Today I was eyeballing some of the pluots I recently purchased from Peaceful Valley/Dave Wilson. I take it that they were in cold storage because they are 100% dormant. Well, turns out that several of them have about 8-15 inches too much height that I am going to cut off to help energy concentrate on the roots and so I can start shaping and spreading tree.
In that 8-15 inches at the top of some of my trees there are also some small scaffolds. The ones near the top have that nice, new, shining, smooth look of last year’s wood. SOme of them are 1 up to a foot long. Do you think I would have any chance at all of using some of these small, new-looking scaffolds as scion wood and grafting it to some other plum trees? Would be a quick and easy way to get a few pluot limbs on some of my plum trees. Even if it’s a long shot I may try it. What you think?
I think your odds for success are very good if the understock is actively growing.
Same as Dan- do it.
The understock leaves are about 1/2 way out and growing like crazy and its pretty warm here. My main concern is that - in spite of the characteristics I described- I’m not at all sure that the scaffolds I would be cutting and using as scion are last year’s growth. If not, I assume it has no chance?
Speaking of grafting and age of scion and rootstock, let me ask a dumb question. I know the scion wood should be last year’s growth (as I said above, is that a 100% requirement) and I THINK that the area of a tree I am grafting to has to be last year’s growth too (I’m talking about just grafting a pencil sized scion to a pencil sized tip of a limb)/ IS that true? I ask this because on some trees,especially apricots, the tips of the limbs that are from last year are so thin and spindly that its almost impossible to graft to them. I’d really like to go back on a scaffold toward the trunk until it gets thicker, but if I do I will no longer be grafting to last years growth. SO again, do both scion wood and under story tree have to be grafted using last year’s wood on both sides? Thanks.
In late summer probably August or September I was trimming one of my Mirabelle plums and decided to experiment with some grafting. I removed the leaves from the actively growing Mirabelle wood and grafted the scions to some suckers of a wild plum tree that I had cut down in spring. A couple were cleft grafts and a couple were saddle grafts with a grafting tool.
Over the fall and winter the scions did not grow but they also did not appear to be dead. It seems that some of the grafts had healed beneath the electrical tape but the buds had remained dormant.
With spring upon us, they are pushing growth now and they are surviving in spite of being hit by the slug and snail plague that I have this year.
They shouldn’t need to be.They are both alive and when xylem and phloem are moving,that’s what is necessary for growth.
When a bark graft is done,sometimes a large diameter stock is used as the base and that is older wood. Brady
Do it. It will work
Using last year’s wood is best, but second year wood can work as well. So follow speedster’s advice.
Got nothing to lose except your lack of experience!
Olympic Asian Pear on OHxF87 rootstock
@Susu, we have temperatures in 50-60s with occasional deeps in 70s or 40s. I was successful in grafting peaches at this weather last year. I liked the early grafting more than the late one. You do not need to worry about weather being too hot or dry and about your grafts waking up or drying or molding in refrigerator. I am not an expert in grafting peaches, I learn on my own mistakes and failures. My idea is when the rootstock have green buds or flowers it is actively growing and ready to graft.
What are those pink clips for at the base of your trees?
Some may look at the Zenport ZJ68 grafting tool on Amazon. It’s a lighter weight replica of what I have. Mixed reviews. I’d bet it’s a decent tool. Replacement blades are about 15$. My replacement blades are 80$. The Zenport ZJ68 is 70 bucks whereas my Fieldcraft Topgrafter is a 450$ tool. In the process I came across a website selling the Zenport ZJ68 for 31 bucks today. Don’t buy from that website. Thanks to @Paul for a heads up!
Dax
EDIT: FRAUDULENT WEBSITE: I’m keeping the post up so no-one buys from it.
http://www.banggood.com/Aluminum-Alloy-V-Cut-Grafting-Tool-29-cm-Clean-Cut-Grafting-Tool-p-1120598.html?rmmds=search
I bought this one several years ago but used it very little
The knife was somewhat dull and you just cannot make the cut on thin scionwood that you usually get from others.
On top of that several months later I received a call from my bank asking if I bought anything from banggood.com, They told me I need to replace my card cause supposedly there was some kind of breach or maybe someone tried to withdraw money from my account. I haven’t bought anything from them ever since and prefer Aliexpress which has been great.
Interestingly enough there is a chip budding tool that creates a perfect chip and notch on both the scion and the understock. I can’t find the link to it any longer but I think they were American made and very expensive.
Just spent a 1/2 hour on that website…they have some AMAZING tools (if you can afford them). Cool stuff- thanks.
Those guys at Dave Wilson Nursery say ahhhhh foooey to tools. The 3:24 minute mark you see them budding:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzsgV3SsFbo
Dax
That blows my mind. That guy was so fast that I couldn’t even figure out what he was doing before he was done!!! Wow. It took him about 5 seconds. Last chip bud I tried- which failed by the way- took me about 10 minutes! haha.
haha 
You need a Scionon then…
Dax