Home Orchard Society
Growing Good Fruit at Home
Fruit Trees
The goal of grafting and budding is to join together two living
plant parts so that the whole grows as one plant. One of the two pieces
supplies the roots and perhaps a length of trunk; this piece is called
the rootstock. The other piece, the scion, provides the rest of the
trunk, plus the... More
A few years ago I was forced to start growing my apple trees in pots when
I moved to an apartment. Although three of my trees are fruiting this year,
most of them are only one year old grafts All my apple trees are grafted
on M 27 or EMLA 27 rootstock I have not tried any other rootstocks... More
Mulching is an easy way to cut down on water loss by
plants and soil, as well as to slowly add nutrients back
into the soil. Mulches come in organic and non-organic
forms; and they affect soil acidity, water retention
ability, and nutrient levels—all things that are important
to good... More
Is a Persimmon or Medlar in your future? Or have you thought them too exotic for your yard or possibly too difficult to grow? Well, neither situation is true and the HOS spring event holds the opportunity for this wonderful fruit adventure
Some of you may have seen persimmons in the grocery... More
The practice of grafting is an ancient one. Theophrastus,
the Greek plantsman credited as the founder of botany who
died ca. 288 BC, described the joining of a root and branch, as
distinguished from the rooting of cuttings, and catalogued the
feasible combinations of fruit trees. It was he... More
In my home orchard I have a shade problem. On the south side of my
orchard, my neighbor's trees provide more shade than fruit bearing trees
can tolerate. The trees will grow but bear no fruit. You can draw a
line across the back of my property (65' by 75'), fruit on one side,
none on the... More
Many (close to 700) rootstocks were obtained at the Scion and
Rootstock sale (2003). I hope all will be grafted. Once you have made
your tree you will want to plant it. Here are some suggestions for
planting your newly grafted tree.
If your tree is bare root, soak in water for 12 to 24... More
When reading the descriptions of dwarf,
semi-dwarf, dwarfing rootstocks, you come across statements like
this, "produces a tree 50-60% of a standard." Nice! Do you know how
large a standard tree is? Most of us do not know. So, 50-60% of what?
The following information will partially answer... More
Many articles have been written on how to prune fruit trees
or crops. Opinions as to the best methods of pruning are
diverse and varied as the number of authors having produced
them. However, if you look closely at fruit crop pruning, and
follow some basic principles, it really is simple. In... More
Every year HOS holds a budding workshop at the HOS Arboretum . HOS members will demonstrate how to bud and rootstocks will be available for sale. Virtually all fruit trees and many flowering shrubs can be budded, but the stone fruits, plums, cherries, peaches, apricots, etc., are best budding... More
Scoring is the technique of cutting into the bark of a young
tree. By cutting into the bark, to the cambium layer, which is just
below the bark and before the wood (xylem) disrupts hormone
and photosynthate flow. Use a dull knife to cut and bruise the
bark in a semicircle around the trunk or... More
At this year's All About Fruit Show, many home growers had bitter pit problems in apples and Asian pears. Bitter pit can affect all apple and Asian pear varieties but some are more prone than others. The main cause is a mineral imbalance, low levels of calcium.
A Little Information on... More
The results are in; Nylon Footies are 100% effective against apple maggots & 96-98% effective against coddling moths. The environmentally effective way to protect your fruit without spraying is easy to apply. The key to the effective barrier is time of application. Nylon Footies must be... More
Each subject has it's own vocabulary and pruning is no different from the others. The following is a list of terms used in pruning. You may wish to print these out or bookmark it for future reference. Have more questions about pruning? You can ask experts and other HOS members on the HOS Forum More
Many people have heard of paw-paws, especially from a children's song. It is considered an exotic fruit, but I don't think it should be. It is in fact the largest native North American fruit. They grow easily without diseases, bugs, or heavy predation from local animals. The fruit is extremely... More
