I had more apple scion that i had apple rootstock. So this is an apple on hawthorne experiment. We shall see. So far so good. Three other grafts on hawthorne to keep an eye on as well.
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Re: how to hold the grafting gear, for years I used a tool belt with big containers for all the goodies. But the thing is heavy and recently I switched to a pockets method: knife in back left pocket, pruners in back right pocket, tape in left jacket pocket, scions in right jacket pocket. It’s much easier than having a bulky thing on me.
I’m having a lucky year, every main graft is going (a few non-dominant backups failed). I had one pushing graft munched by a caterpillar, that has also been a problem in past years. This year the ‘pillar didn’t quite get down to the base of the buds and they are now slowly growing back.
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I’m a big believer in pockets. Helps you limit what you carry to what you actually need. I did recently get a pruner holster, though. It’s more of an upgrade from the back pocket than I thought it would be. Keeps the pruners snug and easy to reach, and I’m much less likely to take them out of my pocket and leave them somewhere.
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My first (non-practice) z-graft. Really lined up nice. Felt better connection than w/t. Not wait 4-6 weeks.
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So far, two persimmons have popped open buds. Chibacha and V. Derevyanka are now in the ground and growing. I still have about 15 more in a healing pot where the grafts can callus. I checked pecan grafts this evening after a day of intermittent rain. A few of them are showing bud stress where a bud begins to expand, then the graft dries out and the bud dies. We had 3 days of hot sunny weather which can cause this. Several more pecan grafts have up to an inch of new growth and appear to be healthy.
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On 7/15/23 I grafted three verticals of potted persimmon rootstock with W&T grafts and on a lower place of one shoot I also placed a chip bud graft. I only had two scions of Dar Sophia to use. By end of the season, only the chip bud was growing producing a 4” long but fragile shoot with no action from any of the three W&T grafts. Not exactly what I had expected since the W&T grafts have apical dominance. This spring the chip bud shoot is showing strong growth at its base. I am fortunate that my practice of placing a chip bud below my W&T paid off. Maybe I will get a tree eventually!
Dennis
Kent, Wa
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I have the same result on my gerardi mulberry, I think following one of your previous posts. It’s really interesting which types of grafts works with which types of trees. Outside of suspect scion wood, I don’t think any w/t grafts have failed (>100). I saved the ends of scions after trimming and none of the buds took (~30), at least so far.
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I’d curious – Did you use dormant scions? Obviously that would mean scions stored in the fridge for at least ~5 months or more.
And how long can a persimmon scion survive once grafted without growing. I tend to assume my persimmon grafts have failed after ~2 months, but that’s a guess. I’d check before abandoning.
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Yes they were dormant scions. I am assuming the three W&T grafts did not take. I am only waiting to give the chip bud time to grow and will prune off all others. The reason I am waiting is that the upper portion of the chip bud shoot looks alive but those buds have not opened so just observing this. I am thinking I may have a weak rootstock that just needs time to recover; perhaps that’s why the it could not push the buds on the three main grafts. Anyway I now have it planted in an all day sun exposure place and looks like at least the base of the chip bud is very healthy so I may get three strong scaffolds if everything green now continues.
Dennis
Closeup pic of 2023 chip bud.
This Mohler mod cleft has some green bud push thru parafilm now. It was my last graft. It is in mostly shade location which may be slowing it down some.
What pretty leaves on Journey.
Saw a blue bird perched on top this H63A yesterday… got to fix up a bird perch for him.
Saijo is coming along… the shape of this persimmon I think makes it especially pretty.
My tiny graft of DS… still no action. I did a very nice whip graft there… too small to include tounge.
I have been praying for this one… think you all are going to have to join in 
.
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I potted up 15 apple grafts into 5 gallon containers today using a homemade mix. I bought a bag of peat moss and mixed it 85/15 with dry chicken manure. If the trees can handle it, they should grow gangbusters over the summer. Why did I stop at 15? I ran out of containers. A trip to Mortons is in order.
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Just added H-118 and H-63A to my Prok American persimon. It pained me a bit to cut off the end of one of those branches with flower buds and all, but I’m making sacrifices for the greater good!
Here’s the finished bark grafts of H-118. The bark was slipping just right.
I daren’t show my grafts of H-63A. I made a right mess of cutting the scion for some reason, and I’ll be shocked if either takes. Fortunately, I had thought I might have trouble and decided not to commit to cutting back those branches. I placed my tiny, sorry-looking scion pieces further down, each on its own branch. We’ll see what happens.
Seriously, those were probably the worst grafting cuts I’ve done and still put on a tree.
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My first-time grafting attempts likely failed 
I am trying to “save” an old apple tree on my property that I’ll likely have to remove for various reasons. I’ve never grafted before, so I did a lot of reading, youtube-watching, and bought 10 rootstocks. My first attempt was a few months ago and it was a complete failure - we were hit with a very weird hot and sunny weather and everything just dried out.
Okay, I took everything off, waited for our usual drizzle to return and tried again. This time I had a little more experience and at least a few grafts looked perfect. I also bought plastic tape to cover the union so that it doesn’t dry out. I haven’t opened them yet, still hoping that maybe a few worked out, but they look wilted and not really successful.
Next year, I’ll probably try to find someone local who knows what they are doing to help me out.
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Keep those new grafts in partial shade for the first month if you can. Morning sun, mid-day and afternoon shade.
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Began planting this year’s grafts out at the orchard yesterday, the soil was quite wet. I have a few more to plant to finish up but it was too rainy today. I replaced 22 trees in the existing rows (failed grafts, failed trees), added 17 new apple varieties for an additional 50 trees, 4 new pears trees (2 new varieties), 3 additional cherry trees and one replacement peach. Oh, and a Kerr apple tree at the house that will be used for scion wood to add 3 of those trees to the orchard next spring.
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Do any of you notch out around the bud after wrapping the whole scion in parafilm or is that self-defeating. I would really love to be able to see if anything is going on when I make my daily rounds.
Sounds like you know the answer. 
There’s some of us who would love to help. Backups so to speak. Send me a couple sticks come winter. Little luck I’ll send you back a tree
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Next February cut scions & farm them out to us. I’d be glad to lend a hand. How vigorous the old tree? How big you want the next one?
Let us know & PM me.
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