I think I’ve made a mistake and the order I received did come from an subsequent order I made. I only hope my particularly fuzzy brain lately is the result of spring overload.
I misremembered who I ordered the first roll from for sure but I forgot that I’d ordered the second one from OESCO. I will report back if and when the order from e-bay comes.
You are probably right.
There isn’t any significant wastage to pre-stretch when tearing the non-perforated.
Something like this at 0:06 . You pinch both sides. I don’t tear it lengthwise, and didn’t even watch the rest of that video. Just thought it would be easier to show than describe.
I did get some of that buddy tape to use for 1st time this year from AM Leonard (much better than the bundled 3 different kinds of cheap grafting tape that my friend got off Amazon, which felt too SaranWrappy to me from the start [before you even stretch it]).
I really liked how much stretch it has … maybe too much sometimes).
and its width as well (as Parafilm I really like too, but I usually want to cut the width with my knife in half [which is maybe 2"?] as its a bit less easily-stretchy than the Buddy Tape, so I’m pulling harder to stretch it while on the graft, and Paraflim is easier to stretch in colder March/April weather if its a thinner 1" thickness).
Anyway that extra ‘stretchy-ness’ has its own pluses and minuses, so I’ll prob have both Buddy tape and Parafilm on hand.
BTW, does anyone know what that stretchy ‘black tape’ is that JSacadura uses at 5m30s:
I’m curious if people use it.
Not sure what he uses, but many people here use Temflex 2155. It works great.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-3-4-in-x-22-ft-Temflex-Splicing-Tape-Gray-2155/202195401
Nice to find this Buddy tape thread.
I’m a newer grafter (did one graft in 2022 and then 5 in 2023 as an adult - I remember doing some as a child but those were illogical grafts and more playing than anything)
I was put onto Buddy Tape by ERY enthusiastic folks with a lot more experience than me at the local CRFG chapter. So 100% of all grafts I’ve ever done were with Buddy Tape.
I have a roll of perforated tape and I have so say I’m getting annoyed at how fast it rips and then the perforation makes another rip. Maybe I have an older roll so it’s kind of breaking down and I need to buy a fresh new one this year to compare. I got it from a nursery in early 2022 and they said it was the last one left over from the previous year.
I store it in the fridge with my scions btw since I was told it degrades much faster out in the heat here.
And interestingly enough, I’ve used Buddy tape for everything on grafting including stabilizing the join. The idea there is that if the graft takes, you never need to clean anything up or cut the green plastic tape off or anything.
Obviously way too early to tell if this is the right approach with my … drum roll …. SIX total grafts 
… haha …
Anyone have a good source for buying Buddy tape online in CA btw? Otherwise I’ll look at a local CRFG recommended nursery.
I tried the AMLeo link above and the price seems reasonable but shipping is almost $19 so that seems like a waste unless I’m buying a bunch of other things.
Do you warm up the pieces before grafting? It is much more likely to rip when it’s cold, and is much more stretchy when it’s warm. If my tape is cold, I’ll often hold it between my bare hands to warm it up before I try to use it. My current roll of tape is about the same age and has been stored poorly (about half the time in the greenhouse), but as long as the tape is warm, it stretches fine.
I get mine from OGW which is about the same as amleo after shipping ($9) is added:
And the perforation shouldn’t make a rip because you should tear the tape along the perforations before you use it. I usually cut each perforated piece into 2-3 pieces before using them.
@swincher This is most likely what I’m doing wrong! Thank you! Will do it this way and see if it works better. Appreciate the detailed feedback.
I’m sure Buddy tape is great and many people use it but plain “Parafilm M” 1/2 inch for under $10 has worked fine for me. “Parafilm” is not the same as “Parafilm M”. Parafilm M is similar to Buddy tape.
As @swincher said these tapes work best when warm.
Do you have a link to somewhere that sells that? I did use parafilm M before I heard about buddy tape, but could only find the 2" and 4" widths, which were somewhat annoying to have to cut up.
I found this. Not sure if it is similar to buddy tape
I just saw this, just wanted to point out their official website has this list of available sizes, all of which come in 60m (196’10") length, not 30m:
Maybe they came in 30m once upon a time, but that just means the eBay seller is selling old inventory.
I’ve seen/heard of folks getting together to do a group buy directly from the company.
I found my Scotch brand 3M 2242 rubber splicing tape at Lowes yesterday… nearly 8.00 per roll. Got 3 rolls.
I use parafilm… but then the rubber tape on top to really tighten up the gradt union area.
This brand works perfectly for that. Nice stretch, holds tight.
On the other hand, the cheap vinyl stuff works well enough. When the bark isn’t slipping and the tape is warm enough, it usually can be unrolled from the graft easily. If the bark starts to tear you can stop and cut the tape with a razor knife with a single slice which will prevent any possible girdling. Even when the outer bark is removed I’ve never lost a graft to that injury. It shouldn’t damage the cambium.
Vinyl tape does not constrict plum or peach growth so they are not in danger of being girdled.
The only question I have is, is it possible to wrap the tape too tight with vinyl electric tape? I always wonder how tight I should wrap it and compromise instead of doing an experiment to find out- firm but not tight.
Oof… Temflex the last time I bought it was around 3-4 dollars. I love using the rubber splicing tape cut in thirds lengthwise. I only use about 3/4" per bench graft on average. One roll lasts a long time that way, it’s very stretchy.
I have a new roll of regular parafilm (NOT “M”) I just tried for the first time. There is a noticeable and significant difference in stretching vs Buddy Tape. Fresh Buddy Tape is absolutely the superior product. That said, if you aren’t grafting hundreds per year, it’s a way better product than the plastic look alike stuff. I’d cut strips of plastic grocery bags before buying that stuff. It’s basically saran wrap, which also could be cut in strips and used.
I don’t know what the minimum order is to get it wholesale from their only U.S. distributor, or what the price per roll would be, but I’m guessing it’s some multiple of cases, so at least hundreds and maybe thousands of rolls. Each roll is good for like 1000+ grafts, and I only do ~100 grafts at most per year, so I don’t think I’d ever need more than a couple rolls per decade. Seems like you’d need a pretty large group of very active grafters (and a pretty steep discount vs retail) for direct group buying to make much sense.
Yes! It was at a CRFG chapter right before I joined. So they had a LOT of people who wanted these
But you are totally right - you need a lot of committed folks.
