B careful with Doc Farwell’s folks.
Read the label and disclaimer. Only approved for a few species. It can kill or damage the inderstock and scion if used on the wrong one. I did not, cost me dearly.
please elaborate
Using Doc Farwell seems like a waste of time to me. Is there any proof it actually does anything special for grafts. Why would the graft heal better with it? I know they claim “Stimulates cambium growth for rapid healing of injury” but how is that possible?
I’ve been using Parafilm M with zero problems.
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I didn’t realize that they claimed to have special healing properties.
The important thing to me is that it keeps in moisture so the interface doesn’t dry out and/or rapidly oxidize, and its flexible, so it can remain in place and won’t prevent buds from expanding and breaking through.
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Parafilm M. No muss, no fuss. Always ready, regardless of temperature. No warming necessary, no damage to plant materials, does not attract critters who might be inclined to gnaw a product containing lard/tallow.
However, in my hands, Parafilm is only for sealing in moisture… the one or two layers I apply have no structural strength, and must be accompanied by something to actually bind the graft union… like a rubber band.
I may have related this earlier in the thread (it’s too hard trying to scroll back through to see), but I have a friend who related following her grandfather grafting apples. He would bind the graft with cotton twine, then he had a tin can containing fresh, soupy cow manure and a small paddle that he’d use to slather cow manure, liberally, over the graft union and scion.
If you’ve ever stepped in a day-old cow patty in the pasture, you’ll recognize that while the surface may be dry, and appear ‘solid’, immediately underneath that surface crust, the manure is still quite moist. So… the manure sealed in moisture, and there probably is some antifungal activity from the mixed bacterial species in there… And… it’s all ‘natural’!
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There are several Farwell’s products. Refering to the yellow “Grafting seal” product.
Me too, although I also use another one. I found a page where I could read most of the label and see the part where they list a few species, but couldn’t read the text very clearly. I’m interested in exactly what it says, and with what species you’ve had problems.
I’ve used toilet ring wax (the stuff they use to seat a new toilet in place) based on a post I read here. Cheap, long-lasting effective.
You kind of have to wash your hands if you apply it with your fingers.
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I use parafilm for small diameter grafts, but also mostly only for sealing.
I use Doc Farwell’s for irregular or large, flat surfaces like a 4" stub that I’ve bark grafted to. Cylindrical surfaces get rubbers when small diameter and tape when larger.
I sometimes use it to coat entire scion. I put the wax in a deep cup and add very hot water. The wax melts and floats to the top. Quickly dip the scion in and it is completely coated. Not worth the trouble for doing one or two scions bur very quick for doing group of scions.
I should mention someone here said the toilet bowel wax damaged the bark. I’ve never had that problem.
Am Referring to the yellow Farwell product “Grafting seal”. There are other Farwell’s products.
Yes in winter grafting I had about 95% failure rate compared to 10% with other methods. I only used a few dabs on top of the parafilm wraps. Amazing what it did. I have not tried it at other times. I don’t see why the result would be diff. .
The label states; “Performs properly when employed on compatible Malus, Pyrus and Prunus grafts. No warranties if used on other species” Supposedly this is popular in commercial orchards and these species are predominant there.
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I SHOULD have tried it on a small number first and examined the results. There was localised damage and infection starting under any sealed surfaces (I used above the parafilm and also rubbers) and spreading down to the new union killing the scion of course. Separately I also had to take care as the seal it’s self tended to migrate into the wound b4 solidifying so care on that count is also suggested if used… Those that survived (Barely) had managed to heal enough b4 infection got there.
Species I had trouble with is probably not relevant. Others may have a different experience. The lesson is that if this is used in different applications than recommended (or even if recommended) test it first. Don’t spread it blindly on your whole crop. Whoodda thunk it. Popular Expensive Grafting seal, right?
Why would you use it over parafilm?
I only use grafting seal for grafts when the host is active, not dormant. Haven’t used it in the winter.
There is a small gap around the top of the parafilm or rubber btwn scion and understock with veneer grafts. They don’t sit flush. Sealing this helps prvnt loosing moisture which is the whole idea of rubbers and parafilm, besides holding the union together… Good practice. Don’t know if matters a lot. Good grafting is an elusive art.
You can use hot pipe callusing method in winter to graft and heal dormant wood and not loose dormancy. Just forms a callus on the heated graft union. Some use variations of it for rooting.scions.
From Cato the elder
The following is a good method of grafting olives, figs, pears or apples:
2 Cut the end of the branch you are going to graft, slope it a bit so that the water will run off, and in cutting be careful not to tear the bark. Get you a hard stick and sharpen the end, and split a Greek willow. Mix clay or chalk, a little sand, and cattle dung, and knead them thoroughly so as to make a very sticky mass. Take your split willow and tie it around the cut branch to keep the bark from splitting.
3 When you have done this, drive the sharpened stick between the bark and the wood two finger-tips deep. Then take your shoot, whatever variety you wish to graft, and sharpen the end obliquely for a distance of two finger-tips; take out the dry stick which you have driven in and drive in the shoot you wish to graft. Fit bark to bark, and drive it in to the end of the slope. In the same way you may graft a second, a third, a fourth shoot, as many varieties as you please.
4 Wrap the Greek willow thicker, smear the stock with the kneaded mixture three fingers deep, and cover the whole with ox-tongue,53 so that if it rains the water will not soak into the bark; this ox-tongue must be tied with bark to keep it from falling off. Finally, wrap it in straw and bind tightly, to keep the cold from injuring it
Bolding added.
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Very interesting!
Makes me wonder what ox-tongue is.
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very likely something in this genus, they’re everywhere. The leaves I imagine they use as a wrapping
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I only used parafilm to wrap my bark graft of sangue e latte and white persian mulberry to a male white mulberry this year. Worked perfectly.
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What? No ox tongue? 
To coat the scion if its short I wrap with parafilm, if its long I slather it with toilette bowl ring wax, both seem to work fine. I keep a small tupperware container of ring wax in my 5gal grafting bucket and it comes in handy quite often. Id think it would work for sealing the tops of larger grafts also, but I seldom do grafts on stumps that are more than 1/2 inch or so so it is rarely needed for that.
I have read most of this thread and have not noticed any mention of a product that I am familiar with. The product is a liquid wax emulsion called anchorseal. Its used in the lumbering industry to seal the ends of fresh cut logs to prevent checking of the log and lumber.
I had some logs sawn into lumber and used it seal my logs and lumber. It’s dries pretty quick and can be re-coated if needed. Since I have seen all kinds of concoctions used to seal up grafts mentioned here I thought I would mention this. I have tried it out with a few of my first attempts at grafting. A couple I painted it on the scion and a couple I just dipped the whole grafted scion. I will report back the results, good or bad. The wax may or may not be a cause of failure since these are my first attempts at grafting.
Here is a link to the material. https://uccoatings.com/products/anchorseal-end-grain-sealer/
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