I agree that eventually they should dry out. Judging by my experience they do not dry out during 4-5 weeks after grafting and this is usually how much it gets them to have takes. Our weather is actually dryer with less snow and rain then the weather on the east coast and they do fine. This year a couple of my peach scions that did not take had pink mold under parafilm which means that they were not dry.
Bob,
0/100!!! If i were you, I’d been screaming with that result.
As I said, during the only a couple of 60F stretches we had in April, I was either being away or being busy with family functions.
Who would think that it’s get colder for a very long stretch in May? So far, we have had low in 30/40 and high in 50. To me, not an ideal temp for peach grafting. I took a chance and grafted a few apricots. We’ll see how that will work out…
I think my chance of grafting peaches/nects successfully is getting slimmer as this cold temp drags on and the trees are now spending their energy on producing fruit.
To clarify, I meant dry out or other failure. Sometimes the wood dies at the junction, it browns there even though the rest of the scion is good. Based on my experience few scions will last more than a week or two in continuously too-cold weather before they start getting unviable at the union.
@mamuang, as long as the weather doesn’t heat up too much you should still have viable stocks. I grafted on top of a peach last week with dime-sized fruits on it and the scion is taking off now. The heat is the main enemy of later grafts.
I have always done all my grafting in late Jan or Feb when the rootstock is a month to a month and half from budding out. I have always felt at this time the cambium is active but there is little moisture demand on the scion. This gives a lot of time for a union to form. My success is nearly 100%. I did about 4 tongue and whip grafts on pecans in late winter this year with 0% take. Yesterday I examined the failed unions. Zero callouses, that no doubt was too early combined with tounge and whip being not the correct technique.
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Thanks, Scott. Counting the day to Tues. From next Tues on, it’ll be high 60 and 70 for the next 5 days, Yay!!!
All my scions are wrapped in parafilm in a gallon zip lock bag in the fridge. I think wrapping scions all these months gives me comfort that moisture has been sealed all this time. I’d rather do it this way than wrapping them at the last minute before grafting.
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I’ve mentioned it before, but hesitated to bring it up again, as I didn’t want to whine about it 
I checked and the exact count was 0 in 109. It hurts a bit, but I suppose that is how you learn.
It hurt enough that I would encourage you to go out and put a few grafts on tomorrow. That gives them a few days before the heat hits and 3 of the next 4 days are close to 60F (57, 51, 61, 61). I’m not sure if your forecast is the same as mine, but it is probably close given our proximity. Tuesday is OK at 72 (though very sunny, so black electric tape could get pretty hot). Wednesday and Thursday get up to 77 and 83, which is getting close to the territory I was at with my failures last year.
It definitely saves time when you go out to graft. I’ve taken to prepping the night before (including labels, etc), as I have limited daylight hours for the actual grafting. I need to look at what I have left. I’m hoping to finish up everything but persimmons.
Oh no- I let you persuade me against my own previous notion. Oh well, maybe now we will clearly know that it has most to do with stage of development instead of temps- as long as it is in the '60’s
Hope grafts I put on next week take. Planning to put up about 100.
I had great beginner luck with my peach grafts. More than 90% took! 2 in particular doing so well that they have about 2 feet of growth. I grafted almost a month ago. Should I prune these in a way that they grow where I want them to go? Or do I need to keep my hands off and let the graft do its thing this year and then prune next year?
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It’s usually good to prune anytime for purposes of shaping the tree. You also need to be concerned about the grafts blowing out. That really hurts. Pruning to shorten the growth helps. Tying on a support helps even more…
Congrads on your grafting success…!!
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I think our weather is similar. Next Mon will be 60, Tues 70 and Wed 80. Not sure why a rush. Can’t it just go to up slowly and stay in the 70 for a week or two.
I usually alternate between Temflex and green garden tape. I may just use green garden tape to secure my grafts if it will be so hot so soon.
Thanks. Adding that to “to do list” this weekend .
