Tip for anyone grafting on rootstocks in containers. Water the containers daily for the first month after grafting. Grafts are much more likely to be accepted. My B118 apple rootstocks were bare root when received in March. I potted them into 5 gallon nursery containers and grafted 3 weeks ago. Over half of them have growth from buds and more should pop within the next week.
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Hi Darrel, do you think this applies to all species? For example, I’ve had good luck keeping potted mulberry rootstock on the drier side to keep the sap flow down. I’ve also seen a similar practice when grafting potted Japanese maples.
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Spent a few days at my neighbors farm working over persimmons. No idea how many grafts I did, but it felt like a lot. One 7 inch diameter tree, and several smaller 1-4 inch diameter trees. Next thing is to figure out how to get rid of maypop. Hand tilled this little area and seeded it. Must have broke up some bigger maypop roots, cause they popped up with a vengeance. Chop and drop for now. Happy Spring!!
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Stan, there are obvious variations for different species and different growing conditions. My apple rootstocks were bareroot which means they have very little potential to uptake water until capillary roots have grown. Overcoming the lack of capillary roots is crucial to grafting success for these particular conditions. For an established rootstock in the ground, bleeding may be a major problem as I have sometimes found with pecans. That said, if you have a system that works with a high success rate, don’t stop! Right now, I’m looking at 80% or better success with apple grafts on rootstocks in containers. We have very intense daily sun so they need to be kept watered.
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4 of my fig grafts are in container, same with 10-12 jujube grafts. My husband set up the drip system to water every other day. But this year it rained quite a bit, actually that’s an understatement.
Hmm, I threw some grafts in my hydroponic reservoir when I didn’t have supplies. Every one of them took though it was just luck. Maybe I do hydroponic grafting now. Those were stone fruit though.
I don’t understand. Did you put whole grafted tree in water ? Or just the roots part in water?
Just the roots, I have a few more rootstocks so I’ll do it again. These were all actively growing, just broken bud, plum roots.
I also had a graft take on a tiny 2624 that I was rooting in my aeroponic setup when I was just dinking around.
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Oh also it’s important to have an air bubbler in the water, otherwise you’ll have a dead rootstock.
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It is encouraging that 2624 can be rooted in an aeroponic setting. I am rooting it on the heating mat, but don’t have result yet.
Do you set your water temperature to certain degrees?
I just threw a few tiny cuttings in there with my figs no extra heat so it was about 50-55, no hormone. 3 of 3 rooted.
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Today is perfect conditions for grafting pecans. We had 2 inches of rain last night which means soil moisture is at a very high level. The sun is out shining bright. Pecan grafts usually are easy in these conditions.
I also made a few more pear grafts. There is an area behind my house that has about a dozen callery pear seedlings. I’m turning them into grafted trees. The seedlings are between 3/16 and 1/2 inch diameter so just about right to graft.
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Noticed this cherry whip graft had some callous protruding out below my rubber tape and parafilm wrap… removed the tape… looks like that whip has healed up well.
My two callery transplants with grafts.
The smaller callery with mod cleft graft is doing excellent. The larger callery with bark graft … one side is doing ok… the other not doing much.
A few apple grafts…
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Today is the end of 2023 pear grafting for me. Here are the varieties I have grafted. Some of these were done over the last 2 years.
Ayers
Clara Frijs
Clarks Yellow
Daishi Li
Douglas
Drippin Honey
Duchess
Early Yellow
Harrow Delight
Harrow Sweet
Harvest Queen
Hosui
Kieffer
Korean Giant
Ledbetter
Magness
New World
Plumblee
Potomac
Shinko
Spalding
Sunrise
Very Late (LuckyP special, name forgotten, but ripens very late)
Warren
Winter Nelis
Ya Li
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That is a good group of pears! Plumblee may or may not get fireblight. Have had mine hit with it. They are a nice tree. Does anyone grow the Plumblee Pear?
I do, but it hasn’t fruited yet. Perhaps this year, but I haven’t checked.
I grafted Summer Salish, Suncrest and Naniamo peach scions in various combinations onto St. Julien, almond, Seneca European plum and Mariana 2624 (maybe not compatible?).
This is the 5th coldest April on record in the Portland area. As such I constructed a greenhouse within a greenhouse using a tote, a Home Depot 55 gallon drum liner and a seed starting mat. None of my peach grafts took last year so I am hoping the extra effort will be fruitful!
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These are my very first grafts ever. Varaha (M. Rubra?) on Morus Alba Tatarica from March 11.
4 out of 4 took. Proud of myself.
Got a dozen+ apple, pear and prune grafts going right now. Hopefully they’ll be just as successful.
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this isn’t exactly grafting but I planted peach seeds (embryos, after cracking in a vise) today using all the pits I saved from last year, with about 72 looking viable. I’m hoping this will be most of my rootstocks for the next couple years
18 out of 26 apple grafts have broken buds and are actively growing. Five of the eight remaining look like they will eventually wake up.