Any time you are worried about temps too high wrap the graft union and scion with aluminum foil shiny side out. You probably are fine, I usually don’t worry until mid-80s. It also depends on whether its a topwork on a big (cold) stump or a wedge graft on a thin (warm) shoot, plus how much in the sun it is, etc.
It got up to 82F for a few hours in the last two days and I didn’t get out the alu foil. These are peach grafts done last weekend, it looks like some are takes already so I think I am OK.
where am at, it is almost mandatory, since our springs get hot quite quickly. Other benefit of using foil is protection from uv rays, since uv could have damaging effects on cambium/callus formation. Moreover, the shiny surface has a deterrent effect against birds perching on the grafts.
I should have read this thread earlier and been more carefull- I followed in your footsteps (handsteps?). I decided that I wanted to trim off a small branch and rather than walk back 30 feet for my pruners I decided to use the razor I was grafting with…Turns out that they do go through thick leather gloves when pushed hard enough. I don’t think it’s that bad, but it sure did bleed a lot for a (relatively) small wound.
Wow- you are in 6a and you are done just as I’m starting. I did my first of the season last weekend and have so far made 39 grafts. Probably another 150-200 to go, but I’ll be making them for the next month or more.
Cherry (all from you!)- 13
Sour Cherry (from ARS)- 9
Euro Pear- 9
Apple- 8
I did some cherry right at the start based on a post from @Antmary, then started in on my usual apples and pears.
I have a hard time sticking to one fruit at a time. I kept my wood “organized” based on who sent it to me, so if I want a specific variety, I need to consult with spreadsheets and sort through the fridge to find the right bag. So far, after the cherries, I’ve been semi-randomly grabbing bags and grafting the apples and pears.
Bob,
Two things I got from Antmary is to graft cherry early and to use very dormant scionwood. If your cherry graft failed, it could be because the scionwood I sent were not as dormant as they could have been. Let me know next winter, I send your earlier.
Tony,
It seems your weather is 2-3 weeks ahead of me. I am going to graft apples and plums next. I will do apricots and then, peaches with the temp in mind. Persimmon will be much later.
I do a massive sort and clean before I start grafting. I have a gentle brush I scrub off any mold, and sort into bags for apples, pears, etc. There is a greater chance of a mix-up when doing this but it makes my field job easier.
I am done all but jujube, grape, persimmon, and mulberry. Some of those I will start on this weekend, the jujubes at least. I have had problems being too early on grapes and persimmons so will be giving them plenty of time to get going before I approach them.
Mamuang and Bob,
what I learned from my very limited experience is that if someone have many things to graft, then he\she can start as early as the trees start to wakeup. I think that if the scions are not dormant enough it is better to graft them early, so they will be busy making graft unions instead of just sitting in refrigerator to be discarded later. Dormant scions are good to graft any time, but it is very hard to keep them in that dormancy in the regular refrigerator. We had several freezing nights with lows 24 and 26 F and some of 28, it did not seem that this temperature damaged the grafts. On the other hand I think that if we had 26 F for the whole entire day it might (or might not) be damaging. So far it looks like all my early grafts took as they started to actively grow. I’ll post pictures later. Bob Purvis scions grafted on the second week of April are pushing buds and also doing well.
I noticed an interesting thing about early grafting. Many scions were sitting in the same state (green buds or couple of leaves) for 2-3 week, so I began to worry about them. But after the warm weather came the mother trees started to grow very actively (plenty of new shoots), so did the scions. My guess they received their portion of hormones from the main trees.
Grafted some cherry and pear scion. Still waiting for my rootstock from Burnt Ridge. High temperatures have been in the mid 50s to low 70s and next week highs will be mostly 50s so I have time. I keep my scion at 33 to 34 degrees and it stays dormant for a long time. I’ve had pluot scion in the refrig for 10 months and most of it was still alive and just starting to push growth. I would not use it but it shows low temperatures keep scion for a long time. Also the low temperature keep mold from forming.
Yes Bob I had to take advantage of the warm weather. Some of my scionwood was starting to look bad. I had to scrap some and wanted to make sure the good wood I had left was not going to start budding out. I have an older basement fridge I use for beer that I was keeping the scions in the crisper. The fridge isn’t that old so I’m surprised to see some scions starting to swell. I checked the fridge temp with an internal thermometer and it read 33 degrees. I thought that was perfect for scion storage. Some of the scions were up to 3 months old so that may have had something to do with it. I do not store any fruit in this fridge at all.
Sorry to hear you got cut. I’m embarrassed to admit it but I cut myself a second time this past weekend. This time with a box cutter making a t-cut for a cleft graft. the cut was in an awkward location and had to contort my hands to reach it. Was not serious but I did drip some blood on my sionwood and had to make a field bandage out of paper towel and electrical tape. haha
Thanks for the reminder Scott. I’ve read about this trick many times but for some reason had forgotten all about it. It’s a very simple fix and it can’t hurt. I looked at my grafts last night and it’s only been 4-5 days but everything looks good so far. Time will tell.
Finger cuts- Krazy glue can save the day if it’s not too bad a cut. A doc at an urgent care center got tired of seeing me around grafting season and told me just go get some Krazy Glue. Use of glue to bind wounds was pioneered on Vietnam battle fields. I used it a month ago- it stopped the bleeding, sealed the wound and stopped it from hurting. Since it was finger tips I sliced, I had to re-apply every couple days. Be careful out there.
I was grafting today and in short order realized I was getting too hot and dry. I’m a (former) redhead and have always needed to use care in the sun. It’s at times like that when I get stupid and clumsy and am more likely to cut myself ( … or miss a turn or forget to turn a burner off or you name it.)
Also have had some eczema this past year which is aggravated by things like that. I’ll betcha I have some new spots in the morning! I could easily have been doing this a week or two ago, but I’m in the habit of waiting until the end of April. This year is different, and everything is pushing early.
I’m almost done with all my grafting: apples, pears, peaches and plums. The few unused extra were put back in the fridge for any graft that could fail later on, possibly visible in 2, 3 weeks.
Thanks Bill- it’s not a major issue, but a nuisance to pay attention to in your old age. Dern it.
I was grafting (among others) the Moonglow you sent me. Thanks for all the good wood; there was plenty to choose from and it was all excellent. I made several cleft grafts with it- had a bit of a fight getting to some of the branches I wanted to add on to but got it done. I’m really looking forward to trying it. I’m running out of places to graft! Now I need to find another pear grower who wants a good addition.
