Scott,
Re. your 2nd round peach grafting, how cool the weather was right after you grafted and for how many days?
Your experience will help me and others avoid such a weather condition in our future peach grafting. Thanks.
If you want the full details see my weather station at
I grafted on the 8th of May, this is the following weather. The TL;DR is 5 days with hardly anything above 60F or so. It was 67F on the day I grafted but that was not enough. I donāt know if I could have done much about this as the forecast did a big shift right when I was grafting.
Hey John,
I have found that when wrapping grafts around the trunk or larger diameter branches, the expansion rate is much greater than that of a smaller section, say 1/2" branch. It may not be the tape but the size of the section grafted to and the growth rate thereof. If it didnāt split, it may have girdled the scion. I had some scions look like they were doing very well then started to look kinda puny. This was the case on all the grafts on the larger branches.
Just sayinā
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I think itās just a lesser tape than the one people use here. I even have buds bursting out of the tape and smaller limbs are doing it also. Just going to have to keep an eye open I guess.
Haha. Not to be cynical, but it all comes from China with dif labels attached.
Here is my peach graft, looks like some green starting to show. A little rain tomorrow and then some nice 80 degree weather that should be perfect for calluses to form.
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Itās a good thing you didnāt splice any electrical splices! I would call that and ask why it falls apart.
Thanks, Scott. I wonder if there are people here who graft peaches successfully when temp is in the 60ās and lower.
When I grafted on 5/10, it was 73-74 F for at least 3 days and went down to high 60ās for several more days.
Last week when I grafted on 5/25-26, it was in the mid 80ās almost every day. I was surprised to see buds push within only 4-5 days after grafting in the 80ās. Not sure if those are real graft taking or not, though.
Iām wondering if thereās anything one can do to try to salvage a graft when itās clearly not taking yet the scion isnāt actually [yet] dead
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ltilton,
Do you have a picture? I have a few tricks. If the scion has not taken and the grafting sealant is melting away by the heat reapply the sealant every few days. This time of year my wax and asphault sealant are melting which is why I stop grafting. If itās hanging by a thread glue it in place until it joins. If itās lacking moisture wrap the scion and part of the rootstock in parafilm. If itās to hot wrap the scion in tinfoil. Those are places I would start if I understand the problem correctly. If the graft is not taking at all it may just not be compatible or the scion may not have proper contact with the rootstock. Some areas of the rootstock if there are multiple branches have better sap flow than others. Itās a long list but thatās most of what I know. Donāt forget parafilm degrades in heat and sunlight quickly also which is why I donāt use it as my only method to attach scions.
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Iāve actually re-grafted a jujube last year. Timeline:
5/25- original graft
6/22- examined closely and the graft wasnāt doing anything and was just ugly (poor contact). I took the scion out, cut an inch or so off the branch and re-grafted.
8/1- Finally leafed out
It really surprised me that it worked. But, given the condition of the graft, I figured that I didnāt have much to lose and it was a variety that I didnāt have any more wood for. Of course, there isnāt a happy ending to this one- it looks like the scion died over the winter. Maybe it didnāt have enough time to properly establish. Most of the other grafts on that tree look fine.
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Yes, the sealant is eroding, as is the parafilm, yet itās not particularly hot
Iāll try rewrapping - canāt hurt
Thanks
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Well said!
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How long ago was the graft done? How do you know that the graft has not taken? Iām never sure until there is a few months growth. I have a pear scion that was grafted 6 weeks ago and has just now showing a tiny bit of green so one option is to just wait unless you some how know for sure that the graft is not going to take.
If you still have a scion you could try a t bud graft below the current scion graft.
The bud scales of the scions were starting to open and I saw a hint of green - then it stopped
Something like resealing and covering can be done whether youāre sure or not
I want to get ahold of some summer budwood
I went out to check on the multi-grafted plum tree with about 18 grafts of Pluots, Asian, and Euro plum varieties. The grafts grew like gang buster. My next job is to prune and keep them all balance as they get bigger.
Tony
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I placed some peach grafts today-- my first attempt at peach grafting ever.
Here is @scottfsmithās John Rivers white nectarine on Gold Dust/ Lovell:
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