Grafting ideas and questions

Toss it all in man stir it up.

Dax

Also - 160 sounds so HOT. I believe you, but wow. How does it not fry the buds?

10,000 scions later, Bryan . . .

1 Like

Read everything I wrote. “Work quickly”.

You can put your entire finger in that wax/water 160 F mix just don’t hold it in there and expect it not to hurt cowboy.

Dax

2 Likes

I was concerned about the heat damaging the scions but they were all ok. My process wasn’t as exacting as @Barkslip. I used an old stainless thermos jug. It doesn’t take much wax. I put a few chips of paraffin in and added microwaved water. Probably didn’t need it but I had cold water nearby to immediately dip the coated scions.

Did you stick your finger in their first, Bill? :smile:

2 Likes

No way was I sticking my finger in hot wax although its low melting point would have been safe. I used the old eye look check when I pulled out the coated scions.

3 Likes

Makes sense. Same concept as to how a 2-hour freeze of 25F may not hurt peach blossoms, but a nine hour freeze of 27F might.

We wrap the graft itself (always a cleft graft, no matter the size of the scion or rootstock) with 1/2" clear vinyl tape, then wrap the graft and scion with parafilm tape. We only leave one bud on the scion, as they get shipped immediately after grafting and often go thousands of miles in shipping and then by scooter, boda boda or on top of the head once they arrive. From grafting to planting is about two weeks, they sprout about two weeks after planting.

7 Likes

I planted a G890 apple root sprout in a nursery bed and grew it out for one year. It is now a 5 ft whip that is the diameter of a sharpie marker at the soil level. I just moved it to its final location. I was able to get most of the root system although the dirt fell off the root ball. Can i cut it off and graft to it in spring? Thats my plan but not sure if it will be established enough by then. Seems like this approach cant be any worse than bench grafting but im not certain.

Yes but on warm days it’s very soft so the scion is hard to handle.

Yes, you can. Spring or summer budding is also a good way to do this, but whatever grafting technique you’re comfortable with should work.

Ok thanks. I’ll hack it off a few inches above ground next spring then cleft graft.

Ive got two g41 that i treated similarly although i plan to keep the main trunk as g41 and graft to the branches (these are 2 yr trees with several branches). Id like to put my fireblight prone varieties like pink lady on there. That way i’m less likely to lose the entire tree if FB gets into a branch - at least in theory haha. Anyone tried this? FB is BAD here. I should probably give up on apples but of course cant do it.

3 Likes

In my area I have only seen FB on pears, not on apples. To protect a pear tree against FB, I use a grafting approach similar to what you described: first graft a FB-resistant variety (Warren) on OHxF 87 rootstock, let Warren grow multiple limbs and then graft other varieties on Warren. Same with Korean Giant (instead of Warren) for Asian pears.

1 Like

Hi Stan. I hadn’t heard that Korean Giant is FB resistant, that’s super helpful info. Any idea on the degree of resistance? I.e. does it seem to be super resistant or just slightly better than other Asian pears? I appreciate the help!

1 Like

Im doing branch grafting on callery pear, which seems very good at shrugging off FB. Still waiting on fruit. Not sure if g41 is as resistant as callery, but i have noticed my g41 get infected in the leader by rubbing against a wire for too long. It shrugged it off and healed over. Is going well now

1 Like

I don’t have much experience yet with growing Asian pears. I did not see any FB on my Korean Giant in two years but don’t have data to say how it compares to other varieties. I definitely read somewhere (and likely more than once) that Korean Giant is relatively resistant to FB but cannot find the source(s) at the moment.

Update: a simple google search yielded some references:

“This is the most fire blight resistant of all asian pears.”

“Excellent tolerance to fire blight.”

“This productive tree is very disease resistant.”

It’s in the list of resistant cultivars.

See also David Ulmer’s Guide to Blight-Resistant Pears.

2 Likes

I have a Chojuro that has,what could be Fire Blight.The last couple years,all the flowers turned brown and no fruit.There is a Korean Giant and 20th Century grafted.Only the KG had a fruit and the TC became black and died.bb

Fire blight in Asian pears is like fire blight on other pome fruit, local climate contributes to the occurance and severity of it.

My KG has not suffered fire blight but suffered blossom blast (another bacterial disease) one year when it was wet and cool during bloom time.

One of the more fire blight resistance is Shinko. I would say, KG is moderately resistant.

If you can find other Asian pear growers in your area, you can find out from them what fire blight resistant varieties are in your area,

I am in New England, my experience with A pear varieties may be vastly different from those growing them in Kansas or New Mexico.

1 Like