How to Propagate Fruit Trees, According to Experts

Pots of potted mandarin plants with fruit on a table — Credit:
Getty / Candy Yam

Propagating fruit trees lets you grow more delicious fruit at home, but each method needs the right timing and care.
Different trees and techniques—like cuttings, grafting, budding, and air layering—work best at specific seasons and require careful, clean cuts.
Grafting is the most common method because it joins strong rootstock with proven fruit genetics, helping new trees grow healthy and productive.

What's better than homegrown fruit? Whether it's apples, peaches, or pears, the possibilities are endless—and the local flavor and freshness can't be overstated. The best way to get even more of these delicious harvests, of course, is to propagate your fruit trees.

However, while propagation can be a great long-term goal, the process can be complicated. The first step? Get a strong understanding of what propagating fruit trees entails—after, you can decide if you're ready to roll up your sleeves and give it a go.

Here, we explain the basic principles and guidelines of propagating fruit trees to help you get started. Make sure to supplement this information with additional guidance based on the method you choose!

Tonia Lordy, executive director and lead educator at the Home Orchard Education Center
Jeff Jabco, interim executive director of Scott Arboretum & Gardens

When to Propagate

Fruit trees are generally propagated using one of the following methods: cuttings, grafting, or air layering. Deciding when to propagate a fruit tree will depend on what process you're using and what species you're trying to reproduce.

"Grafting is either done in late winter or early spring through summer, but different techniques are used at different times of the year," says Tonia Lordy, executive director of the Home Orchard Education Center. "Late winter grafting is called bench grafting, and spring and summer grafting is called budding."

Likewise, the timing for cuttings can vary by species. "Mulberry cuttings are usually taken in early spring; this is referred to as a green wood cutting," says Lordy. "Fig cuttings are harvested when the plants are dormant; this is called a hardwood cutting." She notes that air layering of figs can be accomplished from early spring through early summer.

How to Propagate From Cuttings

Some fruit trees thrive when propagated from cuttings, while others don't do well with this method. Figs are among the best trees to propagate from cuttings, with pomegranates and elderberries not far behind. Here are the basic steps for propagating from cuttings.

Choose a Branch

It should be healthy and free of damage, and somewhere between the diameter of a pencil and your finger.

Make Your Cuts

Cut the bottom of the branch at a 45-degree angle for maximum surface area. Then, cut the top of the branch flat, just above some leaf buds. The total length should be about 16 inches. You can refrigerate the cuttings for a time if immediate potting isn't an option.

Add a Rooting Hormone

These are available from many garden retailers, or some DIY solutions can work. Be sure to paint the hormone onto the rooting end of the cutting (the end you cut at a 45-degree angle).

Pot It

You might consider using straight perlite as a rooting medium to begin with, as this can help keep root rot to a minimum. Later, once some actual roots are growing from the cutting, you can transplant it into regular potting soil.

How to Propagate by Grafting

Grafting is the most common method of fruit tree propagation, and results in a tree with the desirable fruit genetics and hardy rootstock. Ahead are some basic steps for bench grafting.

Obtain Rootstock

You'll want to choose rootstock from the same species (apple rootstock to grow an apple tree, for example) but of a variety that will create a strong, eventual root system. Rootstock can be found at garden retailers.

"Spend some time researching the best rootstock for your desired fruit, paying attention to soil drainage requirements, and also the height and stature of the tree that will result from the rootstock," says Jeff Jabco, interim executive director of the Scott Arboretum and Gardens.

Select a Stem

From your donor tree, take a stem cutting—also called a scion. This is the portion that will grow into the main tree, with the desirable DNA traits you're looking to reproduce (as opposed to the root-hardy genetics in the rootstock). This stem cutting should be cut at a 45-degree angle.

Make the Graft

Now you can join together the rootstock and the scion. However, this is easier said than done—relying on an expert for help can be extremely beneficial at this stage.

