Can anyone tell me what kinds of trees can be grafted in the fall and winter? And what types of grafts are used for them?
Im not aware of any that would be successful after about 3 rd week of August. The reason being that the growing season is nearing its end and callousing temps are generally too low for most types of wood to heal and complete the graft union. So after the summer grafting season you pretty much need to wait until spring. What types of plants are you interested in grafting?
Dennis
Kent, wa
What do you mean by “winter”? Early winter, December?
For example, cherry trees are usually grafted early, in March, and in some places even in February. In my part of the world, winter lasts until March 21st, so it’s winter grafting.
I’ve done greenwood budding on black walnut with about 60% success. It is normally done in late July and August using a mature green bud from current year growth. In one form or another similar buds can be set on many fruit and nut trees in late summer.
Fruit or nut trees.
In my growing zone 8, I have good results for apples and plums in springtime as buds begin to swell on the rootstock when using dormant scions. I also can get good results in late July until mid August using greenwood scions. Your growing zone is a shorter season than ours so you may need to use the spring season to achieve any reasonable growth of grafts.
I use the below seasonal temperature guide to know when the graft will callous efficiently so growth can occur.
Callusing temperatures of Fruit and Nut trees
Many people ask me what are optimum callusing temperatures to ensure a good percentage of viable grafts.
Nectarines/Peaches – 18-26 deg C. ( 64.4 to 78.8F)
Apricots/Cherries – 20 deg C. ( 68F)
Plums – 16 deg C. ( 60.8 F)
Apples/Pears – 13-18 deg C. ( 55.4 to 64.4F)
Walnuts – 27 deg C. (80.6 F)
Grapes – 21-24 deg C. ( 69.8 to 75.2 F).
Figs - 23.9- 29.4 deg C. ( 75-85 F).
Do not forget tissue damage for most temperate fruit will occur at temperatures over 30 deg C. (86 F)
Temperatures either side of the optimum will also work, but the percentage take will be reduced. See graph below for walnuts.
l
Callus graph showing optimal temperature range
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My grafting experience is minimal compared to others, but I mega-chip grafted pear onto callery on labor-day last year (early september) in zone 7A, and it was successful. I think I was just lucky because pears are the easiest to graft, though.
Here’s a picture from Easter this year (early April, so about 7 months post-grafting).
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I successfully bench grafted numerous avocados in my greenhouse last September, but the grafts didn’t grow much until this spring. They did callus, bud out, then stalled once temperatures dropped in late October. They grew vigorously once spring came.
So if you are including bench grafting and greenhouse growing, then you probably have more options, too.
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