First time doing chip bud grafting

Hello All,

First time trying out grafting of any type. I am in Zone 9b (NorCal). I grafted these (white peach on yellow peach) couple months ago. Do these four grafts look like they took and is it how graft should look after two months? In each case, the bud seemed to have been swelling out of budding tape before I removed the tape. I believe that is good sign.

Also should I put the grafting tape back on to keep the graft away from rain/hail through the winter?

Anything else I should be thinking about doing to ensure their long term success?

Third and fourth are unequal diameter grafts and the grafted-on-branch is 2-3 years old. Third one does look like it won’t survive long term.

Much thanks.

GRAFT 1:

GRAFT 2

GRAFT 3

GRAFT 4

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They all look like they’ve taken nicely to me, and yes, the one might not make it but I suspect it will. My only advice would be to consider leaving the tape on longer, but you’re kind of in an “it ain’t broke so don’t fix it” situation so maybe just leave it at that!

Sometimes chips seem to perch on top of the branch, but they seem to do fine all the same. So if they do start to look a little weird don’t be too concerned.

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Thanks Mark.

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I did a chip bud on an Asian pear that scarred over like that. It took a while but eventually started to grow it’s about two foot now.

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Thanks Blue. Was the 2ft growth over one season?

Yes Asian pear grow quickly

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Hi Mark,

[Marknmt] My only advice would be to consider leaving the tape on longer,

I forgot to ask. I have some additional similar grafts that I did at the same time but I didn’t remove the tape. Should I leave the tape on the graft through winter or remove it, say, 4 months after the graft or may be after tree has gone dormant (all leaves have fallen)?

I think you can remove it anytime. Your chips are doing fine; just be sure that if you do leave any tapes on any grafts that they come off before they have a chance to girdle the stock. I generally use rubbers and parafilm which will break down before they hurt anything, but people also use poly strips, electrical tape, you name it and what have you - these have to be sliced lengthwise after the graft takes.

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Thanks. I used parafilm. And then on top of it, but for where the bud is, I used grafting tape (plastic film) to hold everything in place tight. So I guess I can remove the plastic film graft tape but leave parafilm in place.

Somewhat related question: Is there a way to infer how good a grown-from-seed root stock is? This is a 6 yr old peach tree that I grew from seed. It got a lot of flowers last two seasons but only couple of fruits each time.

Update:

Grafts have come out strong - even the ones where the scion diameter was half that of rootstock branch. Hopefully they will survive coming summer and winter and I will have yummier fruits next year. So what are the next steps I should take?

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Update #2.

75% of the peach on peach grafts took and the branch grown off these buds have had growth that I didn’t foresee. Each are 2-3 ft long and 1/2 inch thick. I wonder if this crazy growth has to do with too much nitrogen in fertilizer Here is three of them - will need prune off all but one

I guess it doesn’t have to be perfect fit as long as (a) knife is sanitized properly and (b) some portion of cambium is in touch and (c) you wrap it around with Parafilm or such to ensure no moisture loss. I am sure winter weather, zone, rootstock, etc all play a role

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