APPLE AND PEAR TREE GRAFTING WORKSHOP – March 13, 6 P.M.

Call (859) 498-8741 to register!

The Montgomery County Extension Agriculture program is sponsoring an apple and pear tree grafting workshop on Thursday, March 13th at 6 pm in the Extension Annex Garage, located at 102 East Locust Street, Mt. Sterling. Anyone wanting to participate needs to register at the Extension Office by calling 498-8741. Give your name and number of rootstocks you would like for apple and or pear. There is no cost to participate.

IMPORTANT: you will need to collect one year old branches from the tree you want to perpetuate. It may be a family heirloom tree or a tree from which you really like the fruit. Water sprouts, those that grow straight up on larger branches, make excellent grafting material. Other one year material may be obtained by going to the tip end of branches and follow down the branch until you see a series of rings around the branch. Everything from those rings to the tip is one year old.

Once cut, place the cuttings in a bag in the refrigerator with a moist paper towel. Do not put them in a refrigerator that has apples in it. Be sure to get the material you plan to graft before it breaks dormancy. We will be using Malling 7A semi-dwarf rootstock. It is a very sturdy rootstock with some dwarfing capacity.