2026 Grafting Thread

zestar nect gone crazy fast. I’m really impressed. there’s no original tree left in this photo, it’s all graft

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No, I think it’s not fireblight, because ALL my Hosui grafts died, mostly obviously of fire blight, and most of all my other Asian pear grafts lived and none of my Olympic pear grafts died of something that looked like fire blight.

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I agree with @scottfsmith don’t dig it up, try another graft, seal it well with paste or Parafilm and wrap it in aluminum foil and maybe do some more to cool it like a shade cloth.

A new shoot on it is the best thing you can do to save it and the roots won’t mind the heat as long as they get water.

@Eme oh and if there are shoots developing on it,. And you want to make sure it survives, it’s probably best to graft below them, let them grow too, and cut above the graft in the fall or next spring.

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i exaggerated it being 12" of growth :grimacing:

not sure what happened. it took a little bit of force to dislodge the scion so i feel like it had a bit of a connection but not fully.

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Thanks. I don’t have any wood to regraft now. I haven’t tried summer bud grafting yet, but maybe this will be my practice.

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That DOES look like fireblight.

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weird. i think it was shinko. none of the others in the grafted group have done that. yet.

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That looks like all my Hosui grafts and tree, I think it’s fireblight.

Fireblight isn’t guaranteed by infection, it can be fought off by healthy plants.

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I believe that looks like fire blight. I’m pretty sure because it looks like someone held a cigarette lighter to the scion and scorched it black.

I am new to grafting overall and have not tried citrus before.

I had several grafted potted citrus trees die above the graft for various reasons, but the rootstock (I believe C35) has all come back.

I want to propagate some of my other citrus onto these rootstock — dekopon, ponderosa lemon, kumquat, etc. All of which have strong new green growth this year.

My prior grafting experience — already limited — was with scion from my own dormant fruit trees with buds on them. Is it different for actively growing citrus? Can I put the green growth of the tree I want to propagate onto the rootstock with cleft/W&T/inlay/conventional methods?

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There’s a bunch of threads that talk about grafting citrus specifically, so search that.

At this point I think you should try summer budding where you take budwood from your donor tree and graft it onto the rootstock.

Look on your donor tree a few inches below the newest growth. The buds are at the junction where the leaf meets the branch. You are looking for a bud in that little space. It should still be this year’s growth.

Then, you follow any one of the many chip of t-budding videos. I have found it best to bud onto wood that is <2 years old and not too skinny.

I like this video:

But there are many out there.

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Would you cut this scionwood shorter? Is longer scionwood bad? Does it matter? If it doesn’t matter, I don’t really want to cut it, but if shorter wood makes it easier for energy to reach the end, I can cut it and graft the tip to another branch?

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I’ve started using only 2- 3 buds per piece of scionwood. I found that with the longer ones, the top buds would grow most vigorously and the bottom not at all.

I’d worry about the graft getting too top heavy even with staking, because the top 3-4 were growing strongly.

Then, I’d end up having to cut back to one anyway to make a leader or main scaffold.

So I just cut straight to the chase and used a short piece. I’ve been happy with the results. And yes, I used the whole length- I cut it into pieces before grafting.

I can’t see why you wouldn’t just count up 2-3 buds on your graft, cut the end and use the rest of the stick (assuming it’s alive and hydrated etc)

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Yeah, this is basically what I do. Maybe depends on how closely spaced the buds are. My scions tend rot be 3-4" when grafted. So I may get 3 grafts from a purchased stick.

I’ve had good success with all types of grafting, but early summer to early fall has worked best for me. IME lemons are easier to graft than other types.

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My shinko graft did that last year. Quick FB infections on upper scion growth. It fended off the wounds above the lowest bud and I regrafted that branch this spring after my young trees got girdled. Now this graft is really taking off.

So who knows. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Sorry one last question- it has been wet (thankfully) so I haven’t pruned off the fried growth. Now, it’s going to be over 100 this week, so I’m concerned about cutting it back. Just let it be and cut scion back to 2 buds or off entirely when the temp drops?

Do you have a method you like?

That seconds my suspicion that it’s fireblight, fireblight likes to enter through open cuts, try cutting them off and sealing the cuts with a good paste or Elmer’s glue as one man in here suggested.