9 years old Nikita’s Gift with the 90 chromosomes American Persimmon
rootstock with the Rossyanka interstem and bark grafted JT-02 on top of Rossyanka. So this tree has 3 variety of Hybrids in the main trunk. There is no chance of incompatibility. Crazy stuff.
I attempted my first graft about a month ago. I grafted three different peach scions to my cresthaven peach tree. Nothing has died or grown thus far. How long should it tak for me to notice any results?
I remember reading somewhere (maybe it was Scott who said that in the peach grafting weather thread) that if peach grafts go about a month without showing growth then they are not going to take. This has also been my experience this year. I had couple of grafts that I did in early April that just sat there. The scions were still nice and green. Yesterday I decided to unwrap them and the two pieces were just sitting there on top of each other (splice graft) I feel like anything but cleft graft dies on me. I redid them as cleft grafts.
This is my first year grafting, grafted 67 apple scions to rootstocks. Had 4 fail, I was amazed thought I would be lucky with some success. My best growing one is pendragon on m7
This is just a reminder to all the grafters , not to touch the cut surface of the scions or rootstocks because oils from your skin prevent the graft from taking. Sometimes i see pictures or videos of someone holding the cut surface and i know the graft will fail.
Guilty of this myself. Probably one of the reasons why my chip buds failed, very hard to hold them without touching the cut surface.
I also wonder if oxidation plays any part in graft failure, and by that I mean the cut surface being exposed to air for more than a minute and starting to oxidize.
With chip budding…
I make the cut below the bud first…
When making the cut down behind the bud…
The chip is on the knife blade. I use the knife to hold the bud as it is transferred to the rootstock, holding it with my thumb aginst the blade, never touching the cut side,just sliding it off the blade into the rootstock
I agree with Hillbilly. The way I do it: locate destination spot on a branch that isn’t too large (don’t go sticking chips on big branches!) and cut the spot the chip is going to. Try to leave the discard chip in place until you place the new bud. Cut the new chip as Hillybilly says and slide it into the new spot. Wrap with parafilm, a budding rubber if you think it’s needed, and label.
If you make the spot where the new chip is going just a little on the short side it’s easy to fix, but even if you make it a bit too long the chip will still take.
I had a lot of problems with that this year, there have been too many cool spells this spring. Some re-started later and some did not. Japanese plums nearly always work but I had a couple stall that never re-started. My one apricot graft was going great but then stalled in the cold and never pulled out. I did get it going what looks like permanently in a re-graft though. If the graft definitely fails and you have more wood just cut off 3" or so more trunk and try again.
Unfortunately I don’t have anymore scion wood. If it doesn’t work and the July Elberta peaches stink again this year, I will consider pulling out the tree and planting two apricots. If the peaches are better, which they seem to be already with more setting, then I will obtain more scion wood next year and do as you suggest, to cut back into the scaffolds and try again.
Nah…you’ll be fine. That one is one of my better grafts. I have some that are just pushing buds and then stuck there for weeks. Though they are not apricots. Nectarines.
If there are still green leaves on the scion, does that mean anything? Would those tiny bits of pushing buds turn brown or black if they are dead? Too early to tell?
If the leaves start to go limp it’s a goner. Before that point it could well take off. One advantage of leafed-out failures is they are obvious by the leaves. If it has not yet budded out yet its hard to make any firm conclusion.
Hi. Quick followup question. How often do you get a bud graft (or any other graft) that calluses, but doesnt ultimately form the vasculatory system necessary to actively push the leaves? Would love to hear folks experiences!
