Basic Tips For New Grafters #2: Different Grafts (Discussion Needed)

Just what’s going on there, Bill? I’ve never seen that done before.

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@clarkinks , @danchappell I just use this graft when I think they might be difficult to bond. A couple of years ago I grafted a few long scions 2-3’ and attached them on both ends and later removed one side after they had bonded. Most work well. In the second picture I clipped the top to push the scion to grow. If all goes well in about two weeks I will clip the top attachment and set the York scion free. York and Jefferson are bigger nuts but they need pollen from another variety. I thought this graft would be at least interesting.

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Very cool. I’ve never grafted nuts and the idea kind of intimidates me. You’re doing good work there.

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Nuts are the Mount Everest of grafting, if you ask me.

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@clarkinks , @danchappell @SeedyThis is an underwhelming picture of the York graft from above. The top and side of the host has been removed. It is starting to grow and the other two Jefferson grafts are also growing but at a slower rate.

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@clarkinks , @danchappell, @Seedy Filbert grafts starting to grow faster.
York
York
Jefferson
Jefferson

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Here is a tip for improving your cleft grafts.

Over the years while performing clefts of large understock I noticed a potential area of improvement with my technique.

A problem frequently arises when splitting the stock from the end similar to how one splits a log for firewood. The sap wood begins to split while at the same time the bark immediately below the cleft splits due to the wedging force from above without the knife actually cutting the bark. This often results in a slightly ragged tear of the bark and a cleft that is not straight but undulates with the grain of the wood. No matter how good you are at cutting a nice straight scion, there will be less than ideal cambium contact when performing this type of cleft. This becomes even more apparent if you are trying to cleft an area that contains knots in the wood.

My solution has been to hold a knife vertically and hammer it sideways about 1/4" into the stock once on each side and then split the stock after those 2 cuts have been made. This results in a perfectly straight cleft at the cambium interface.

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Excellent thought, Dan. I was worried about exactly that problem this year as I noticed the problem on my apple grafts. It never dawned on me how to solve it until I read your suggestion. I’ll make that little cut in the future. Thanks!

Followup filbert graft. @clarkinks , @danchappell , @Seedy


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I found this chart for optimal callousing temperatures, the idea being you want to assure you have temperatures for at least 2-3 weeks as near optimism as possible to support graft callousing before vigorous growth of rootstock begins. For example, you can chip bud or do other grafts that do not need to wait on bark slipping, to graft before bud break by about 2-3 weeks if the temperatures will support callousing of the graft union. This helps me determine whether to bench graft or graft outside for a particular cultivar.
Posted on May 21, 2013 by qwertyqweryt61

Many people ask me what are optimum callusing temperatures to ensure a good percentage of viable grafts.

Nectarines/Peaches – 18-26 deg C. ( 64.4 to 78.8F)

Apricots/Cherries – 20 deg C. ( 68F)

Plums – 16 deg C. ( 60.8 F)

Apples/Pears – 13-18 deg C. ( 55.4 to 64.4F)

Walnuts – 27 deg C. (80.6 F)

Grapes – 21-24 deg C. ( 69.8 to 75.2 F).

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How to chip bud when your buds are very small in comparison to your receiving rootstock? Often grafters are faced with the difficulty of carving out a seat of a branch that is larger in diameter to the budstick.
The picture below shows how the receiving rootstock branch is larger than that of the budstick. You can see how it seems impossible to carve out a seat that fits the smaller diameter bud.


A good way to solve this issue when you cannot match the size is to use a diagonal slice to carve the seat on the rootstock taking care to limit the amount of bark width removed, but still gaining a large amount of cambium contact on all sides around the bud perimeter.

Now you use a similar diagonal slice cut to remove your chip bud
![CE8D73C4-411E-4551-9720-3121CB914807|690x517]
(upload://gEsxQmpn9mkXI47EAXRXLQK5CWS.jpeg)
Now when you seat the chip into the seat prepared the width of the bud more closely matches the width of the bud seat and give you a better match of cambium around the bud perimeter!

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Curious
How long to see bud swell on bark grafted persimmon?

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Depends. In my somewhat limited experience, I’ve seen buds of the same variety take anywhere from a couple days to over 2 months to start growing. All held at the same temp. The ones that start quickly usually pause for quite awhile after the initial budswell.

Thanks Jay.
2 months wow
I may have started to early with the bark grafts…but tree did start leafing, and bark did slip.
So its been a week with nothing yet.
Day temp around 55
Night 40

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Oof, that’s pretty cold for persimmons. If the bark was slipping, I expect you’ll get some takes, but it does work much better with highs in the 70s or 80s. They’re basically tropical plants that figured out how to get by in cold winter regions. Again, if the tree was leafed out, I wouldn’t worry too much. It wants to grow, so it’s going to work hard to heal those wounds. The big thing is to keep on top of any buds trying to grow from the rootstock.

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Ok
Thanks again
I’ll let you know if or when I any takes

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That is an ingenious idea! Thanks for sharing, got cut a few times already.

I have successfully grafted several very small scions with only parafilm (no tape). A clothespin can be added for additional security while the graft is healing. The first picture is a wild hazel attached to a small Jefferson. The next two pictures is Contender peach grafted to a Nanking Cherry.

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The clothespins would also make it easier to locate the grafts. You could even write labels on them temporarily. Or paint them with bright colors with numbers or codes on them for later reuse. Thanks for that great idea.

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There many ways to graft. Different ways of splicing, different seasons, different wrapping, etc. Experimenting sometimes has surprising results. Last year, in late September, I graphed, using clef and splice, fresh 8 inches cuttings of Beach Plum, Aronia and peach on inground trees. It’s now the beginning of May and the Beach Plum and Aronia survived the winter and are growing. Nothing happening with the peace so they may have died,

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