Fruit Tree grafting

Need some help in this. I have an apricot tree that I want to graft and someone who knows how to do. They have said to get Golden Queen root stock but where is the best place to buy this? Do I just get a golden queen tree or is there specific "root stock" trees that I can purchase somewhere?

Hi - GQ peach tree's are a good root stock, you could buy one, or if you know someone who has one, any fallen peaches left on the ground often start growing, so you could use one of those when large enough.

You could also guide a young tree to grow into 2 or 4 branches, leave 1 or 2 as GQ, graft the other 1 or 2 as the apricot, so you have two fruit types growing on the one tree.

Grafting can be done as soon as possible, within a week, as it's getting too late after that, however the wood/scion that's to be grafted onto the root stock needed to have been put into a fridge when the tree was dormant, before growth began in Spring. Ask at garden centres, on facebook, here in the garden threads, etc, etc. if anyone has scion's left over.

Also, try cuttings from the apricot tree, pushed into garden soil and/or potting mix and kept slightly moist. The tree will probably be bigger than if on the GQ rootstock, you can guide the growth so that every 30cm or so

Thanks so much for all that info mybooks. Do you by any chance know if you can graft a standard size apricot onto dwarf root stock? Would the outcome be a dwarf apricot tree? If so, what root stock would you suggest?

I know I have probably left it too late, I completely forgot that I was going to do it this year lol. I will give it a go and keep everything crossed that it works.

Hi, came back to your thread to post this - Waimea Nurseries have added a post on their facebook page about apple root-stocks - they may be a place to contact for the peach root stock. I don't know if they sell to someone that isn't a garden centre, however you may be able to order one through a garden centre.
https://www.facebook.com/waimeanurseries/?fref=nf I have this one from their nursery growing as a dwarf tree - http://www.waimeanurseries.co.nz/our-products/fruit-trees/dwarf-fruit-trees/apricot-aprigold/
. it hasn't fruited yet, will next season.

A standard size apricot grafted onto dwarf root stock will be a smaller tree - my understanding is that the reason trees are grafted onto dwarf rootstock, is so the mature size of the tree is smaller. Another reason might be disease resistance.

I'd go with Golden Queen, however don't know what else would be suitable. I have a GQ growing here, about mature size now, large crops the last 2 seasons, it's about 3.5m high (approx. 1.5m higher than the 2m fence near it), about the same 3.5m wide, though I've been pruning and training it to spread wider rather than higher, with careful summer pruning. I gave away a lot of young seedlings in Autumn, if the seedlings there now were big enough to graft, I'd send you one - they're a bit small still.

Give it a go - there are tutorials on youtube, etc. and another technique is called 'budding' that you could use also.

Let us know here how you get on. :-) good luck.

Thanks so much for your help mybooks, really appreciate it!