When Is the Best Time to Graft Cherry Trees? Detailed Guide to Grafting Methods and Precautions

Cherries have bright, vivid colors and a crystalline beauty, with a sweet and delicious taste. They are recognized worldwide as the “king of natural vitamin C” and the “fruit of life.” To obtain cherries of excellent quality, you can use grafting techniques. So when is the best time to graft cherries? How do you graft them? What precautions should you take? It is understood that the best time to graft cherries is from late March to early April. During this period, bud grafting with wood or cleft grafting is mostly used, and the survival rate is high.

How do you graft cherries?

1. Choose the right tree species (plum or wild peach will both work). The rootstock used for grafting should have a diameter of more than 0.7 cm. For the scion, it is best to collect 1-year-old branches and use plump buds as the graft buds.

2. When grafting, at a point about 10 cm above the ground on the base of the rootstock, choose a smooth area and gently cut along the vertical direction to make a long oval cut surface about 2.5 cm long and about 2 mm deep.

3. When cutting the graft bud, make the cut 1.5 cm below the graft bud, gently cut the bud piece off the scion, and shape it into a long oval bud piece 2.5 cm long and about 2 mm thick.

4. Press the bud piece tightly against the cut surface of the rootstock, then wrap and tie it tightly with plastic film tape.

Precautions after grafting cherries

1. Loosen the binding in time

After grafting cherries, rain or watering can easily cause gummosis and affect survival. Therefore, do not water within half a month after grafting. After bud-grafted seedlings survive, loosen the binding in time to prevent rainwater from seeping into the bark along the binding material and causing gummosis.

2. Tie the shoot to prevent breakage

After the grafted bud sprouts, it grows rapidly. Because the wood is soft, it is very easy for it to bend or break in the wind. Therefore, when the graft bud grows to 20-30 cm, set up a support in time and fix the new shoot to the support to prevent it from being broken by wind.

3. Cut the rootstock at the right time

Bud-grafted seedlings that have already survived should have the rootstock cut. The suitable time for cutting the rootstock is when the graft bud turns green but has not yet sprouted. Cutting the rootstock too early can easily cause the rootstock to dry out and lead to the death of the graft bud. Cutting the rootstock means using pruning shears to cut off the rootstock seedling about 1 cm above the graft bud. When cutting the rootstock, it is best to make the side with the graft bud slightly higher and the back side of the graft bud slightly lower, forming a sloped surface, which is beneficial for healing.

4. Remove buds and pinch off tips

During this period, repeatedly remove the sprouts growing from the rootstock seedling, and at the same time strengthen field management to promote the growth of the grafted seedling. When the grafted seedling grows to 30-40 cm, pinch off the tip of the seedling to encourage lower branching. In early to mid-July, pinch off the tips of excessively vigorous upper branches again, which can increase the number of branches and help the seedling bear fruit earlier.

5. Fertilizer and water management

After the grafted seedling sprouts, strengthen fertilizer and water management. Generally, water once about every 20 days. Apply chemical fertilizer at the appropriate time along with watering. The first application can be in mid to late May, with 5-10 kg of urea applied per mu. The second can be in mid-July, with about 15 kg of diammonium phosphate applied per mu. After that, appropriately control fertilizer and water to ensure the maturity of the seedling and improve its overwintering ability.

6. Prevent and control pests and diseases

After sprouting in spring, pay attention to the control of the small gray weevil; after the pinched seedlings sprout new shoots, prevent damage from the peach fruit moth. From early July to early August, spray 250-fold Bordeaux mixture with a high lime ratio twice in succession to prevent early defoliation.

Do you now know the cherry grafting methods and precautions? If you want to obtain cherries with high yield and high quantity, these are all things you need to understand!