40 fruit from one tree??

[excat]

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/150720-40-fruit-tree-vin

July 20, 2015 - Sam Van Aken, an artist and professor at Syracuse University, uses "chip grafting" to create trees that each bear 40 different varieties of stone fruits, or fruits with pits. The grafting process involves slicing a bit of a branch with a bud from a tree of one of the varieties and inserting it into a slit in a branch on the "working tree," then wrapping the wound with tape until it heals and the bud starts to grow into a new branch. Over several years he adds slices of branches from other varieties to the working tree. In the spring the "Tree of 40 Fruit" has blossoms in many hues of pink and purple, and in the summer it begins to bear the fruits in sequence—Van Aken says it's both a work of art and a time line of the varieties' blossoming and fruiting. He's created more than a dozen of the trees that have been planted at sites such as museums around the U.S., which he sees as a way to spread diversity on a small scale.

Hmmm.....

 

[clock152]

pretty cool

 

[aviator41]

Lots of fruit trees are grafted like this. in fact, most of the fruit trees you find at Lowes and home depot are grafted varieties - they do this to speed up growth as most homeowners don't have the patience for a tree that take 30 years to become mature.

Same with almonds. it's a good way to "speed up" the maturation process of harder to grow fruits as the 'host tree' acts as the mature stub for the intended fruit or nut.

The vast majority of roses are also grafted onto heartier base roses that have flowers that are less desirable or common. you'd be surprised how many rose owners 'prune' their new rose bush back so far that suddenly they start getting pale yellow roses from that once velvet red rose bush! It's because they're pruned back beyond where the original graft was.

 

[briarcreekguy]

My Dad is very good at grafting, he has a pear tree with a bunch of different varieties of apples and pears growing on it. It is kind of fun to watch as different branches on the trees bloom at different times. He has also grafted apples onto Red Haw bushes. You name it he has probably grafted it.

 

[HFS]

I knew an old guy who could do grafting and he had an apple tree in his yard with yellow apples on one side and red apples on the other.