I am brand new at grafting so I have all sorts of questions. I’ve read plenty about using scions at just the right time but I am curious about using scions starting to bud, on trees that are strongly pushing out leaves…seems like it could work. You don’t strike me as a first-time grafter; have you tried this before?
I’ve used scions with swollen buds and I’ve had average success. I’ve never grafted a scion that had buds that had broken. There is a ton of literature out there and almost all experts will tell you that you’ll get the highest take rate when the scions are completely dormant. That gives the graft time to callus and create a good “pipeline” to supply sap to the scion. To increase odds of success:
- Graft when the rootstock or understock has begun to wake up and sap is flowing. The old adage is leaves that are the size of squirrels ears.
- Graft when the scions are at their most dormant
- Use the grafting method that give you the best and strongest cambium contact.
- Prevent the scions from drying out by wrapping in parafilm.
- Ensure a nice tight connection at the graft. Budding rubbers, electrical tape, or splicing tape are good ways to apply a lot of pressure and keep the graft union nice and tight.
- Warmer temps help although you don’t want scorching heat that fries or dries the graft out before it can successfully take. You don’t want bitterly cold temps either. Apples and pears tolerate the most cold while peaches, nectarines and apricots like warmer conditions.
Of course these ideal situations aren’t always possible as I decribed in my post above.
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Thanks for the nice review speedster!!
Is there a low night time temp that is too low for a good grafting success?
In other words, if sap is flowing and leaves have started to grow but the lows are in the mid 40s, is that too low to graft?
I grafted cherry a few weeks ago and then temps got down below freezing. Down to 20 in fact. They appear to be fine as of now. 40’s as night should be fine especially if the day temps are in the 60’s. What would probably hurt the grafting is to have extended cold stretches that have several days below freezing and very low day time temps. For peach I’ve often heard that day temps should be in the 70’s. Keep in mind I’m not an expert, I just read a lot. haha
Does anyone have suggestions as to how aggressive one should be at removing new shoots coming out of the rootstock (Apples)?
Do you remove them right away, or wait until you have some leaves showing on the scions?
I was pretty aggressive about removing them as soon as I would see them. I checked daily as soon as the tree was grafted. I had a very large root stock and it try’s to sprout heavily from the main trunks.
I’ve been wondering the same thing. Since my rootstocks were dormant when I received, grafted, and planted them I saw the first tries to leaf out as very encouraging. Now, I realize that with almost no roots on all but one unit, I suppose I should eliminate the little leaves/buds because, ideally, the rootstocks should have been planted and grown for a year just to form roots. The good news is that the scions are budding, too.
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I remove all the buds on the root stock as they appear. If the scion fails I have never had a root stock fail to leaf out at that point.
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Note to self.When making the cut on a branch for a splice or especially a whip and tongue,think about the placement,so that it will easier to do the next steps,like cutting the tongue or having the best view of the union when wrapping up. Brady
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Well, now…my (accidentally) upside apple graft is lookin’ good.
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Some apple chip buds i did in summer 2014 have quite a few flowers opening… can i let these fruit?
Here is a topic that I started a couple days ago. It doesn’t conclusively answer your question, but it presents plenty to think about. Based on the comments, I’ll probably be removing all the fruit this year. The one fruit I let grow last year on a tree that I had had one year may have affected the tree. That tree essentially didn’t grow last year. All the rest of my trees I planted in Feb 15. I think I’ll let them get better established before allowing any fruiting. If you follow this link, start at the top of the page.
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Ummm…upside down graft (accident).
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Looks like one of my mulberry grafts is actually taking. I think this one was whip & tongue, but I’m not sure. Jury is still out on some of the others, although a few have a not-promising shriveled look to them.
What worked? This was probably the largest scion I had, in terms of width. Narrower ones have failed sooner. I’ll make sure to go with the thicker ones in the future.
Not a great success rate, but I’m still pleased, since this was the variety I most wanted to propagate. It’s tasty in the white stage, but the berries will turn light purple if you leave them long enough.
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curious, what’s that duct tape at the top for?
Most grafters I’ve seen put some parafilm or wax on the ends of a scion when they cut it off, I think to cut down on moisture loss. This is my version.
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Have you done that before? I would be afraid of ripping strips off removing it later.
I have not. I’ve only grafted once before, with help. I am not recommending this to others.
(Unless it ends up working, in which case I will be recommended it loudly and often.)
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It you’re talking about parafilm, buds grow right though it, you don’t remove, no need to. I use the stuff with fig cuttings too. If you mean duct tape, I agree, i would not use it. I used wax this year too, and I’m sold on it, I will be using it from now on.
So any recommendations on when I should try to remove the duct tape? I can cut a slit if people think it is likely to cause damage otherwise.
On my failed grafts, I visited the parent tree the other day, and a lot of its end segments (corresponding to pieces I cut off for scion) seem to be dead wood. I’m not sure what’s happening there, but it makes me think that maybe mine didn’t fail because of my grafting technique. Perhaps some spray it caught from the roadside? The tree seems otherwise healthy, it just isn’t leafing out on the last six inches of most branches.
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