How to Find & Cut Scionwood Yourself for Fruit Tree Grafting

It’s open season, but I’m not hunting for any animals; I’m hunting for apple trees. Collecting scionwood for grafting fruit trees has become a favorite winter pastime for my family.

Whether you want to get scions from a tree on your own property to grow more of the same tree or whether you want to propagate new varieties, cutting scionwood yourself is the best way to get essentially free nut and fruit trees like apple, plum, and pear.

I’m sharing tips and tricks for cutting scionwood, the best methods, the best time of year to do it, and how to save the scions so you can be ready to graft in the spring.

Growing Together

Time and experience have taught me a lot as I’ve planted and grown gardens as well as our 40-acre heirloom fruit tree orchard. However, I have also learned a great deal from professional orchardists, grafters, and growers who have shared their professional know-how with me and taken the time to teach me the tricks of the trade.

As always, I want to pass that knowledge along to you! The firm belief that excellent gardening information should be completely free and accessible to everyone is the driving force behind the MIgardener YouTube channel and blog.

That's why we have created these great resources, free for you, so you can Grow Bigger:

• Planting Fruit Trees (Avoid Common Planting Mistakes)

• Guide to Proper Fruit Tree Spacing 

• Protect Young Trees with Tree Guards 

• Reduce Pests & Diseases on Trees with Dormant Oil

• How to Prune Fruit Trees 

• Fertilization of Fruit Trees

What Are Scionwood & Rootstock

Scionwood is a cutting of fruiting wood taken from a desirable fruit tree to propagate more of that type of tree. The scionwood is grafted onto a rootstock, and what grows will be genetically identical to the parent tree from which it was taken.

The scionwood grows to become the upper portion of the new tree after grafting. It determines the characteristics of fruit and foliage that will be on the new tree. 

The rootstock is the lower portion or root system of a tree. It is what the scionwood is grafted to. The rootstock will determine the tree’s other characteristics, such as mature size, disease resistance, drought tolerance, and adaptability. 

Why I Collect Scionwood Instead of Planting Fruit Trees By Seed

Collecting scionwood for grafting fruit trees is the best way to ensure that you will grow a genetic clone of the original fruit tree. Fruit trees grown from seed are unpredictable and yield genetic mixes due to cross-pollination.

Let’s use apple trees as an example. We are all familiar with the fact that there are many different types of apples. That is because any apple tree that grows from seed is genetically unique from every other apple that has ever existed in the entire world. 

If you were to use a seed out of an apple to grow a new tree, it would have been cross-pollinated with up to 10 to 15 different types of apples. It will have cross-pollinated with any apple or crabapple trees within a 5-mile radius! 

That cross-pollination doesn’t change the fruit that grows on the parent tree, but it does change the genetics contained within the seeds of the fruit, which will change the fruit that grows on subsequent generations of trees. Cross-pollination gives those seeds such a robust and wide genetic pool that you have no idea what type of apples they will produce, but they will definitely not be genetically identical to the parent tree’s apples.

So, how are there millions of apple trees of a single variety, like McIntosh apples, in existence today? All of those trees were grown from cuttings of scionwood from a McIntosh apple tree. This means all of those McIntosh trees can be traced back to one original McIntosh apple tree!

The Best Time to Collect Scions

The best time to cut and collect scionwood is when the trees are in a dormant state. Dormancy is the time when the trees are storing their energy down in the root system. You can tell a fruit tree is in a state of dormancy when the leaves have fallen, and no buds are swelling. 

Here in Michigan, that means the best time to collect scionwood is from late January to mid-March. Choose a time to collect scions when the temperatures have been consistently below freezing. I prefer to err on the early side of that range because, if you wait until bud swell, you’ve missed the window of opportunity. 

Cutting Scionwood for Fruit Tree Grafting

When taking cuttings of scionwood, you are looking to capture last year’s new growth. That can be done two different ways: by cutting the new growth off of the end of a branch or by cutting off a water sprout. (Water sprouts are fast-growing vertical shoots that grow off a branch. If you know how to prune a fruit tree, you probably already know how to identify water sprouts to prune them off each year.)

Here is what to look for when choosing your scions. A good scion will have all of the following characteristics:

• New Growth - New growth at the end of a branch will make good, vigorous scionwood. Find a section of last year's growth at least 3 to 4 inches long if you can. OR Find a water sprout at least 3 to 4 inches long. A water sprout will not grow as vigorously due to the auxins (hormone that inhibits growth) it contains, but water sprouts are usually nice and long.

• Small Diameter - Choose scionwood that is about the same diameter as a pencil.

• Disease Free- Look for clean, disease-free wood to cut from.

• Fresh - You can tell how fresh a cutting is by the color of the wood. Look for a red hue and wood that is not dried out but has plenty of moisture in it.

• Well Budded - Select scions that have at least 4 dormant buds.

Once you have selected scionwood that meets all the criteria, prune it off the parent tree with clean, sharp bypass pruners. Then, store your scions until you are ready to graft.

The Correct Way to Store Scions

If stored correctly, cut scionwood can last 3 to 5 months in the refrigerator! Follow these instructions to properly store your scions for grafting fruit trees in the spring:

1. Trim - Use clean, sharp pruners or a grafting multi-tool to trim off the end of the scions so that they will fit inside a gallon resealable plastic bag (leaving a scion that is at least 3 to 4 inches long). Ensure that you leave 2 or 3 dormant buds on the remaining scionwood.

2. Bag - Place the scions in a resealable plastic bag, squeeze out the air, and then seal the bag. This will minimize moisture loss.

3. Label - Remember to label the bag with the variety and date.

4. Refrigerate - Place the bag of scions in the fridge. They need to be stored below 45°F but above 32°F. (Don’t freeze them or they will die!)

DO NOT add water to the bag when you store scions or you will have mold and other problems! You will hear people recommend storing scions with water, but don’t do it. Pro-Tip: If you feel like the scionwood is dried out when you take it out for grafting, that is the time to trim off the bottom end and place it in a cup of water for a short time before grafting. 

How to Find Rare Fruit Trees for Grafting

Hunting for wild trees is a great way to discover new, hidden varieties that are not cultivated anywhere in the world because these trees have grown from seed. By collecting scionwood from wild apple trees, I can propagate rare one-of-a-kind apples!

Watch the video above to learn how to find unique trees to collect scionwood from (without trespassing). Who knows, maybe you will discover the next new, delicious variety of apples!