Last spring I bark grafted a Hollywood plum onto a 3" diameter trunk of Early Golden. The Hollywood grew about 4 feet, then branched out, and looks good. But is this lumpy union what the graft is supposed to look like? Or is this an example of incompatibility? This was my first attempt at grafting and I am hooked!
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I wouldn’t say it’s “supposed” to look like that, but it may not cause a problem.
Someone more experienced with stone fruit grafts have better advice than me 
Looks like a cherry tree to me…probably ok graft, just a bit ugly.
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OK…I didn’t real the details I guess…plum tree.
It is OK. I get these when I don’t take off grafting tape in time, but it doesn’t affect the growth.
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Thank you all… love your experience!
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I do an occasional bark graft but never very well. Mine always look weird, and I just don’t have as much faith in them. Actually, mine tend to look pretty ugly! I’d say yours is doing quite well.
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I probably would have put 2 or 3 scions on that stub, helps close the wound faster, and increases your odds if they don’t all take, or if one breaks off.
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The growth looks pretty normal to me except it is a little strange that there is callusing at the top of the rootstock and the bottom of the scion but nothing in between.
Here is a a recent photo of Palsteyn Apricot bark graft on Marianna 2624 plum that was done last spring. Most of my bark grafts are ugly and bulbous at first but they smooth out over time and eventually look normal. Doing 3 grafts like @murky suggested will help the wound heal faster.
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I was recently looking at some bark inlays i did on pawpaws 2 years ago. They looked decent for a while but now the roostock bark at the top is kinda peeling away/decaying, and it looks pretty gnarly.
But not as ugly as the grafts on this page! LOL 
Thanks marknmt, murky and ThomasEconomous TrilobaTracker. I did do 3 grafts around the trunk. Hard to believe, this was the best one.
Are you supposed to let all three grow, forming a triad, or choose the best one?
You’ll want to eventually choose the best, but until you do the others helps to form the callous around the cut rootstock. So don’t be in a hurry to remove them.
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I did remove the other 2 last August. Probably better to have waited till this spring. Thanks!
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I’d wait until they look like ThomasEconomous’ picture above. After the callouses merge.
Hi Chris,
Agree with all above, given you still have exposed wood not protected by bark, I would cover the exposed wood with a pruning sealer to keep it from drying out and exposure to the critters. Several applications will help it heal up
Dennis
OK will do. Thanks!!
Hi Chris,
You may recall our discussion about micro climates. This weekend I created one over my muscadine arbor to determine if a warmer climate might stimulate blossoming and fruiting. Today as temps rose to 58 F ambient, underneath the cloth cover it was 63 F. So as expected there is a fair amount of heat held with the greenhouse effect. Just holding out the colder winds will probably do a lot even on cloudy days. So I has two other plants that I planted last fall, not yet protected by the cover. I will see how many weeks the vines under the cover advance in bud breaking before the ones not covered. Should help answer my question if it’s even possible to grow Muscadines here. Below is pic of my covered arbor
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I, too, have embarked on 2 micro-climate permanent structures made from 1" EMT metal conduit, corner fittings, and Solexx. One is to boost the temps on my espaliered pluots and the other is for persimmons.
Hopefully the structures don’t become airborne in January!
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Very impressive!
Nice strong structure, it would be pretty easy to tie it down to some ground anchors to prevent wind damage. You can build a very inexpensive and strong ground anchor system with a series of several ground stakes where the support stakes are tied to the top of the stakes nearest to your shed corner. Then use a strong cable wire to secure each shed corner. If you use stainless steel cables and steel pickets for stakes, it would last many years.
Picture is pretty crude but should give you some idea.
Good luck.
Dennis
Hi Chris
Do pluots require more heat than plums?
I do not yet have any, but am in process of grafting many new plum and cherry plum varieties. How many years old are your pluots?
Dennis