I’ve never grafted before but I’d like to try.
Is it a waste of money to get one of these grafting kits that include the grafting tool, 3 blades, and film? Costs about $20-$25
I want to use it for Apple, Cherry, Pear and Peach
1 Like
we graft jujubes(which has harder wood than any of what you mentioned you wanted to graft), and we’ve been using the grafting tool you just posted for more than a decade now. It has worked for us really well. Being so cheap, it is what we give away to friends and school gardens
1 Like
What about the size of the sticks? Will it work on any size?
No, it’s not a waste. Like most things, it has it’s limits.
Different scion works best with different types of grafts. If you are not confident or haven’t developed good control of your cuts, this will close the gap a little. Once you’ve built a bit of skill or diversified your targets, you’ll likely stop using the tool.
For a lot of wood, especially, it seems to me, the thinner stuff we tend to graft, the side of the V pull out a ways, so you may want to practice using rubber bands or a heavier/stretchy type of tape to keep them together to get a good heal going.
Long term, I’d look to getting a good grafting knife over the kit.
Very casual or just learning, you’ll appreciate this.
I suspect commercial level folks can suggest a whole different set of tools for heavier production.
3 Likes
Much smaller than standard target sizes and it gets iffy. Mine had three blades and the skinniest got you down to as small as you’ld want to go on most things.
it is quite capable of cutting through pencil-thick(or even sharpie-thick) jujube wood, which is no mean feat. The omega blade is the first to get sketchy due to the more demanding task it needs to accomplish. Due to its ball-socket mechanism, we reserve the omega for the most precious/rarest of scions
1 Like
the only thing need to watch out for is that sometimes the tool has excessive drippy-lubricant, and you wouldn’t want to accidentally anoint the raw ends of scionwood/rootstock with oil, as that pretty much ascertains graft-failure.
would be good to apply some centrifugal force on the brand new-tool to see if oil gets flung out from the nooks and crannies. then just wipe dry with several swabs of alcohol
In the end, there are lots of ways to graft. It can be hard to imagine, but people grafted tree’s many centuries ago, without fancy tools or parafilm.
Lots of ways to get into grafting.
i have a mixed feeling about those tools.
I don’t own one. But have had one in my hand.
The problem with those tools in my mind is, that beginners tend to buy them, because they are afraid of the “knifework” in grafting.
Those tools however only work if you can perfectly match scion wood and rootstock thickness.
This is possible in commercial or semi commercial situations, where you have dedicated tree’s for growing 100s of twigs of scion wood of all thickness.
But is usually not the norm for hobbyists.
So if you want to graft different things/thickness of scions and rootstocks. Sooner or later you will need a sharp knife.
If i where to start all over again i wish i went for
- good 1000 grit sharpening stone. Sharpen your knives - #3 by oscar (33$)
- decent knife, can be anything from a grafting knife, to a reground pocket knife. Or a repurposed thrift store find. (1$ to ~20$)
- a few feet of parafilm. A whole roll is usually overkill. Some sellers on ebay or similair websites like it. sell parafilm in smaller lengths at a markup. If you really like it you can always buy a 125 feet roll later. (~7 dollar to get enough for 100+ grafts)
it would cost you a little bit more than the set your looking at now. And you would have to learn 2 new skills
-sharpening knifes. (also useful for kitchen knifes etc)
-cutting grafts with a knife
But in the end, it would be way more versatile and useful than such a tool.
And you woul need little else to continue for a long time. And you can also sharpen your kitchen knifes!
you could however with some practice and lower expectations (less % take) also graft with a Stanly knife and some strips of the bags of potting soil. it’s always a tradeoff between time/money/skill
4 Likes
@oscar
Okay, you talked me into ordering a whetstone. I have a cheap one somewhere, but it was my uncle’s who used to work on cars. No telling what saturates that thing. He always kept his pocket knives shave-your-arm sharp and I watched him split a hair once.
On the other side, my grandmother used a steel to sharpen her kitchen knives. I still do that. she had one of those old black-steel wooden-handled paring knives that was little more than a toothpick she’d had it so long. It was still the best knife in the kitchen for peeling vegetables and the like. I used to have one like how it started out, and it was fun to set them side by side.
I’m tempted to order one of the sushi knives, but I don’t really need one of those.
1 Like
I’ve got two of those grafting tools. I bought one and misplaced it. Bought another one and then fund the first one. I am anxious to try it out and see if it is easier than just a grafting knife. Time will tell.
Can you post the link for it?
This one is about the same price on aliexpress and is significantly better quality. I have owned both and would not recommend the one you linked in comparison.
Also see Beginner Grafting Guide
1 Like
Most of the grafts I do are on trees with vigorous growth that have water sprouts to graft onto. If you are grafting on a water sprout you can go higher or lower to adjust the diameter of the sprout to match that of the piece of the scion wood.
I have been grafting for a quarter of a century and never have learned to use a knife because it seems pointless to me. Splice grafts with the right tool provide a maximum amount of cambium to cambium contact and even with a typical hand pruner virgins have reasonable success after a few minutes of instruction.
This is the tool I use now, but I used to use any quality bypass pruner— Felco or ARS. https://www.amleo.com/double-cut-hand-pruners-3-4-inch-cutting-capacity/p/ART-17?msclkid=12ad0c34d3611c75903f6fdbbae9fd89
My record for most growth in a season was a. plum graft I did on an established tree at the top. The small scion grew its first season to over a 1" diameter scaffold 8’ long with a lot of secondary branching… it was much larger than the biggest bare root trees I buy.
2 Likes
Ryan
Your link says , sold out.
Bummer
If you go to the aliexpress application, search for grafting tools. This one appears to be $26 with free shipping, many more listings are available for the same tool. Just pick a seller with good reviews.
US $12.81 32%OFF | New Large Grafting Tool Garden Professional Branch Cutter Secateur Pruning Plant Shears Boxes Thick Branches Grafting Scissor
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mttV7F0
3 Likes
Completely agree,
Only about 10% of my grafts have the scion diameter exactly equal to the receiving rootstock wood. Which is why to be successful you cannot rely on one tool to do it all! When I am grafting on a new variety, I want to choose the location and not just be stuck with a location where the size matches. Learning how to use various techniques to match the cambiums and how to use a sharp knife to make those cuts is the best advice one can offer!
Dennis
Kent, wa
6 Likes
I purchase that grafting tool my first year of grafting. It works ok, but it is hard to put the scion and rootstock together, and hold them while you tape them together. The next year I started using a knife. I think you get better grafts, with a knife. I use this whip and tongue graft. I make the my cuts long. (more cambium to cambium contact) I can use this graft on different diameter branches. I make the cut on my scion wood first, and then do a little whittling on the branch to match the scion match cut. I then tape together and wax the entire graft and scion.
4 Likes
That’s a very good example of the many advantages of learning how to make unique cuts to maximize cambium contact. In your example the extra long cuts make the graft union much stronger having more resistance to bending once the fruit load builds. I make all my whip & tongues as long as the scions can allow for that reason. Simple tools cannot do this
Dennis
Kent wa
2 Likes
The v-cut tool I linked makes a deeper “V” than the original post tool (also called an omega). I found the “v cut” or zenport style tool holding the bud is easier to use for that reason amongst others.
1 Like
Nay. I vote for knife.
1 Like