Took these photos for the people who had not saw me use clay before. So why do it? I’m attempting to cool the grafts down and lock in the moisture so they can callus. Why not use wax? It’s the wrong time of the year to use grafting sealant or wax it does more harm than good.
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Grafts typically take 3 weeks to take “For successful grafting to take place, the vascular cambium tissues of the stock and scion plants must be placed in contact with each other. Both tissues must be kept alive until the graft has “taken”, usually a period of a few weeks.”
What determines if grafts are successful?
" * Compatibility of scion and stock: Because grafting involves the joining of vascular tissues between the scion and rootstock, plants lacking vascular cambium, such as monocots, cannot normally be grafted. As a general rule, the closer two plants are genetically, the more likely the graft union will form. Genetically identical clones and intra-species plants have a high success rate for grafting. Grafting between species of the same genus is sometimes successful. Grafting has a low success rate when performed with plants in the same family but in different genera. And grafting between different families is rare.[3]
- Cambium alignment and pressure: The vascular cambium of the scion and stock should be tightly pressed together and oriented in the direction of normal growth. Proper alignment and pressure encourages the tissues to join quickly, allowing nutrients and water to transfer from the stockroot to the scion.[4]: 466
- Completed during appropriate stage of plant: The grafting is completed at a time when the scion and stock are capable of producing callus and other wound-response tissues. Generally, grafting is performed when the scion is dormant, as premature budding can drain the grafting site of moisture before the grafting union is properly established. Temperature greatly affects the physiological stage of plants. If the temperature is too warm, premature budding may result. Elsewise, high temperatures can slow or halt callus formation.[3]
- Proper care of graft site: After grafting, it is important to nurse the grafted plant back to health for a period of time. Various grafting tapes and waxes are used to protect the scion and stock from excessive water loss. Furthermore, depending on the type of graft, twine or string is used to add structural support to the grafting site. Sometimes it is necessary to prune the site, as the rootstock may produce shoots that inhibit the growth of the scion.[3]"
This shows a graft i made pushing growth but i want the graft to hold off before it greens up. Most people see those green leaves as a good thing but they really are not unless it’s been a few weeks.
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Today is June 8th so what did the grafts from the beginning of the thread made a few weeks ago look like now?
They are callusing very good they look great. There was not much chance of failure unless factors of failure listed above came into play. Another words we cannot control the heat and unexpectedly in Kansas thecweather can move into the high 90s like it has done all spring. Everytime I was trying to graft it would go up to 94 degrees. The idea that temperature is an uncontrollable factor bothers many new grafters in Kansas. They cab do everything right and the grafts would fail in those situations if it stays hot long enough. The fact we have 100% take rate is not a matter of skills alone i wish it was so simple. Most of the difference in grafting success is weather related. Some things are in God’s hands so a person in Washington might have 100% success and in a climate like Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, or Oklahoma 100% failure. Just think in 2 - 3 years we will be picking pears from these pear trees. The original thread was started 13 days ago and the oldest graft was 2 weeks old at that time. So the graft above is 27 days old. As mentioned it takes just 3 weeks for a graft to take. Later this season or next season these will need pruned as you can see. Pears never grow like I want but rather like I expect.
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Rapid growth results in tall soft stems that lean over due to weight. I cut a tree sapling of something like sweetgum and tape it to the callery trunk then use a cloth tie to support at least one vertical stem. This gives the tree a vertical growth pattern which helps immensely when it carries a fruit load.
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got a similar question for you Clark or anyone else that might know. i cut a 5in. dia. M. alba off about 15in from the ground and bark grafted 2 illni. everbearing scions to it. even though i cut it off early morning , cut it again lower and grafted it in the evening, the stump wasnt weeping until the next rain. its been 2 weeks and its still weeping. buds on the scions havent changed. ive tried for several years to graft this tree over but none took. this time i waited until it was leafing out to do it. you think they will take even if its weeping as bad as it is? unfortunately the tree had a split low on the trunk i had to cut below so i couldnt leave a nurse branch. figured mulberry are pretty tough and would survive it.
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The mulberry will survive and weeping is normal with them just like grafting grapes. Sometimes they graft easily if the weather is right but if slightly wrong they are very hard to graft.
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hopefully the 4th time is the charm. thanks.
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The temperatures are warming up I think it’s almost tbud time. Have lots of pears that need tbud grafted. Would you go ahead and start if it was you?
well Clark, im seeing growth on both scions on my mulbery. 1st time doing bark grafts and they took on a tree that 4 attempts at cleft grafts have failed. I may go though my property next spring and graft a bunch of mtn. ash to pears this way. i don’t have critters here so i can cut closer to the ground then graft. i got to say bark grafting is even easier that cleft and is less invasive to the tree. might not be as sturdy as a cleft at 1st. though. certainly can do a bunch quick. how long should i leave the elect. tape on there before removing it? got wrapped in parafilm then elect. tape over the wound then wrapped around the edge to hold it tight. i should be ok to let both those scions grow right?
