I never thought of notching but I removed all the buds next to the terminal so I wouldn’t get any vertical shoot other than the terminal bud shoot. That way I only got side shoots that went more outward.
Yep that thread and the videos are what I was referring too…kind of tricks the plant to stop apical dominance from thwarting your plans
Yes, correct. I notch at green tip stage about 1/4 inch from the bud. Not 100% work so factor that in.
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Hi all,
I’ve been reading books, scrolling these type of posts, and watching a lot of videos about grafting. There is so much information to digest.
I started to create a summary table of the information, pulling from different sources, for myself and wondered if it would be helpful to try to get it into shape for “publishing”. It would have three sections:
- Benchgrafting
- Topworking/Frameworking
- Bud Grafting
It’s rough but the first page is probably the most complete. The key is to keep it simple as a summary of the basics and the process by fruit type. Links can be added to videos, posts or other websites to get more detailed information.
Questions:
- Useful to continue?
- If so, can you add comments to help fill in gaps?
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I’m getting ready to try my first hand at grafting this year (Pears and Shipova, so hopefully pretty user-friendly), and was looking for temflex (largely due to @disc4tw 's recommendation). But I could not find temflex at the local stores near me. They do carry “rubber splicing tape” made by other brands, though.
Duck Brand .75" x 22’ Rubber Electrical Splicing Tape, Blue - Walmart.com
Commercial Electric 3/4 in. x 22 ft. Rubber Splicing Tape 30005335 - The Home Depot
Are these the same thing as Temflex? Would they work well instead of Temflex? Any reason to pay the extra $2 for Duck Brand vs Commercial Electric?
Got mine at Lowe’s. The outside package is gone, but inside the roll reads electrical products division, 3M, 600 v Max.
Looking at the pictures it probably would work the same. I bought some from our local hardware store that was very similar to the Temflex when I needed it urgently and it worked quite well. Those are very much more expensive than what I pay for at Lowe’s (>$3).
If it is the thicker rubberized tape and not vinyl based, I’d say go for it, although I haven’t tried other brands yet. I really like that the rubber base allows you to stretch it as much (or as little) as you want. That, and because it stretches, it’s probably less likely to girdle the tree as it grows, although I need to test that theory.
It’s not good (imo) to leave it on. Obviously if you wrap a 1/4" or 1/2" tree 3-5 times around with electrical tape then you got a lot for the tree to fight off vs. less wraps. When me and buddy graft trees at above deer height we use electrical tape and my friend is near 80 and he’s been able to watch (grafting) now for 50-years I guess.
But, when I remove tape that’s been left on (his not mines’) trees, that has been on for probably 5 to 8 years, the bark is not white but it’s dis-colored and looks depraved of oxygen. Why do I say oxygen (it’s a theory) because, it looks the same as under bandaging that’s been on too long on skin. And, because bark looks similar when wind desiccates wood… it’s totally a guess.
And grafting big trees like we’re doing means we can pull pretty stiff on stuff (electrical tape, what’s “on sale” will work fine enough for me or him). We’re usually grafting 2" or 3" at that height having cut off the top of a tree and use the trunk and branches below for nursing, our-grafts.
We hang out and graft together and fool around and that kind of stuff. He’s my best-friend.
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I have been playing around with a little homemade jig to help me cut consistent whips on scionwood with my utility knife.
Works pretty good.
Once you get the whips cut nice and flat same length, etc… the tongue can be added for WT.
That one is 3/8 diameter… going to make another 1/2 or 7/16.
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You have to patent that immediately, it’s genius.
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Trev’s Block Grafter 
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I think there’s a guy who sells tools and grafting equipment with a similar fixture. I think he uses a chisel to make the cuts. That seems a lot sharper and cleaner than a utility knife.
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If also seen examples of these kind of jigs before. Usually with a wide chisel.
If even tried it out myself. I did however find that unlike i expected, the length of cut varied a bit when using the jig. And thus scion and rootstock don’t always “fit” perfectly.
If also seen jigs to protect your hand while cutting the tongue. (basically a vertical plate with a hole for the shoot to go trough. And your hand is than on the other side of the plate. And thus if you where to slip with your blade it hit the plate, instead of your hand.
Especially with scions that don’t match perfectly in thickness. I still find hand cutting with a properly sharpened grafting knife easier and it gives better results for me.
It does take a bit of practice to get the hang of though. But imo is well worth that practise.
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I’ll be topworking a callery to European pears this spring. What’s the consensus on protecting topworked grafts?
Many of the videos I watch use some sort of wax, putty, or liquid sealer to protect the graft. But a few of the videos I watch do not use anything like that.
Apparently Neal Peterson just uses parafilm and freezer tape, and nothing else. Grafting - Peterson Paw Paws
The Texas A&M videos use tin foil and a plastic bag. Aggie Horticulture - Top Working Larger Trees
To be honest, the Texas method seems attractive to me, because it looks the simplest, and it looks like it would keep the rain/bugs out without worrying about some kind of liquid sealer seeping into the graft and blocking the cambium contact.
But I have no experience with this, so I wasn’t sure if there was some reason to use a wax, liquid, or putty for spring top-working pears, or if the Texas method would suffice.
I have not tried a chisel yet… but will… works nicely with a utility knife. I have a grafting knife ordered… will try that too when it arrives.
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That looks pretty much perfect to me… I once upon a time tried similar, with a chisel, a fairly sharp chisel… Difficult, didn’t like the results, went back to a knife alone… Drilling the slanted hole close to the edge of a block of wood, where a util knife blade can reach, I like the looks of that!
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Hi @dpps
As long as you cover the areas where air may enter to the carpentry, you’re good to go. You can cover with green florist tape, electrical tape & do it at the same time while tying your scion onto the tree branches.
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.
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Keep air and moisture out, and the scion firm against the tree you’re grafting to, and anything could be used.
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It’s basically a pocket hole jig backwards…
I suspect variability in the length of the cut would be due to relative diameter of the scion to the hole and how well it is constrained to the axis of the hole during cutting.
Also, if cut at the same angle, the length of the cut will be proportional to the diameter of the scion. So fatter scion will have longer cut.
If the last pictured scion were perfectly round and straight, and exactly matched the diameter of the hole, the cut would be the same length and shape as the one in the fixture (of course that isn’t possible).
If the scion is bent or non-round in cross section, that could affect the length of cut too.