I have a fairly small yard, in which I've got a well-established (no idea of the age) mirabelle plum tree, and 3 young trees that I bought last year (malus apple, conference pear, I-forget-exactly-what-but-not-bing cherry).
I'd like to do some grafting, with the goals of providing pollinators and adding variety.
Questions concerning compatibility:
- The neighbor has a quince and at least one apple tree. This year, my apple was the only one of the new trees that produced fruit. No problem grafting a scion from his apple onto mine, right?
- Would scions from his quince take on my apple (or pear)?
- I've seen online that pear, apple, and quince can be grafted together (in fact, putting an apple onto a quince rootstock is supposed to make it a dwarf). Is this true?
- I've also seen online that plum and cherry (and a few others...) can be grafted together. Is this true? Could I put some cherry pollinators on my plum tree? Could I put some fresh plum branches on my cherry tree (to make a "backup" of the old tree)?
Questions concerning technique:
- The hot season (i.e., now) is when I should be T-budding, right? Why would whip-and-tongue grafts not take?