May/June 2022 - 20

INSIDE THE NURSERY
The budder must make precise
cuts from both the scion and the
rootstock. Photos: Crystal Nay
A bud cut from the scion and being
placed onto the rootstock.
The tier secures the
bud to the rootstock.
Budding and shipping
BY CRYSTAL NAY
MANAGING EDITOR
scion of a particular variety and attach it
to the rootstock.
W
hen National Nut Grower
last looked inside the
nursery, it was digging
season. Now, nurseries are coming off
the tail end of budding and shipping
season - what could be the busiest
season of the year.
But what turns into thousands of
trees shipped out each day to growers
starts with a two-person team in the
greenhouse - a budder and a tier.
The process
The rootstock is planted and grown in
a pot until a buddable size, measured in
height and caliper. Once the rootstock
reaches proper caliper size, the budder
will remove a vegetative bud from a
20 MAY/JUNE 2022
It takes only one bud to propagate a
variety on a rootstock, which allows a
single piece of scionwood to generate
many new trees. It's a skill of speed and
precision, and caution has to be taken to
ensure neither the rootstock nor buds
are cut too thick or too thin.
" The size of the bud must be matched
to the size of the rootstock, " said Alberto
Naranjo, assistant manager at Dave
Wilson Nursery in Ripon, California. " It
has to be precise. "
Matching the sizes is better for
overall quality, and the bud has a much
better chance of callusing faster. Once
carefully cut and placed by the budder,
the tier tightly wraps the bud union -
at this facility, three times around the
bottom and three times around the
top - with a wax tape, securing the bud
to the rootstock and protecting the
union, but leaving the bud exposed.
The tape disintegrates once the plant
begins to grow.
It takes about 10 days to two weeks for
the buds to declare. Approximately one
week after this occurs, the vegatative
growth from the rootstock is cut within
one inch of the bud, allowing the bud's
growth to continue to grow freely.
" It will allow this bud to have the
strength of the tree, " said William " Bill "
Reid, CEO of Dave Wilson Nursery.
" We no longer need (the rootstock's
vegetative growth). We want the
strength of the tree to go into the bud to
produce the variety. "
Once the rootstock is cut, the tree is
placed back into the greenhouse and
continues to grow.
" In this process, we want to take the
advantages of the rootstocks and give
the almond the power that it wouldn't
necessarily have if it didn't have the
May/June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May/June 2022
