Re: [nafex] Dwarfing Trees

[jim <jmc1@epix.net>]

Two points in addition to those offered by Ed:

1)  Anything you can do to encourage early and regular fruiting will be
dwarfing.  Included would be crotch angle spreading (first summer); branch
spreading/bending; girdling; branch twisting; adequate pollination.
(Pollination would be especially helpful on triploids like Mutsu, which tend
to have only one or 2 seeds per fruit -- it's the total no. of seeds that
does the dwarfing, not the no. of apples.)

2)  You could pull an old bridge-grafting trick if you trust your grafting
skills:  using scions of Malling 9 or Bud.9, make a number of bridge-grafts
across about a 6-inch span on the trunk.  A year later, assuming excellent
graft take, remove bark and cambium  under that bridge.  Don't wax or
otherwise protect -- you want the original tissue to dry out.  If your
bridge-grafting was well done, the M.9 bridge will become the only effective
conduit for downward movement of photosynthates, etc., and eventually all
upward movement will be through the M.9 wood (for a while, the original wood
will be functional).  This is a lot of work, but it will be a permanent fix.



Thomas Olenio wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I have read that trees can be dwarfed by techniques of manipulating the
> tree.
>
> My question is whether or not a tree will overcome the dwarfing and return
> to normal growth if the techniques are stopped.
>
> Thank you for any information you can supply.
>
> Regards,
> Tom
>
> --
> Thomas Olenio
> Ontario, Hardiness Zone 6a
>
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