We can offer a few fruit tree species, such as cherries, as ungrafted young plants. But for most fruit trees this is still not possible or leads to a juvenile and infertile phase of the young trees that is too long. However, which young plants are available to producers of container plant products who wish to grow fruit trees in pots? And what should this fruit tree young plant product look like so that it is easy to process and allows a relatively short production period?
Fruit tree production from Treelings® young plants at Lubera AG in Switzerland
In recent years, our colleagues at the Lubera AG tree nursery in Switzerland have increasingly switched from producing a large number of classic fruit varieties in the field to one- or two-year-old trees, to producing only so-called dormant buds, which are then potted and, depending on their intended use, cultivated into saleable goods in four to six months. It is precisely these young plants – wee call them Treeling® – that we would now like to offer as young plants if you would like to produce Lubera fruit varieties for your container range.
Treelings® with dormant buds - what is that?
The technical, yet very figurative term 'dormant buds' refers to fruit rootstocks that are cultivated for one growing season in the field, in natural soil. They are bud-grafted in July and August and then uprooted in November/December together with the inserted, but still dormant, not yet sprouted bud. To facilitate further processing, the part of the rootstock above the grafting point is cut back after uprooting and treated with wound paste. At the same time, the roots are cut back to a hand's width to enable easy potting. The Treelings® are then processed and prepared for growing in pots.
Picture: Rootstock field with bud-grafted rootstocks in December/January
Picture: Treeling® with dormant bud after harvest
Picture: A checked and processed Treeling® wit dormant bud, ready for delivery and potting
Two tree forms can be produced from dormant buds: Easytrees® and Patiotrees
Our aim with the dormant buds we offer is to produce tree forms that can be fully cultivated from our young plants in six to seven months. Longer cultivation in pots is neither sensible nor financially viable if fruit trees are to remain affordable for hobby gardeners and are also to be sold in a certain quantity. Ultimately, the fruit trees must also become smaller and 'faster' as a product...
Easytrees® are one-year-old, vertically grown grafted trees. In this case, the sprout of the graft is tied to a bamboo staked and trained in a vertical position. It goes without saying that the shoots from the rootstock must be cleanly removed twice at the beginning of cultivation. The regular halving of the tip leaves from June/July onwards leads to more and better premature side shoots, which tend to set rather flat and ideally bear fruit the following year.
Picture: Easytrees® of different variety groups – on the far right, for comparison, a freshly potted Treeling®
Patiotrees are grafted higher so that the stem between the edge of the pot and the grafting point is approximately 30 cm high. With the Patiotree (grafted on the same rootstock as the Easytrees® for stone fruit, but produced on M111 for apples and Pirus communis for pears), the shoot of the dormant bud is pinched at approximately 10 cm to achieve sufficient branching; if necessary, this pinching is repeated three to four weeks later.
Picture: Patiotrees – the higher grafting position is clearly visible
The freshly produced Easytrees® and Patiotrees will be available for sale starting at the end of August.
The production calendar for Treelings® and the resulting tree shapes
The production calendar is as follows:
- January: potting
- January: if growing outdoors, cover with fleece after watering to protect the dormant buds (alternatively, you can also pot in a cold plastic tunnel)
- End of February: cover so that the dormant buds start to grow
- Mid-May for the Easytrees®: tie the shoots to a bamboo stake when they reach a height of approximately 10-20 cm, then repeat continuously
- June/July for the Easytrees®: only one vertical axis, one main shoot, is grown here. To encourage slight lateral branching, the tip leaves are regularly cut in half (without damaging the meristem).
- Mid to end of May for the Patiotrees: cut/pinch fresh shoots at 10-15 cm to obtain branching, which will then form the crown of the Patiotree. Repeat three to four weeks later if necessary.
- From mid/end August: saleable plants
- Sales period: August of the first year to May of the second year
Which rootstock is suitable for which tree species and for which tree shape?
