I wasn't expecting that the bark wouldn't slip on my several hundred mostly swingle rootstocks!

I changed my soil mix this year to 50% perlite and 50% garden soil which drains better and is much lighter than the mix I used to use, 50% masonry sand and 50% garden soil. So I think I haven't been watering enough. I've been buying big bags of perlite, a couple cubic yards for $20 at a local nursery.

So this week I did a light fertilization and have been watering daily hoping to get the bark slipping. I will report back!

I did a few t-buds last night. The bark on two FDs I had was barely slipping! Trifoliate seedlings were much better and bark on Swingle was slipping very well. My potting mix is pine bark (around 60 percent) and what appears as topsoil-compost mix. Seedlings were well watered... I never had this problem with FD before.