Alan, I did try peaches in the 60’s in the past and got bad results. Unfortunately I didn’t log the details and it was a long time ago, but its a reason why I switched to 70’s. I also heard 70’s from a longstanding NAFEX member I don’t remember who it was now. It may have been 60’s and not sunny when I failed. 60’s with sun can warm up the unions to the perfect temperature. Thats probably my best guess now, either do 60s and sunny, 70s with either sunny or not, or 80’s and cloudy (or covered completely with aluminum foil).
Hey @Susu do you remember the high temps for the week or so after you did your peach grafts, and how sunny it was?
Temps were in mid 70’s when I did my grafting. Since this is my first year grafting I pretty much followed your timing. I had such great success with it I think I’ll stick to 70’s in the future too.
Great luck with apples too. All but one chip bud leafed out. I haven’t given up on chip bud. I’m guessing they take longer to show signs of take than other types?
Susu,
Congrats. It is not just beginner’s luck. I think you have spent a lot of time reading, asking questions and learning how to graft. I am very happy for you.
@BobVance, i did not graft this evening. Got busy with other yard chores. I checked 10 weather forecast again. I will graft on Mon when it will ge in the 50’s. Temp will go up to 70 and 80 successively. I will find out if my peach grafts will work. So far, the scions are a bit long in the tooth and the trees are further along than I like. We’ll see. I think of it as an experiment.
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Maybe keep some aside to graft on Friday? You’ve got 80 and 87 on Wed/Thursday, which would be pretty quick after Monday. From Friday on, for 8 days, it stays in the 69-76 range, which sounds perfect.
I did some apricot grafts this morning (on K1 and plum), but after those, I’m done until next Friday, at which point I’ll take stock of what needs re-grafting and do the persimmons.
Do you mean, in addition to grafting this coming Mon, I’d ser aside a few peach scions to graft on next Fri? Will do.
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I’m going to wait until the end of the highest heat of that spell- we can compare notes in a month. I might do some J.plum grafting during the heat. I’ll be free of spraying by next Weds. and have some time to graft.
One reason I didn’t do any stonefruit but E. plums earlier, is there was always something even more important to do as I got a late rush on tree sales. But now I’m addicted to offering peach and nect trees with more than one variety and a whole month of harvest potential. I’m such an idiot that I don’t even charge more for the trees after going to all the extra trouble of gathering and storing scion wood, agonizing about when to graft and then finally doing it. I don’t even enjoy the labor of grafting, only the results. I’m a pretty good grower, but terrible businessman.
Yes watch out for that 87. If you have peach grafts healing in those temps I would put a big piece of aluminum foil over the whole thing, with 6-8 inches of coverage beyond the union. Shiny side out!
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Thanks for the tips. I will play it by ears re. If I should graft some on Mon when temp will fluctuate wildly atfer that or wait until Thurs when temp will be in the 70’s.
I don’t think I inherently enjoy grafting (always worried I’ll end up with less blood than when I started…), but it does feel like magic when a graft starts to grow. It’s a powerful feeling to be able to (relatively) quickly re-arrange what is growing in a spot.
I’m not sure how they do in the heat, but they seem to do fine relatively early. I appear to be 13/13 for the J plums grafted in April. And 11/12 on Euro plums, which includes 3 onto an unknown red-leafed tree (rental). Maybe a sand cherry.
That may or may not be a bad decision. Two true statements which support opposite outcomes: 1- most nurseries charge almost double for multi-grafts. 2- most nurseries charge $15-20 more for multi-grafts.
I’m thinking that #2 might be the more important. If you are charging a (very) premium amount for the trees, then $15-20 starts to become within rounding error, or at least less significant. It becomes more important to ensure a good experience, than getting a bit more for each trees. .
Last year, when I put on foil, I’m pretty sure I didn’t go 6-8" past the union. Maybe 1-2". It’s possible that not wanting to waste a bit of foil did in some of my grafts…
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