Unfortunately, things are a little more complicated with grafted fruit trees, as in addition to the varieties, the rootstocks and their use must also be taken into account. For apples in particular, we offer three different rootstocks: M9, M26 (or S4) and MM111. M9 is weak growing, M26 moderately weak growing and MM111 moderately strong growing. The stronger the rootstock grows, the stronger the fruit tree will be that was produced from the 'dormant bud' within a year. Conversely, the moderately strong growing apple trees on MM111 rootstocks will continue to grow strongly in the garden. The apple trees on M9 rootstocks, on the other hand, will only produce small trees with heights of 200-250 cm even after a few years in the garden. With the Malini® and Maloni® trees, which already grow very compactly, it can also make sense to use a stronger rootstock, as this will also make the young tree produced significantly stronger and probably more attractive. The same applies to the production of Patiotrees, for which the stronger rootstock helps to build up the most robust, multi-shoot crown possible in just one season.
The following table provides an overview of the types of fruit, the rootstocks to be used and the tree shapes produced with them:
| Fruit type | Rootstock | Tree form |
| Redlove® apple | M9 | Easytree® |
| Redlove® apple | M26 / S4 | Easytree® |
| Redlove® apple | MM111 | Easytree®/Patiotree |
| Paradis® apple | M9 | Easytree® |
| Paradis® apple | M26 / S4 | Easytree® |
| Paradis® apple | MM111 | Easytree®/Patiotree |
| Malini® apple | M26 | Easytree® |
| Malini® apple | MM111 | Easytree® |
| Maloni® apple | M9 / M26 | Easytree® |
| Maloni® apple | MM111 | Patiotree |
| Pirini® pear | Seedling | Easytree® |
| Pironi® pear | Seedling | Easytree® |
| Pironi® pear | Seedling - 30 cm | Easytree®/Patiotree |
| Peachly® peach | Pumiselect - 30 cm | Patiotree |
| Robustikose® apricot-cherry plum hybrid | Pumiselect | Easytree® |
| Robustikose® apricot-cherry plum hybrid | Pumiselect - 30 cm | Patiotree |
The exclusive Lubera® assortment
For fruit tree young plant customers, we can offer a wide range of fruit varieties from the Lubera breeding programme. The great advantage of Lubera varieties is that they are largely exclusive, i.e. they are only offered to our young plant customers and represent a real speciality in this range of fruit varieties.
Lubera Paradis® gourmet apples
The Lubera Paradis® gourmet apples are scab-resistant, fast-bearing and easy-to-cultivate quality apples, in all apple colours, yellow, red and bicoloured, from early to late, and in a wide range of varieties from tart and refreshing to very aromatic and very sweet.
Redlove® gourmet apples
THE range of red and pink-flowering apple varieties with red flesh, the red apple delight.
Malini® columnar apples
All varieties in the columnar apple range are also resistant to scab. We offer two variety duos, each consisting of a rather tart and a very sweet variety with comparable growth characteristics. Dulcessa® and Fresco® are rather vigorous growers, reaching 300 cm and more after seven years, even on the M26 rootstock. Subito® and Pronto® grow more compactly, reaching only approx. 200 cm after seven to eight years.
Maloni® dwarf apples
Maloni® dwarf apples are also scab-resistant and have a naturally branching growth habit (i.e. they are not just upward-growing columnar apples). Their vigour is reduced by 50% to 70% compared to normal apple varieties (if the exact same rootstock is used).
Pirini® columnar pears
The Malini® My Way® columnar pear complements the Malini® range.
Pironi® dwarf pears
The dwarf pears grow bushy, but have a growth rate of no more than approximately 30% of a normal pear. This is why Pirini® and Pironi® are also grafted onto the strong-growing pear seedling rootstocks.
Robustikosen® (apricot, Prunus hybrids)
These hybrids between apricots and cherry plums are grafted onto Pumiselect® rootstocks. They are among the most robust stone fruit varieties, making them much easier to grow than peaches or apricots and also than most plums.
Peachly® (mini peaches)
Peachly® mini peaches are usually grafted onto slightly taller rootstocks, resulting in very attractive mini peach standards that are ideal for patios. These standard trees develop beautiful and tasty peaches from July to September (the red-leaved variety ripens the latest). However, they are at their best in the spring, in March, during their beautiful flowering period.
When is the best time to order?
Treelings® with dormant buds from our range must be ordered as follows:
- December/January: reservation of the rootstocks (this is the only way we can guarantee that the desired rootstocks will be in the field)
- End of June: definite order of the varieties, rootstocks and quantities
- December: clearing and sorting
- December or January of the following year: Delivery (we do not store Treelings®; they are delivered in January at the latest)
The ideal way to place an order is to use our order form for fruit tree young plants. You can find it HERE!
