Top-working of trees in apple orchards is on the grow
The content of this article 'Top-working of trees in apple orchards is on the grow' was prepared by David Eddy of Growing Produce and has been revised and republished by FreshFruitPortal.com.
Washington apple industry observers report they are seeing a lot more top-working of trees in the state. As the cost of a modern orchard establishment increases, prices for many varieties are in the pits, and some growers are seeking a quick changeover.
Bill Howell, Manager of theĀ Northwest Nursery Improvement InstituteĀ in Prosser, WA, says he thinks top-working is up by as much as 20% compared with a decade ago.
He doesnāt know exactly what varieties growers are transitioning to, with the exception of the Washington State University product, āCosmic Crispā. Just fewer than 700,000 trees in the state have been topped with āCosmic Crispā, though about 18 million have been planted.
Pete Van Well ofĀ Van Well NurseryĀ in East Wenatchee, WA, suspects much of the topping is being done with the popular variety āHoneycrispā.
ā'Honeycrispā is doing well, so theyāre grafting over to āHoneycrispā because itās the one bright spot Iāve seen on the yellow (sales) sheets,ā he says.
Cost difference
The cost difference between top-working and planting is significant, Howell says. The cost of a modern trellised orchard costs about $50,000 an acre, while top-working is more like $20,000.
Besides the lower initial cost, growers look to top-working for rapid conversion to a new variety, such as āHoneycrispā.
But top-working isnāt ideal if you donāt have the right orchard system for that variety, Howell says, or even more critical, the right rootstock.
āFor example, M9 and āHoneycrispāā a non-vigorous rootstock with a non-vigorous variety ā not a good combination,ā he says. āThe top-worked variety, in this case, wonāt fill the space.ā
Van Well says growers who top-work also can avoid having to fumigate, as well as the cost of the trees.
āNursery prices for finished trees have been going up because the minimum wage has been going up. Trees just arenāt cheap anymore,ā he says. āIt takes a lot of labor to make a nice nursery tree, and weāre short of labor, too.ā
In addition, unless growers are experienced in grafting, they need to hire people who do have that experience, help that can be hard to find in years like this when their services are in such demand, they get completely booked.
Growers also still have to pick the right variety, as well as ensure rootstock capability, and even when top-working growers still have to pay royalties on certain varieties.
āItās not as easy as people think it is,ā he says. āIt can be hard to find virus-free wood ā a big concern.ā
Avoid viruses
Todd Snyder ofĀ C&O NurseryĀ in Wenatchee, WA, says the potential for unknown viruses in the graft wood should be a big concern for growers.
āYou can make sure to say you want clean wood,ā Snyder says, ābut itās not certified and inspected.ā
Having inspections and certifications are often thought of as being a pain for growers, but they do buy valuable peace of mind, Snyder says.
āYouāve got to feel more comfortable going to a nursery than to some guy who says he uses virus-free wood,ā he says.
Van Well agrees, noting the nursery assumes any risk for not only viruses but also if a scion/rootstock combination fails.
One other key factor is labor, Snyder says. Growers considering top-working often look at only the initial labor involved, not all the tasks that will face orchardists through the years.
āWe feel it takes less labor to establish the orchard from a finished-trees start than all the steps involved in grafting to fruit production,ā he says.
In sum, planting trees ultimately gives the grower the chance to really optimize everything.
There are a lot of elements to growing an apple tree, from selecting the appropriate rootstock for the desired variety, setting the planting distances for the variety, choosing the trellis system for the variety, planting certified trees, and getting the fertility right.
āTraining an apple orchard into whatever system you intend to utilize is easier with a finished tree,ā Snyder concludes.
Photo by Thomas Skernivitz