Grafting new shoots onto matured blueberry branches to solve orlah issue
Question
I have a blueberry bush that sends up new shoots which need their own 3 years. From my understanding they only give out good fruit on younger wood. Would it be allowed to keep old canes and graft new shoots that come out of the ground onto those old shoots and therefore from a halachic perspective it is old enough, but from a botanical perspective it is still young.
Answer
Rabbi Moshe Bloom
This sounds like a sound halachic solution. If you make sure to graft the younger shoots onto the rootstock t least 1 tefach above the ground (8 cm – Rav Chaim Na'eh; 10 cm – Chazon Ish), the orlah count does not reset.
I'd have to discuss with our agronomist if this actually is helpful.