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Yes bark grafts aka rind grafts are very easy. It takes a big tree a long time to heal over. I’ve done many rind grafts. Mtn ash would be good rootstock for pears. Yes you can let all the scions grow but later you will pick a dominant one. The sooner the top of the tree heals over the better and two scions heals faster than one. Your not out of the woods yet on mulberry rub off all growth besides the scions. Get ready to stake it they can have 10 feet of growth on a graft in a season on mulberry. Leave the tape on until it starts to cause a problem. Another words let them heal 6 weeks or so but as they start to heal over don’t let the tape become part of the graft.
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I grafted some pear and shipova scions in April, just about two months ago (my first ever grafts!). I top worked a large callery at my parents house, and also top worked a large aronia bush in my back yard.
The pears/shipovas on aronia rootstock shot up like a rocket! I had to remove the electrical tape about a week ago because there were bulges around the tapes indicating girdling. The grafts looked nice and strong and have survived a bit of rain and wind. But, the scion grew so much (between one and two feet of growth so far) that the new growth is flopping over, and I’m nervous they’ll break the grafts.
- Should I prune the new growth back at all, or just try to support it with some stakes and twine?
- The bush is getting super crowded and overgrown, cause I grafted two sticks per trunk, and the bush probably had 6 or 7 trunks. When should I pick the stronger scion and cut out the spare? Should I leave both per trunk for a little longer, or is it okay to cut one out now? The trunks are between 1" and 2" across.
The pears on callery rootstock have had slower, but steadier growth. Based on the pictures my dad sends me, I’d say probably about 6 to 12 inches or so per scion? I did three scions each around the two bigger trunks (about 4"across), and two scions on the one smaller trunk (about 2"across). All bark grafts.
- Assuming there’s no girdling (it’s hard to tell in the photos my dad sends me), how long should I leave the electrical tape on?
- Should I leave all the scions on to help heal over the old big cut surfaces? Or should I just pick one scion per trunk? Or leave them all for now, and pick one later?
- Should I prune the new growth at all, it just let it go?
I’ll be visiting me parents the last week of June, so I can do some maintenance on the tree then.
If it were me I would cut the grafts off at about a foot. Most people will tell you to stake them. The bottom line I have more trees so cutting the graft off prevents breaking until it has a chance to get stronger. Here is an example Leona Pear
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i agree. i had to cut back all my pear scions on my mtn. ash because they were starting to split the branch off the tree. i cut them 12in and reinforced the branch crotch until it heals. im hoping it gets strong enough again to support the branch and fruit when it comes. pear is very vigorous on m. ash.
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i have a shipova on aronia that is a very slow grower for me. its in a raised bed and has barely put on any new growth in 2 years. i suspect it has root issues because you can easily move the tree back in forth. so much so i staked it.
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Pears on aronia don’t seem to grow much for me. They are alive after several years but that’s about it. They grew some but I’m not impressed either.
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ill probably pull it next season. its the only tree/ bush that didnt react to being watered with agrothrive. the rest perked right up and put on new growth in a week. great stuff!
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Callery are great rootstocks! Both of these wild ones i photographed above are doing great. These are follow up photos just to update how the grafts are doing. These trees will likely be producing in 2-4 years so it’s always a huge accomplishment to graft them.
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Clark do you ever go back and prune to control height or you just let them grow naturally?
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I don’t prune to control height because that’s a benefit not an issue for me with pears. Deer might decide to eat all my pears if they are to low and I can’t fence off everything. Can grow more pears if I go up in the same amount of space. If my pear is 30 feet tall and someone else’s is 10 feet tall I raise the same amount of pears in 1 space that they get from 3 trees. Personally I think a taller tree yields more pears than a shorter pear in general because it has more nutrients from sunshine and other things. Pears that are bigger withstand droughts better. Quince just don’t have the root system callery does. Why prune all the time? Many people say they just cut their tree down to size. Think about this they are producing pear wood but I’m producing pear fruit. Year after year they prune off wood but unless your selling wood that’s wasteful. If your selling scions or smoker wood I can see that but why do all that work for less benefit? I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t bend the top down if you don’t like climbing so high or don’t have a large pole to pick higher branches. If growth control is the plan there is girdling and branch bending that might be ideas. There are many other reasons I like bigger trees. Everytime someone tells me they have 5 acres and it’s not large enough for a good fruit orchard i do grin inside. Think to myself they need to quit keeping their trees 7 feet tall! Don’t worry about big trees myself just let them grow. There for awhile when i was real sick I was concerned because I didn’t want to risk climbing the ladder so I planted tons of ohxf333. Great trees but then I discovered a longer picking pole that reaches over 30 feet. Weigh out and consider what I said I hope the answer for you is in there. Tree height is an individual decision which is different for every person who has a unique location. By the way i do still use ohxf333 on very disease prone trees. Maybe I should not grow those non fireblight resistant trees! All of what I said could change by next year but that’s my opinion for now.
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