I read some about apples etc. Has anyone had any luck
with growing apples from cuttings? I would like to start
about 10 acres of apples, say one ac. each of 10 varieties, but the cost for that many trees is way to high.
By using cuttings, I could get 100's of trees by visiting the
local growers at trimming time. any thoughts.....Shawn
10 acres of apples will grow a lot of fruit. Even a halfway decent orchard produces 300 bushels/acre and intensively managed orchards can produce 1000 bushels/acre. Considering each bushel is ~40 lbs. you are looking at >100,000 lbs of fruit/year.
But if you really want to plant 10 acres of apples, you will probably be better off buying trees than trying to start your own. All of the commercial varieties you see in orchards are grafted trees. If you buy in quantity, 100+ trees, the per tree cost is typically ~$6 ea. Most nurseries will let you mix varieties to make up your order so you can get a good mix of trees.
If you do decide to go the cutting route, you will need to get some rootstock, graft your cuttings onto the stock and place the grafted trees into nursery beds for a year or two before planting them in your orchard. If you just try to root your cuttings, your trees will probably turn into full size trees and may not have good growth characteristics. Depending upon the variety of the cuttings you pick up, you may also be violating someone's plant patent by trying to propagate their stock without having a license or paying royalties.
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