I’ve done pears under all sorts of conditions (late in April, early in may, right before 20F temps,…) and they did fine.
Do make sure to wrap securely in case of wind. Even when I’m tempted to just use parafilm I tie with a rubber.
I was a lot more careful with stone fruit. They like warm to callus so would wait until there’s a series of warm days or have a way of protecting them.
I like this post :
I been grafting in Winter. December thru Feb. Temp in the 30s and 40s low. High of 50s to 60’s. I grafted citrus, nectarine, cherry, and even an apple. I used the cheap parafilm and it lasted through Winter. The key is to get the smooth scions, so that you can wrap it tight because moisture is the enemy of Winter grafting. Good cambium alignment is a must and wait for the temp to be ideal for some trees.
Nectarine grafted onto All in One Almond tree
Mandarin grafted to lemon tree
Gala onto an apple seedling
Cherry onto Chickasaw plum. It’s either a Brooks, Bing, or Sweetheart.
Here is a Mango graft I did yesterday. Trying to maximize cambium contact and heal the cut end asap. worked well with peach, hoping mango likes it. Mango seem trickier to me than most other trees (except guava). I have tried maybe 10 chip bud grafts with mango and 100% fails.
Goumi, Plums, Pears and my Lapins cherry bloom and leaf out early here…
It is almost always a mix of cool warm rainy weather when I graft them but I have had very high success rates.
I think they just take easier than some others… Like… mulberry, apple and persimmon.
TNHunter
I got a bunch of big G214s and tiny scions. Last year I “solved” that problem with cleft grafts, but they are REALLY ugly. This year I experimented with a couple styles I’m honestly not sure about, one more like a shelf for the scion to sit on (I know this style has a name, just can’t think of it right now) and the other with really, really long whips and tongues, The problem with the former is having to be very, very careful not to bump the little graft. The problem with the latter is the scion cuts being so thin they were hard to get into the rootstock. Then I hit a groove and all of the rest were easy, with normal whips and tongues. The scions I was working with by then were even tinier. I just got into a zone.
Also: I put bandages and spray within reach so I wouldn’t bleed all over the barn like last year, but BECAUSE I was prepared, I didn’t cut myself once.
Well this is really technically a 2025 graft, but I only just cut the tape off to reveal the outcome from last summer. I’ve had the graft wrapped in electrical tape and tied together with paracord.
This is my first ever approach graft, and honestly I never thought it would work. I couldn’t get a proper flat cut on either branch, and I figured no way would it knit together properly.
I tied the two branches together and wrapped the graft site as tightly as I could with a ton of electricians tape.
It was a horror show to get the tape off, but it was worth it as the graft appears to have mended together well.
Santa Rosa plum approach grafted onto Shiro plum.
I’m going to try some bridge grafting to see if I can save some rabbit girdled trees. How do I know when the bark is slipping?
I’ve learned from similar experience to always wrap grafts with parafilm prior to electricians tape. A useful trick is to fold under one end of the electrician’s tape so there is a little tab to pull on when it’s time to remove it. If you wrap tape the same direction as parafilm, it often all comes off in one strip- providing a sense of satisfaction similar to peeling an orange or apple all in one strip.
@tbg9b That is so cool!!! I want to try one now just for fun. I wrap electrical tape upside down (sticky side out). It’s hard for the first wrap but then it works well.
@Petey In the Jsacadrua video I linked in the other thread, he shows some bridge grafts while the bark was not slipping. He just jams the scion in. So that apparently works. Especially I bet on apple and pear.
If you want the bark to be “slipping” this thread: Optimal field grafting times in spring has some optimal times and I’ve found the bark to be slipping at those times. However, I feel like apple and pear gets more slippy after bloom but before bloom works better for catching the big flush of growth. Anytime you see little leaves (the size of a mouse’s ear) in spring I’ve found “slipping”.
If it’s slippy, it’s easier to figure out where to jam the scion in and/or peel - but I’ve now done a bunch of badly timed grafts where the bark was not slipping and that were successful - just at a lower rate. You might try some now and some later since you have a few damaged trees?
I finally got a real grafting knife (been using a box cutter). I got a Due Buoi (the less expensive version with the non-wood handle). Unfortunately, I kind of hate it.
I cannot tell if it’s me (my hands are quite small and the knife and handle feel big to me) or if I’m having issues with technique. With the single bevel, to do an angled cut, I have to pull and it’s just not working.
I’m not able to put my hands in the right position to cut an angle toward my arm with enough force. And yes, I sharpened it -it’s really sharp. I watched a some videos (this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGmDNVcRcQc and the @skillcult ones and some others) and tried to copy the hand and arm positions. I got some random branches from my trees to practice. But I just can’t get my hands in that position and then exert enough force to get through the branch.
Advice?
@benthegirl If I may (there will be plenty of people jumping on your question) suggest an Opinel #7 ringlock knife in high carbon steel. Your smaller hands may like it. I use that and #8 for standard grafting and a big #12 for cleft grafts. (High carbon steel is rather brittle, so I knock #12 into branches with an apple branch by way of soft hammer.) They are easy to sharpen to single bevel for T-&-G grafts.
I have tried #8 in stainless steel and not liked it as well. BTW, I have used box cutters for chip bud grafts; nice precision.
Grafting knives are a personal preference. The right knife is the knife that works for you. Personally, I like my old Felco, but It took a while to get used to the single beveled edge.
The best advice I can give is to practice with scraps, then practice some more. Eventually, you’ll either begin to love it or decide you don’t. No harm if you don’t. There are plenty of grafters that prefer the box cutters, so there’s no shame in that either. Use what you enjoy and what works for you.
@TNHunter recommended this knife to me, which I got and have been using this year. I really like it. Certainly better than the crapazon knife I used last year. Granted, it’s my second year grafting and I have only used one other knife.
Thanks — that’s helpful! It might end up being overdetermined by 1. days I’m available and 2. days it isn’t raining.
This is the first whip and tongue graft ive done good enough for me to wrap up and not just do a cleft graft over. Fit snug and matched up and everything, i was so proud 
(now hopefully it takes!) Potting tomorrow.
Enterprise on a Dolgo Seedling. I want an easy to manage dwarfing tree so i think this combo should do me well 
It will eventually go on a mountain top in West Virginia.
*Excuse my handwriting, there was no tension on the tag when i wrote “Enterprise”
The winner for the most eager apple scion for 2026 is the Dixie Red Delight. Seeing 5/16 long leaves under the wrap in 10 days was a shocker considering it was an over-graft on the outer edge of a large canopy. Both scions are pacing the same. Others like the Brushy Mt. limbertwig are and a purloined scion are seeing no change.
Is that knife a single bevel edge? I ordered one similar with a scion order as a backup to my regular knife and it seems like a regular paring knife.
I got most of my Bud9 grafts done. I’ll wait for the low 20’s nights to pass before starting the outdoor work.
