leaves equally. However, you do not need to remove the leaf stems because they will still be useful for later refining. If the refinement does not take place immediately after cutting, store the scions wrapped in a damp cloth until the appointment.
Prepare the base
On the day of grafting, first clean the root neck of the base from dust, sand and other dirt with a dry cloth. Disturbing shoots are also completely cut away. Now a T-cut is made on the base at the height of the intended refinement - usually around ten centimeters high - which will later accommodate the eye of the noble variety. The cut should only cut through the outer bark and not go into the wood.
Cutting and pasting the precious eye
Cut and insert the eye of the scion as follows:
- Place the eyelet knife about two centimeters below the eye.
- Separate the eye from the wooden part of the shoot with a cut.
- The cut should end about two centimeters above the eye.
- The cutting surface should be elliptical in shape.
- Carefully push the severed eye from above into the opened bark pocket of the base.
- It should stick out from the center of the incision.
- The part that protrudes from the top of the horizontal cut of the base is cut off.
- Finally, connect the finishing point with rubber (€6.00 on Amazon) or with raffia.
- The eye remains free.
Tip
Occulation on a sleeping eye is described here. But the process can also be used on eyes that are already drifting, for example by chipping.
