How many years after grafting does a chestnut tree bear fruit?
The chestnut tree is a common nut tree in everyday life. It ripens and hits the market in large quantities around the Mid-Autumn Festival each year, and it is now grown in many regions. So how many years after grafting does a chestnut tree bear fruit?
1. How many years after grafting does a chestnut tree bear fruit?
A grafted chestnut tree generally begins to bear fruit in 2-3 years, and after about 20 years it enters the peak fruiting period. The fruiting season is from August to October. The fruit it produces is a spherical cupule, covered on the outside with sharp, hairy spines, and containing 2-3 nuts inside; when ripe it splits into 4 valves. The nuts are dark brown, and the flesh inside is pale yellow.
2. How do you graft a chestnut tree?
1. Grafting time
Carry it out from late May to early June, over a period of about 15 days.
2. Grafting methods
(1) Bark insertion grafting. Also called sub-bark grafting, it is a method of inserting the scion into the cambium of the rootstock. Make a cut 3-5 cm from the lower end of the scion and carve a horseshoe-shaped cut surface, cutting downward and flat with the upper part extending 1/2 of the way into the xylem; it is best not to cut the back side, and simply sharpening the tip is enough. Keep 2 plump buds at the upper end of each scion. Generally, for a small rootstock, cut the stock at 10-15 cm above the ground; for a thicker, larger rootstock, saw it off at 50-100 cm above the ground, and use force to smooth the saw surface. Then make a vertical cut on a smooth part of the rootstock, going into the xylem, 1-2 cm long, and then insert the scion into the cambium at the vertical cut, leaving the scion at the upper part of the joint exposed 0.5 cm above the wound. After the scion is inserted, bind it with a plastic strip 3-4 cm wide and 40 cm long. If the rootstock is relatively thick, 2-3 scions can be inserted into one cut surface, which helps the rootstock wound heal.
(2) Sub-bark side grafting. It is a method of grafting on the side of the rootstock, and it is also a grafting method in which the scion is inserted into the cambium under the bark of the rootstock. In multi-head top grafting, besides cutting off the top of a large rootstock for grafting first, side grafting can be done on bare branches in order to increase the number of branches in the inner canopy. The method is to cut a “T”-shaped incision in the bark of the rootstock, shave a slope on the bark above the incision to make it easier to insert the scion; the scion is 20 cm long, and its cut surface should be longer, smooth, and sharpened at the front end. After the scion is inserted, bind the wound with a plastic strip. Both of the above methods can only be done after the sap is flowing.
(3) Cleft grafting. It is suitable for small rootstocks in the nursery. Cut two horseshoe-shaped cut surfaces straight and level on both sides of the scion 4-5 cm from its lower end, so that the scion is wedge-shaped. Cut off the rootstock with scissors at 5 cm above the ground, cutting it flat in one go, then split the rootstock from the middle with a knife at the cut, and insert the scion as soon as the knife is pulled out of the split, aligning the cambium on at least one side from top to bottom, leaving about 0.5 cm of the scion wound exposed; after grafting, wrap the wound with a plastic strip.
(4) Whip grafting. It is a grafting method that joins the wounds of the rootstock and the scion together. It is suitable for grafting young trees in the nursery; the method is simple and the survival rate is high. The method is to cut off the rootstock near the ground, carve a slanted surface on both the rootstock and the scion of roughly equal size (if the rootstock is thick, cut less from the rootstock and cut a larger surface on the scion, so that the wounds are roughly equal in size), then join the two wounds together and bind them with a plastic strip.