A lot of talk recently about grafting and the next 2 months will be the preferred time for most people to begin harvesting scion wood. Last year I sealed the end of many of my scions in melted parafin wax and many have used toilet ring wax since it doesn’t have to be melted.
I can’t take credit for the idea but I was talking to a fellow today that is a long time grafter and he told me that he keeps a small tube of chap stick or lip balm with him when harvesting small amounts of scion wood. After cutting the wood he coats the cut ends with a little chap stick to help prevent dehydration. Seemed like a clever idea to me.
I think I need to start a small book for myself and put in all the wonderful tips that I am sure I will forget when spring grafting starts. Chapstick, what an incredibly easy solution.
Attempt at ripening blueberries before hot weather and swd. I have been trying a few SHB that ripen early. Star seems to be one that is ripening well ahead of these issues but I need a little more time to evaluate these. Grafting over the top of a late ripening variety like Tifblue could be another way to jump start the process. It is still early but I think there is some hope for these varieties if you can grow these in your location.
I can see how that would be helpful, even here in NYS unusually hot spells really damage the quality of BBs. Lots of rain seems to do them no harm at all.
For rooting cuttings an easy humidity camber is two translucent plastic bins one on top of the other. They come in many sizes, are cheap at Walmart or a dollar store and good height is obtained by using one to cover the other. Make sure the bin has enough of a flange to support the top. If kept outdoors small clips or cloths pins can keep the top from blowing off. A small amount of water in the bottom provides the humidity.
About a year ago, I brought a bunch of fig cuttings (among other things) from the CRFG scion exchange and tried different ways to root them. In particular, I took four cuttings, covered the upper half of each one with parafilm, and just stuck them into a large pot on my patio. With regular watering, all four cuttings eventually rooted and grew quite well over the summer, they even made a couple of ripe figs (and a few more that didn’t ripen). Two days ago I decided to take these figs from the pot to plant them into the ground. Unfortunately, I discovered that the entire pot became a maze of a huge mass of completely entangled roots. It took me about an hour to separate the four figs, and I had to cut through all the roots. The lesson here is not to grow several plants in one pot if you plan to use them separately at a later time.
I whack those kinds of entangled figs apart on a regular basis during the dormant season. They can’t be pulled apart. I just cut them. They grow back fine.
Parafilm is not a magic bullet, but I think it really helps. It took a long time for these fig cuttings to root (without controlled humid environment, peat moss, etc.). I think they would have dried out if not for the parafilm insulation.
Last year I grafted 40-50 scions on my Pear/Apple Frankentree and used a sharpie to make temporary identifications. This can work well for a short period of time but I got busy and waited entirely to long to put permanent labels on. This ended up being a difficult job due to the ink fading and working around the foliage. My new guideline is to put on permanent labels as I graft or to only leave temporary labels on for no more than a week before replacing. I love grafting but taking a little more time installing permanent identification saves time in the long run.
I use the common plastic labels that are adjustable and a problem I’ve had with grafting labels is that prior to them leafing out. I stiff gust of wind can loosen them and blow them right off the scion. To combat that I take a piece of masking tape and wrap if around the limb once and stick it to itself forming a small branch of sorts. This will keep the label from sliding off. In hind site though, since these are temporary labels it might just be easier to use masking tape and write directly on it instead of using a label. Once I see a graft has taken and survive the summer I make an aluminum label out of step flashing.
This is pretty much what I did for quite a while, but I found myself delaying getting new, permanent labels in place. By the time I’d get around to trying to place them the ink on the masking tape would have faded (and so would my memory of what was where.) So I took to writing on my temporaries with a ball point, pushing hard enough to make an impression. Even when the ink fades the impression helps refresh your memory.
Recently I have been using a fat UV resistant marker and writing the variety on the north side of the tree. These are very fast to do and I am still able to read tags I did several years ago. I do eventually put on a real tag and log it, but at the start this is the easiest way. The only problem I had is on jujubes, the bark there is very flakey and those temporary tags only last a year or so.
Scott -
Where do you get those markers? A regular office supply store or some specialty store? I diligently labeled all my grafts last year, but they all faded horribly. I could make out most of them, but there were a few that were completely washed out.
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