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These trees in John Carter's orchard at The Dalles, Oregon, were grafted over to Skeena a decade ago. Carter (inset photo) said the trees, which were between 5 and 10 years old at the time, are not pretty, but grafting was cheaper than replanting and the trees have been productive. GRAFTING: The low-cost option Despite success grafting G over cherries and apples, John Carter doesn't recommend it. by Geraldine Warner rafting a block might not be the ideal way to renew an orchard, but could be the only eco- nomically feasible way. That was the experi- ence of John Carter, a cherry grower in The Dalles, Oregon, when the bottom fell out of the Royal Ann cherry market in the late 1990s. Carter had a 13-acre block of Royal Ann, a cherry used primarily for brining and making into maraschino cher- ries. The variety had been returning 40 to 60 cents a pound and was easy to manage, but when returns dropped to 30 cents a pound, and the local fruit coopera- tive said it would only take a third of growers' tonnage, something had to change. "It's tough to make a living with that kind of return," he commented during a preharvest cherry tour organized by Oregon State University in June. Carter recalled that when he was wondering what to do about the Royal Ann cherries, OSU agricultural econ- omist Clark Seavert advised him to replant an acre of two of the block each year if he couldn't afford to do it all at once. "I was already old and also impatient, and the thought of doing one or two acres at a time means I would only be half done with the 13-acre block," he told growers who visited the orchard during the tour. Instead, Carter decided to graft the trees over to a dif- ferent variety, something that was commonly done in apples, but not with cherries at the time. The late John Renick, representative for Columbia Basin Nursery, showed him a list of possible varieties, and he decided to convert it into a solid block of Skeena. Columbia Basin Nursery supplied the budwood, and Carter hired Salvador Zaragosa from Yakima, Washington, to do the grafting. 24 AUGUST 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER The block had been planted about ten years before on a 30-foot by 30-foot spacing but later interplanted at 15 by 30 feet and then 15 by 15 feet, so the trees were between five and ten years old at the time. It had "a heavy dose" of Van and Black Republican as pollenizers. The grafting was a quick and reasonably priced process, although it was done over two years because he didn't have enough wood to do it all at once. The grafts cost 25 cents, and the older trees had three grafts on the big limbs so that he had options when redeveloping the trees. More than 90 percent of the grafts grew successfully, though Carter had to clean up some trees where there was regrowth from the original variety. "If you're short of capital, it's a process you have to add to the list to consider." —John Carter The Mazzard rootstock proved a good match for Skeena. The block was soon back in production and has averaged around 5 to 8 tons per acre—with a couple of 10- to 11-ton years. "Last year, we picked 5 tons and threw 5 tons on the ground because the rain came two or three days before harvest," he recalled. Most of his cherry trees are trained on a three-leader system, and Carter said it's a much tougher system to use on grafted trees than on planted trees because grafted trees send out limbs whereever they feel like it. However, he has a good training crew who can remove bad wood. "It just takes more thought when you go through and take care of it and prune it," he said. Different varieties Carter has since grafted over other blocks with varying success. A block of Fuji apples grafted to Granny Smith had 100 percent take, but that hasn't been the case with every variety every year, he said. The interstem (original variety) makes a difference, and he's had more Van trees die after grafting than other cherry varieties. "But I think that's something Vans want to do," he commented. The spring weather and the quality of the budwood are also important factors, he said. "We had a couple of years when the spring weather was cool and wet, and the take wasn't as as good as when we had warm weather at graft- ing time. And we've had better success grafting younger trees than older trees." Keep them sealed Carter said one of the biggest reasons grafting fails is that the grower doesn't go back and make sure the grafts are still covered until they heal over. When he had the Skeena block grafted, Zaragosa left him a gallon of graft- ing paint and a brush so that he could touch them up where necessary. The seal keeps moisture out that might rot the wood and also keeps the grafts airtight to prevent the bud stick from drying out before it scabs over and starts to grow. Lynn Long, OSU extension agent in The Dalles, said growers should try to obtain virus-free budwood. If they don't get certified wood from a nursery, there's a risk of the wood infecting the tree and killing the rootstock. Krymsk 5 and 6 are hypersensitive to a couple of viruses that are common in the Pacific Northwest. Carter said he's pleased with how his Skeena block turned out, but it's not a process he recommends. "It was a way to transition into the fresh market and get out of a variety that was not going to be profitable into a variety that is. "If you're short of capital, it's a process you have to add to the list to consider. When you're looking at $12,000 to $15,000 per acre to rip out a block and start over, you can do that significantly cheaper. "But there's some compromise," he stressed. "Ten years later, it's not a perfect block, and there are things that make you wince. You wish the trees were a little more uniform, but as far as picking decent quality fruit and making a living, you can get by. It's an alternative to buy some time until you have a chance to save enough money to do the block and do it right." • www.goodfruit.com Photos by geraldine warner