"Grafting is a technique that requires practice to make the precise cuts required on the rootstock and on the scion," says Jabco. "Use some extra stem pieces to practice the technique required to get cut surfaces that will match and touch."

The goal is to have the cambium layers of the scion and the rootstock line up and join into one unit. "Be sure to wrap the graft union with grafting tape so that it doesn't dry out," says Jacbo. "Dried-out cut surfaces on the rootstock and scion will not form the graft union that this propagation method requires."

Be Gentle and Plant

"If these are fresh grafts that you made yourself, then be careful when handling or working near the grafted trees," says Jabco. "Fresh grafts are brittle and can easily be broken apart, even after a few years following grafting. Trees should be planted in a well-prepared location that has good drainage. As with any young plant, be sure to water it well during dry spells."

How to Propagate by Budding

Budding is very similar to bench grafting and is quite popular in nursery orchards. In this case, a single active leaf bud is removed with a special cut from the donor tree whose genetics you want to propagate.

This is done in the summer months when the trees are actively growing and the bark will peel easily from the trunks. Another cut is made in the bark of the tree on which you're going to graft, and the leaf bud is slipped underneath the bark, then sealed with tight string or rubber bands until the bond grows tight (adding wax can be a good idea too). In essence, a new tree is thus grown from a single bud.

How to Propagate by Air Layering

You can propagate some fruit trees by air layering. In the natural world, sometimes a low-hanging branch will actually touch the ground and take root, whereupon it can even be cut from the main tree, forming a genetic double.

You can attempt to put the same natural tendencies to work for yourself, but it's not always easy. "Air layering might work in some instances, but it can be a slow process," says Jabco. "In addition, you would lose the benefit of selecting a suitable rootstock if you propagated with air layering rather than grafting. Being able to select the best rootstock for your desired fruit for your specific soil and moisture conditions is the main reason for using grafted fruit trees."

Select a Branch

You're looking for healthy, supple branches. They can be a few feet long, and an inch or more wide.

Expose the Cambium

With the branch still attached to the tree, use a grafting knife to remove a small amount of bark from a section about 1 inch long—a ring completely around the diameter of the branch.

Wrap

Enclose the wound with moist sphagnum moss. Some people add a rooting hormone at this stage. Then, wrap plastic wrap around the moss, with the intention of keeping the moisture locked in.

Keep an Eye On It

It could take several weeks or months for the roots to begin forming. You can routinely check under the plastic to see how this is progressing.

Remove and Plant

When the roots are mature enough, you can cut the branch free from the parent tree and plant into the soil. You now have a genetic twin of the original tree, though without the advantage of dedicated rootstock. Fig trees, however, are particularly well-suited to air layering.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why not just use seeds?

Let's use apples as an example. If you want excellent, tried-and-true apple varieties, then planting from seeds isn't really an option.

"Most fruit is grafted because the seeds are not true to type, meaning that the seeds do not produce a tree with the same characteristics as their parents," says Lordy. "A seed from a Granny Smith apple will produce an apple tree, but the fruit will be wildly different and undesirable 99 percent of the time."

She notes that some plums and peaches can produce offspring that are relatively true to type—but not an exact clone or duplicate.
What's a common pitfall of propagating fruit trees?

"Some of the mistakes we see beginning propagators make is not sanitizing or sharpening their tools, failing to label their new plants, letting cut portions of the plant dry out, or touching the cut portions with dirty hands," says Lordy.
Is my tree patented?

Be sure to research the legalities of propagating your particular fruit tree variety. Plant breeders spend many years developing excellent fruit tree cultivars, and these are sometimes protected by patents, meaning asexual reproduction could be an infringement. This may not be an issue with older or heirloom cultivars.
What about suckers?

When working with young grafted trees, watch for suckers. "Be sure to keep suckers that arise from the rootstock pruned out," says Jabco.

How to Propagate Fruit Trees for an Endless Supply of Apples, Lemons, and More