@PharmerDrewee … earlier this spring i posted a pic of one of my pear grafts … it had about 8 inches of growth on at that point… and Fusion Power… recommended that i remove the tape soon so that air could get to the callousing… like that was necessare for it to harden … or complete healing.
Last year i grafted 4 apple scions to m7 rootstock and left my parafilm and black rubber tape on until fall… and those WT grafts healed up perfectly.
I read lots of opinions here on when to remove tape… and found there was no real consensus. Read opinions online and found some saying remove tape after 3 or 4 weeks.
I decided to try removing mine after at least a foot of growth… i have done that for 6 apples, 3 goumi, 5 cherry 1 pear, 1 plum so far and all have done just fine.
There was really no visible change in the looks, color, of the callousing line. Some i removed a month ago and the graft union /callousing still looks the same today as it did when i removed the tape…
Some have 3 ft of growth or more on now and so far no problems at all.
My grafts are all wrapped first with parafilm… then black rubber tape. Parafilm to the end of the scion… black rubber tape just over the graft union.
When i take off the black rubber tape after a foot of growth… the parafilm mostly comes off with it.
The callousing is hard …not soft…
Sounds like you are recommending that after i remove the black tape and original parafilm… that i rewrap the graft union with parafilm.
I can do that… but based on how all these others have performed… i am not sure it is needed.
I would sure hate to loose one of these persimmon grafts.
As you stated, once the callus has fully formed, it does not need further protection. There is one exception. Areas with high winds can blow out a graft. If this is likely, I would tape a splint on to protect the graft.
I have most of my grafts out in my field protected with cages. They are ideal targets for buck rubs… without that.
The cages are 50 inch tall.
I have a kassandra graft at 30 inches high… and this JT02 at 36 inch high… and the rest are on smaller rootstocks with the graft quite low… 12-18 inches.
I was planning to secure that top growth to the cage so the graft union does not get stressed during a windy thunderstorm or other wind event.
I am off on Monday for the holiday… going to get cages on these few grafts that dont have one (3)… and secure that top growth.
I gave those psilliad a blast of seven spray this morning. They can sure make your persimmon leaves ugly.
Is this too soon to be seeing any type of activity? Was grafted Tues, 5/23. Buds are swelling fast. Did a chip bud kinda just for fun and it’s even showing swelling.
I grafted 2 over to Kassandra on May 4th, one in a pot and one in the ground. Still waiting for a good sign. It’ll be in the 80’s up to 90 this week, so I anticipate I’ll know one way or the other by the end of the week, if not sooner.
@sockworth … notice the new persimmon shoot coming up beside my failed H63A graft (image above)… it has a purplish tint to the leaves. It looks to be a very agressive stout shoot… i bet once it gets a little taller and that growth spreads out some… it will change to the nice green you normally see on persimmons.
Perhaps that reddish purple is new agressive growth.
I would cut all the weeds and grass around it and just pile it up around it for mulch… chop and drop like. Then add a half wheelbarrow of compost and spread it out so you have a 2-3 inch layer of compost all around it out to 3-4 ft. Then cover all that with 3-4 inches of wood chips.
Add a tree cage… to prevent buck rubs and discourage browsing.
Next spring you should have some nice grafting rootstock there.
I grafted to 7 like that this spring and 6 have been succesful.
Yeah, the purple is definitely temporary new growth since the older leaves further down are greening up. BTW, may I ask where is a good source to obtain the persimmon scions?
Some of those are some of the best, believe it or not. Most of those numbered selections came from either of two heroic breeding efforts aimed at selecting for commercial production- Claypool and Lehman. There’s a swap section on the forum, so you can post a list of what you’re looking for in Feb or so (at least that’s around when I start thinking about it) Most people prune off lots of good wood every year and are happy to see it go to another grower. England’s also sells lots of persimmon wood.
I know what you mean. The ash tree seedlings around here have roots at least 2x longer than woody top portion due to getting mowed each year. I pulled out probably 50x ash tree seedlings with shovel and I was always amazed how big the roots are despite the puny top growth. The field grown roots are way better than ones nursery chops and sells.
Last week I bark grafted Coffecake to Fuyu. I used a wood chip to apply more pressure to where the scion and trunk joined, using the grafting tape as a makeshift fulcrum.
