Jacqueline Freeman wrote:For the past decade I've been a shill for what I thought was common apple knowledge, that you couldn't grow good eating apples from seed. I've explained why for years. Well guess what, I was wrong.
I just saw this video
about growing apple seedlings and yahoo! He got good eating apples from doing so. Not stellar, but certainly not a spitter either.
So, Paul, I'm eating my words. All those seedlings you and Jocelyn saved from our AppleFest a few years ago, did they ever get in the ground? any results?
As they say, those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of people who are doing it.
Bryant RedHawk wrote:The girdling method is most often used (by me) for changing the root pattern of Bonsai Trees, where you really want even spacing all around the trunk of the tree.
Even when doing this I do not completely girdle the tree since that makes it a live or die situation and with my Bonsai trees selling for 50 to 500 dollars, I really don't want to loose a few years work.
I have no idea why so many people seem to think this is good method, perhaps they think it will make better roots?
I always put it forth like this: If you want to kill a tree, you girdle it, this stops all nutrient flow in the tree and it will most assuredly die.
What I have always wondered is how many of the people recommending this method actually do air layering or grafting on a regular basis and if they do, what is their success rate?
I've never seen anyone touting girdling for layering mention their own success rate or how many they do in a year.
I think it is one of those urban legends that people read and say "well, of course" and then they spread it around like they know what they are talking about, but they are actually clueless.