Great thread thank you to all who have contributed! Im hoping to graft for the first time ever- I bought a combo european plum and 5 plum rootstocks and they got planted about 6-7 weeks ago. I want to graft each individual variety to a separate tree to back it up, what is my best option? I was planning on trying some chip budding this summer. Im not sure if they will have enough growth to do properly. Can you field graft the same year you plant rootstock or do they need a season to establish properly for better take?
Im glad to hear pears are on the easier side too. I have a bunch of rootstock suckers I need to clear out and I want to practice on them possibly
Hi Kevin,
Same thing happened to me last week when one of my 2 year old Oblinaya grafts on a Adara interstem, snapped during a heavy rain. I had really looked forward to trying these new variety plums. Lost 43 in this event. I immediately picked the plums off, used the green wood to make 20 2-3 bud scions and regrafted them. In the pic you can still see my splints where I splinted both the interstem and the Oblinaya grafts, the whip and tongue grafts both held firmly, but the cherry limb broke. I should have staked and tied this one much better. If your damaged wood is still fresh, you can regraft them.Good luck, sorry to see this. I know your feelings.
Just cut off about an inch of the rootstock to get back to a fresh cut, and green cambium, and use several greenwood scions to place bark grafts. You can chip bud below that with green chips.
Dennis
I started grafting in the summer 2021âŚgrafted maybe 250+ chip and scion grafts, spring and summer. Hereâs my experienceâŚmaybe it will help someone prioritize and save time.
Summary
If I were starting out again, I would focus on:
Dormant scion spring apple grafting on either existing trees or established in-ground or potted rootstock
Summer chip grafting peaches or nectarines on new growth on either trees or established rootstock - avoid spring dormant scion grafting
Plums and hybrids can do either dormant spring or summer chip with reasonable success
Apples
90+% take on an existing tree spring dormant grafting using cleft or bark graft (W&T is harder to do at weird angles) - easy across a wide range of spring temperatures and leaf status
60-70% with W&T on dormant rootstock using dormant scions during early spring - I suspect they would be better if you have established, in-ground rootstock, rather than using recently mailed rootstock - the trees donât seem good at both establishing roots and growing out the new scion
Chip grafting works well in summer but really only on new growth, which isnât always the best location on an established tree
Peaches & Nectarines
Horrible rates with peaches and nectarines using dormant scion grafting of any kind on either trees or rootstocks, including using hot callus method, in either early or late spring (I suspect our nights our too cool - 70-80F daytime means 40-50F night). Wonât bother anymore.
Reasonable success using chip grafts in July on new growth only (and since they can throw new growth from lower scaffolds, itâs better placement)
Plums & Apricots
Reasonable 60-70% using dormant scions with cleft grafts on existing trees in spring, even with a good amount of leaf out
Dormant rootstock grafting wasnât great, similar to peaches
Chip grafting in summer was reasonable on new growth only on either trees or regrowing rootstock
Persimmons
Perhaps 50:50 on either trees or dormant rootstocks using either scions in spring, or later chip grafts in summer
PawPaws & Jujubes
Poor success on the 20 cleft & W&T grafts I did on a tree this yearâŚneed to research more before I dive into the rootstocks Iâm growing out.
Maybe the splint was the problem. âThat which does not bend will break.â
the point of the break was just after the splint, I was totally think thatâs what happened, not to say your graft would not have broken otherwise, but who knows?
For midsummer chip budding where do you get the chip scions? Obviously if you have the variety growing and want to duplicate it thats straight forward but otherwise? Do you order dormant peach scions and store them in the fridge until mid summer? I see lots of scionwood for sale but it sounds like chipping is better.
Make some friends close by from this website. There are lots of people from New York on here. @alan might be able to point you in the right direction. My suspicion is you could visit a local orchard and cut your own chip bud wood for a little bit of money and time. Here are two good threads to get started.
Yeah thats kind of why I joined, you post some great information in threads btw just wanted to say thank you for that.
Iâve never done a graft before, looking to chip bud some plum varieties from a combo tree I already have onto some rootstock so dont need anything this season but probably in the future. I will have a some scion wood in the fall, hopefully there will be some takers in the trading post as I hated having to compost mine last year.
Glad you liked those threads! That is always good to hear! Thank you! Tbud would be what i would recommend this time of year T-budding tutorial - #38 by fruitnut
Different type of grafting.
Last time I was in Texas, I brought back couple of cactus paddles( donât known its name, but it is very common in Austin, can see them every where.). Christman cactus has week root,easy to rot during winter indoor. Hopefully, the strong root systems of the cactus will improve longevity of Christmas cactus. It is so far so good.
Itâs called Prickly Pear. It grows wild everywhere in west Texas and I even have some on my place in east Texas. Itâs fruit is a pear shaped pink fruit that is edible if you can get through the thorns.
