Bark Grafting: 'Arrowhead Graft' Technique

[Barkslip]

Using the arrowhead graft

(FYI) late-summer, bark-grafting:

• never wax or parafilm a scion.
• use white tape (you may choose what exactly to use, but white)
• water 1x weekly or the scion will fizzle and die
• the following year, should your scions wake up or not is only when you’ll know if you had success, or, not

[oscar]

@Barkslip

(FYI) late-summer, bark-grafting:

• never wax or parafilm a scion.

out of curiosity, what’s your reasoning for this?

If done bark grafts mid summer and end of summer with parafilm and they where just fine. I did paint them white or cover with aluminium foil for shade though.

[Barkslip]

A stretch of lots of sun and combined warm heat cooks 'em real fast. I’ve made the mistake to many times.

[disc4tw]

Thanks for sharing @Barkslip. I don’t think I’ve seen a stapler gun listed as grafting equipment until this. For getting a tight seal, it certainly appears to be effective.

[Barkslip]

There’s a lot of overkill in grafting. parafilm, wax, you know (materials) taping, bags, twist ties, foil, good spells being chanted, whatever. There’s a lot of simple people doing simple things that use none of these things very often. Those are the guys to hang around.

A lot of blather to some degree whether materials or stating what has to be done in order to make successful grafts. Look for overalls…

[disc4tw]

@Barkslip

Look for overalls…

I don’t doubt there is truth in that recommendation. A man (or woman) in overalls or Carhartts is not wearing them to win a fashion show. My good friends just got married last week in matching Carhartts lol

But back to grafting, I honestly think that all the hubbub and “stuff” is a great part of the culture if it helps people to become more comfortable developing technique. I plan to try MANY different methods just to find the ones I have the most success with while becoming comfortable doing so. Sometimes it’s good to have more tools in the toolbox than you need, as long as they’re not backups for having cheap tools. As my boss says about us doing field work, when in doubt, take it for a ride. I’m confident I’ll eventually settle into a pattern of doing things and become a curmudgeon about my methods, but for now I’m still learning what’s best.

Regarding the Arrowhead Graft- as long of a cut as that is, I can’t imagine it failing often if performed at the proper time of year and temperatures It has to have a higher amount of cambium contact than many other methods.

[Barkslip]

I just said what I carry with me. We were both typing on different threads. How funny, really!

@Barkslip

I put parafilm on scions and leave plenty of room to cut and then cover all the exposed areas with tape or parafilm (whatever is in my hand at the time and not my pocket) or if I have tons of extra parafilm that has gotten old and doesn’t stretch worth a darn anymore.

So, my approach is to carry a knife, rubber budding strips, electrical tape, and parafilm. I carry pruners and a hand saw in my back pocket. I wear a simple nail belt that’s 99cents from Menards. My supplies are in a bucket (extra tape, extra this and that; bandages, etc) and a small hand cooler with ice to keep the scions from cooking while working outdoors field-grafting.

I got all the stuff I don’t need in the bucket too! Lol. You’re entirely correct that I’m just as full of shit as what I type! I may not use the other stuff, but, I have it darn-it!