Get the red one.Thicker parts, steel/iron anvil per my trusty magnet. It is also noticeably heavier. It says PAT (patented) on the enclosing sleeve. Not much value for that patent!
I got mine from Amazon but I think some merchants on Ali express also sell the exact same one.
Got the cheaper Zenport for Christmasā¦havenāt tried it yet.
Question about grafting figs:
What is the best stage of growth , time ,to graft figs ?
Iam good at grafting , buding fruit trees,( Apple pear pawpaw etc. )
But have little experience grafting fig.
I chip budded stawberry verte on to HC. Several weeks ago , these are inside,
Now iam seeing growth on the top ,they where dormant looking when grafted,
Thinking its time to cut back to chip buds, ?
I have various varietys , and lots of potential rootstock , kept at different temperatures,so I guess my question is : do I graft these at ,or just befor an active period of growth, just as I would with other ātreesā ?
What temp. Is best for Healing, 70-80 deg.?
What about the latex ? Does this interfere with the union ?
I once spent sometime with a man that was grafting tropical trees that had a lot of latex in them. He would ring them with a knife a week ahead of grafting, to bleed the latex out . Is this something you do with fig ?
What about putting a wire tie at the union to slowly kill the nurse root ?
Thatās a lot of ???s maybe best in another thread. But here it is
Hillbillyhort
I grafted some varieties I didnāt have much of onto ones that I had lots of. One node of the rare onto 2-3 nodes of the less rare. My plan is that the graft should heal while the bottom roots. I keep these at about 77F. The top, above ground, is wrapped in parafilm.
Other than that Iāve T budded in summer and cleft grafted in fall so far with high takes. The T buds sometimes are slow to push after cutting off the stock above the bud. I allow 2 weeks of summer warmth before cutting back the stock.
Havenāt been bothered by the latex so far. They bleed when budded but still take with no precautions.
You can do this with anything. Youāll never know those holes existed shortly after as they heal off.
For large caliper stock (1" or 2" or 3") you should drill a couple inches off of the ground, followed by a few holes below the graft as shown in that picture. The same time frame applies whether being at the time of grafting or the day prior, or, a week prior. But you do this on rootstock that is active. Whether just coming out of dormancy with buds splitting/swelling or, after leaves have developed. You got that whole window. Do it later in the year when you chip bud, too.
Especially at times you know thereās going to be more bleeding than others. And Iām just guessing it will help with figs at any stage because of that latex.
Dax
I grafted 4 fig trees yesterday. A couple of them were male on top and a couple were female top (saddle cut). I felt the saddle cut was a bit more stable.
I made a few cuts on the rootstock with a knife to cut the sap flow.
I have another 8 rootstocks in gallon containers that are being warmed up in a grow room at 75F in anticipation of receiving some expensive fig scionwood.
@fruitnut, your approach is interesting. I had considered it earlier but instead went with well rooted rootstock because I didnāt want to risk these expensive cuttings.
Have you had it work before?
No itās my first try. So far Iād say I probably wonāt be doing much of that. Grafting onto an established plant is probably a better idea. I just wanted to see if it would work.
Many many thanks to Dax and all wonderful contributors! For a newbie like me, who has never tried grafting before and has unreasonable fear of handling a knife, this is too much fun! Now, with our favorable weather, I proudly present you a photo of my first graft, Autumn Royal on Cot-N-Candy. It was grafted on 1/26, using a grafting tool purchased from eBay. 69798E60-C047-424A-ABB8-31EFB64FA294|690x920
Iāve been experimenting with growing apples from seed in root pruning containers and grafting known varieties to them rather than using clonal rootstock. I just grafted a bunch of containerized one year old seedlings indoors under lights. I used a variety of grafting techniques including the tool. It is still early and buds are just starting to turn green and a few have small shoots. Iāve grafted enough to know not to claim success this early, but so far, the tool is beating my hand grafts hands down for the number of grafts showing āpromiseā.
I use my omega graft tool for the same purpose. It is interesting to see the genetic variability of seedling rootstocks first hand. In any given flat of seeds that you grow out you can see the potential dwarfs, and standard sized trees, variations in leaf shape, color and growth rates. That being said some will not grow large enough in your first season for using with your tool. I compare the experience to growing out m111 suckers. The uniformity is amazing. All grew the same speed and had attained the same height by the fall.
Iām thrilled @GreenGuava. It is fun!
Weāll have to get @growjimgrow in on this secret. Heās a chiropractor and a knife is potentially dangerous to his families livelihood.
Dax
So how wide does the scionwood have to be on one of these things to work?
I did figs today that ranged from about 5/8 inch to less than a quarter. On all sizes but esp the thin stuff you need to be very careful to line up the cutting. The blades need to be centered on the stem esp the tip portion. I get the back lined up so the cutting is centered, ie the blades both contact the stem at the same time. Then line up the tip of the blades so as to cut thru the center of the stem. If you donāt the cut can get lopsided in a hurry.
I agree. I had a big variety in development with the seedlings I planted. It will be interesting to see if that continues after grafting them.
I did some less than 1/4 but I found that the narrower the rootstock and scion, the more precision is required in centering the wood in the tool. It is easy to be off a little and get the V well off center with very thin wood.
I wish I read this thread earlier. I just received my $8 replacement blade for my omega zenport grafting tool. I have done hundreds of grafts with that tool but now I just purchased the $22 grafting tool and the $5 replacement blades. I guess I have a backup now. I should be set for the rest of my life, lol.
Youāll like it much better than the omega.
Dax
I wanted to make one of these as you could see in the other thread. I am glad they made it for me. Thatās cool that you know the older guy in the video I posted with the homemade one. https://youtu.be/-lfdeyf4qMg There was a video I was looking for that I saw on youtube several years back where an older guy was using a homemade grafting tool that was long. About the size of the paper slicers they had back in school. It did a v cut too I believe. It might even be the same guy your buddy? Did he have a tool like that? Thatās what I was thinking of making. These little tools are more handy, but the one he made you can do larger stocks with. I was going to try and save my six girdled trees that I planted the last couple of years. They have stocks up to 1 1/2" in dia. I was thinking it would work better than bridge grafting them. I did save scionwood so I could still graft to the trunks below the girdles. Some are chewed to far down to the roots though. Iāll have rootstocks shooting up. I can make more trees with those next year.
