Mass grafting some apples

Discussion in 'Trees' started by Adam I, Jan 29, 2026 at 12:03 AM.

  1. Adam I

    Adam I Super Gardener

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    I thought it would be fun to try some grafting, so attempted it on some feral plums this winter. I then found a website, yorkshireapples.co.uk, that sells scions of uncommon apple varieties and rootstocks to go with it that you have to graft together yourself. You have to buy 10 rootstocks at a time, but you can (theoretically) make 10 unique apple trees for £90 which seems like a great deal.
    I bought the following scions:

    Coxs Orange Pippin
    Pitmaston Pineapple
    Bess Pool
    Beauty of Bath
    Spartan
    Sops in Wine
    Michaelmas Red
    Pendragon


    with Geneva 210 rootstocks.

    Anyone tried any of these apples, or have any grafting tips? Ive had Spartan before which was a great crispy apple.

    Dont ask where ill find space for them, I know my village too well :whistle::thumbsup:
     
  2. Tidemark

    Tidemark Total Gardener

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    Pitmaston Pineapple I have. Bought it about 12 years ago on a dwarf rootstock. It is a slight, slender, slow growing, slightly drooping tree with biennial bearing and the tiniest, oval, yellow fruits, which I have never managed to taste because the birds always get to them first.

    Cox’s Orange Pippin was a beautiful, delicious, difficult-to-grow-well apple back in the 1960s. It was a triploid. But they “improved” it and it’s now not a patch on what it was.

    Beauty of Bath is another apple from my youth. It used to be a much anticipated feature of the local greengrocers’ shops in the early autumn. I haven’t seen it for sale in donkey’s years, but I remember it as being tasty.

    Sops in wine I don’t have, but I do have a similar apple called Dirleton Red. A very unusual tree suffused with redness, the fruits are red in every part, flesh, pips the lot. And the wood is red when you cut into it. The flowers are a deep, deep pink. Very pretty, but not the tastiest apple.
     
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      Last edited: Jan 29, 2026 at 6:48 AM
    • Stephen Southwest

      Stephen Southwest Gardener

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      It's worth using a really sharp grafting knife.
      You might consider multiple grafts on each rootstock, especially if space is limited...
       
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      • NigelJ

        NigelJ Total Gardener

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        Pitmaston Pineapple is an excellent small apple with a different flavour.
        I'm also fond of Laxtons Superb has a tendency to biennial bearing and large crisp sweet apples.
        Discovery was a good early variety, for eating as they ripened, go floury if kept.
        Spartan also did well for me.
         
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        • Thevictorian

          Thevictorian Total Gardener

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          I've got a frankenstein tree with about 25 different cultivars of apples on it. From your list I've cox, spartan and beauty of Bath, which are all quite nice.

          Grafting is something where practice helps and my advice, coupled with Stephens sharp knife, would be to practice on waste material until you are confident you can get the cut in a clean motion. Dogwood is good for a learning substitute. I would also protect your fingers with tape or a plaster because it's easy to cut yourself.
           
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          • Adam I

            Adam I Super Gardener

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            Thanks for the great information everyone! Glad the ones you recognized have some approval at least.

            Did you use whip and tounge or some other method?
            my plan is to do both a whip and tounge graft and a bud graft from each scion to increase the chance theyll take.

            I suspected modern apples are probably tastier and more reliable but the descriptions I saw where fairly boring, I think it would be more fun to get apples we cant buy in the shops. The "redlove" series of apples seems very interesting, improved red fleshed apples with "berry" flavours, with good reviews but I couldnt find any scions :cry3:

            I cut my hand badly not so long ago doing silly things with my pocketknife (healed already thankfully! unnapreciated perks of being in your 20s...) and got some cut resistant gloves for doing the grafts to avoid this. Watching videos on grafting on youtube, some of the professionals seem to greatly "trust their skills":yikes:
             
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