I understand that grafting peach trees is kinda hard. At least for us newbs.
Is that because of the scion, or because of the use of Lovell (peach) rootstock?
The reason I’m asking is because I’m planning on grafting Apricot and European plum to Lovell this spring.
My best grafting results were peach on Viking rootstock.
You can’t let it dry out and I keep it small by keeping it in shallow soil(2 feet) and it handles high ph soil very well.
Pluses and minuses.
I’m not sure why,but the Apricot and Plum should take better than Peach.
From what i understand (newb here) budding is a more successful means of propagating stone fruit than grafting.
Budding and chipping are easy and reliable ways to graft stone fruit assuming conditions are met for successful callousing, but I’ve done OK on plum with whip and tongue and cleft grafts. But I think the only successful grafts I’ve had with apricot have been chips/buds. But cots and I just don’t seem to get along a lot of the time!
Chip/Bud as in summer budding or winter chip budding?
Marks comments should be heeded on callousing!
Typically Scott Smith tells us that peaches do not graft well if the ambient temps are not well above 70F. Even though your scions can callous at much lower temps, your rootstock is peach! So you need to wait until your daily highs are in the high 70s and trending up! Keep your dormant scions stored until your rootstock is ready. I am no fan of budding unless you are well practiced and have a batting average above 50. Stick with easier to learn grafts of 2-3 healthy growth buds per scion like cleft or whip and tongue. Practice many times on waste wood before the real deal. Since you are likely to be grafting as summer is heating up, use foil to shield the graft from direct sun for the first 2 weeks. Within the first 3 weeks you should see buds breaking indicating a take. When this occurs, remove the foils.
Good luck
Dennis
Kent, wa
Here are the ideal callousing temps for most fruits:
Callusing temperatures of Fruit and Nut trees:
People often inquire, 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). So if you use electrical tape or any dark materials to graft, cover them with aluminum foil to prevent the sun from killing healing tissues.
Temperatures either side of the optimum will also work, but the percentage take will be reduced. See graph below for walnuts.
Callus graph showing optimal temperature range
Dennis,
I haven’t had much trouble grafting Plum or Apricot scions onto Peach,in temps below 70F.There’s something about Peach/Nectarine to each other that usually has the low success rate,even during a 70-80F stretch.Maybe it’s variety.Sure like to find out.
Very useful Dennis -thanks.
We had a terrible spring last year. We had temps in Mar & Apr lower than in January & Feb. If I’d waited for those recommended temps I wouldn’t have gotten much grafting done. I grafted an apricot with plum (cleft) very early in the year (Mar or Apr) and it did well. I figure nothing wagered, nothing gained, IIRC I started grafting in Feb. If you graft early (and you have lots of scions), then if the graft fails you have plenty of time to have another go at it. To each their own I guess.
Yup.
