For anyone wondering, this is the way I have been working on my jujube “bench grafts” (11 and 15 branches grafted on 2 trees, respectively). A Buddy Tape section about as wide as my thumb (pulled off the roll and then stretched), Approximately an inch long section of temflex stretched slowly to about 5 inches long (cut in thirds first for easier use) and my zenport tool to make matching cuts for scion and rootstock.
I now understand how much more difficult it is to graft peach than it is to chip bud it. I made a bunch of peach grafts this season and so far only one is actually growing. There were two growing but one of them fizzed out. I grafted several different varieties onto several different peach trees and pretty much got the same results on all. My plum grafts did much, much, better. I bought my peach scionwood this year online and may have pretty much wasted it all. It’s been probably two months ago I grafted them. Most of them are still wrapped in black tape and at the graft union and parafilm above that, but I checked a few to see if they fused together and a couple of them have even though they show no growth. The scionwood is still alive a few inches above the graft and may include some hidden buds. After a couple inches above the graft the scionwood had died. But there are a good few inches of green cambium on the ones I checked, and the grafts did fuse together. Does anyone think they could possibly grow next year?
Bless you for this! It’s incredibly helpful.
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I’m happy you found it helpful! I just built off of what everyone else has already done. Good luck!
If I had to start over again, here’s what I’d buy.
For bench grafting, the zenport style tool on aliexpress (30 bucks), buddy tape at sumo bonsai supply (or eBay if not in stock, about 30-40 bucks), and temflex at home depot (2-3 bucks). For anything other than the zenport I’m planning to invest in a Tina 605 grafting knife from Midwest vineyard supplies. @Barkslip swears by it and that’s good enough for me. Pricey but buying the best tool once is better than a bunch that don’t work well. I believe they make a non-folding version that is cheaper but I’m not sure if it’s the exact same style of blade. All in, you’re still spending less than buying 5 or so already grafted trees so if you plan to buy more than that, I’d go for it! Once you start grafting it’s hard to stop 
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Good advice. I bought a fixed blade Tina which is what I mainly used for many years, until I upgraded to the 605. Its very convenient to be able to stow the deathly sharp blade away or carry it in my pocket. Had I known I’d still be grafting years later, I may have been better off starting with the 605. the prices keep going up too.
This one should last me indefinitely, or until it is lost or stolen, if I’m only doing 10s of grafts a year.
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I’m not one to buy a “brand” when it comes to something as simple as a sharp piece of metal… Was still happy with this purchase in the 2021 season…
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Wendell, I agree any blade if properly maintained will get the job done. The benefit, as I understand it, of the Tina knife is the extremely high quality steel they use which maintains its edge for a long time without needing to be sharpened. To me this is worth considering,but for only a few grafts per year a less expensive option is certainly reasonable. As long as you know how to sharpen a blade, you could start with a butter knife and do well. Personally, if I’m going the cheap route I’d stuck with my box cutter and just pitch the blades when they wear out. Milwaukee blades are cheap on eBay and 150 for 24 bucks should last a lifetime for a home scale grafter. It depends on if you want quantity or quality.
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Whatever knife fits your hand well and can be accurately controlled. Kind of a “right tool for the job” mentality… I used a box cutter for years and yeah replacement blades are cheap and easy. After switching to a single-bevel “grafting knife” though, I definitely like it better. I did probably 50 or 60 W&T grafts with it in 2020 and perhaps 70 or 80 in 2021. Sharpened once between those two years and I will again here sometime over the winter months.
I’m not a fan of “cheap” but do appreciate quality at an inexpensive price. I suspect there’s not a lot of difference in the “high carbon steel” of the ~$10 one versus the ~$100 one. I quickly googled to see if anyone had compared these specific brands:
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I’ve had two Tina 605 T knives in 20-years. They are solid knives built like tanks. I couldn’t tell ya how many grafts I’ve done.
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My tool
serration fits curvature of trunk for t budding… It also cut a vertical cut that is visible and much easier to lift to insert the bud.
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Steve I’d be interested in seeing a video of your method! I don’t know that I’ve heard anyone recommend a serrated edge for any sort of grafting, but I’m open to learning if you have success!
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I’ve read that blog post and it makes lots of sense to me. I use the Tina also. Unfortunately can’t find that Antonini knife for sale or I’d probably try it.
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Is there a cheat-sheet on which rootstock/scion combos go together? I’m imagining an apple scion wouldn’t work on an oak or pine tree.
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I could do 1 tomorrow but it would die at this time of the year. It is very easy and I never get slice open or slip across the tree and just tape the wound shut to save the tree.
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Oh don’t worry about it until it makes sense this spring or summer. It would just be cool to see.
I have made over 100+ grafting videos made for beginners, different types of grafting for a different types of fruit trees. Most videos have English subtitles 
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I hope my videos will help someone to graft fruit trees successful as beginner.
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My basic understanding of graft compatibility: apple and crabapple; pear and quince; stone fruit and stone fruit; Asian and native persimmon; European and Asian pear.
There may be some exceptions to this, but in general it’s how it works.
You can convert Bradford pears to European pear (in most cases) thereby eliminating a destructive invasive species.
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I have successfully grafted 3 Seed grown Callery pears int Asian and 1 European fruiting pear
Thanks for the rabbit hole to fall down!
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