This is a successful graft I did last year. Best 1 I did by far. Does this look normal for a 2nd year? Does that long growth turn into the main trunk? A question I have been searching for.
Yes, that looks normal, and with very good height for the second year. It may look a little skinny to you, right now, but next year it will begin to fatten up and become the “trunk” you are hoping to see. It appears there are a couple of “scaffold” branches way down near the base, only a foot or so off the ground. Is that correct? If so, I would cut them off all the way to the “collar” against the trunk–so they do not come back. You don’t want to grow branches that low which will hang down and touch the ground when bearing fruit, and where any small animal can browse. Many people, like myself, who live where deer are abundant, prune off all lower scaffold branches that are lower than about 4 feet. That way, once the branches grow and develop, the deer are only able to reach a few of the lowest hanging fruit and cannot destroy the branches. I might suggest you “top” that tree at about 4 1/2 to 5 feet this winter, during the dormant period, ino order to promote the growth of branches at that 4 foot level. In the third year, then, with the root system well established, you will be very pleasantly surprised to see how quickly the scaffolds are established, the trunk widens, and the top of the tree continues to grow.
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I watched this YouTube vid (from Burnt Ridge Nursery) a couple times recently.
Simple grafts (whip mostly) on apples… scionwood to root stock.
He makes it look easy… and he uses rubbers.
TNHunter
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I am totally new to grafting, but purchased M111 rootstocks from Fedco this year and upon arrival yesterday, I see that the rootstock diameters that were stated as being 3/16”-3/8” are more like 3/8-1/2”. Unfortunately I harvested scions from local orchards this winter and they are all about 1/8” smaller than the rootstocks.
What is the best approach to graft these? I am so upset because I spent time learning whip and tongue grafting over the winter, thinking that was the best technique for grafting rootstock to scion, and now I’m not so sure I can use that technique….
Yes you can . Just line up the cambium on one side, they will be fine
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This is true, and it works fine. Oftentimes, however, I find that when wrapping the scion with parafilm, it tries to move towards the center of the root and the cambium layers become separated. You will find that stretching and pulling the parafilm in the one direction or the other worsens the movement of the scion, and so it takes a little finesse in wrapping and learning which side to stretch the wrap (if that makes sense). If it appears the scion has moved after wrapping, unwrap and do it again. No biggie.
To avoid the slipping problem and create more cambium contact, I just make what I call a side whip-and-tongue. I slice the scion as you would normally, but then set it against the rootstock (without touching it) to dtermine the size of slice to take off the side. Slice the side to match the scion, make the tongue as normal, and join like that. If you manage to get the side slice just right, the cambium lines up all the way around and on both sides. If the slice is too small, at first, slice slightly deeper until you get a good match, or cut off part of rootstock and try again. (Maybe practice a few before ruining your good wood and roots.) You can wrap tight without worry of movement to one side or the other. Works great for me, and heals very nice. The drawing I made below shows what I mean, but if you want some real pictures let me know and I can take some for you later today.
I know it can be frustrating to have scions that are smaller than what is desirable, but it is inevitable and frequent, and usually happens more often than not. The worst part of the large rootstocks is that the wood is harder, and so harder to cut, and to have to work with–especially when doing a lot of them. You will find, however, you will have great success making the whip-and-tongue by either lining up on one side and wrapping carefully (so as not to move the scion), or by the method I call a side whip-and-tongue. I predict you will have a 95% success rate, so rest assured and try not to worry. Best of luck!! (And let me know if you need more photos.)
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Thank you for the detailed response! I’m trying to interpret the drawing but I guess a physical picture would be great too, if you have time. My interpretation is that the large diameter (rootstock) is cut “offset” to one side, so that it will still have full engagement of cambium?
I really appreciate the help, I am very grateful for people like yourself that reach back to people like me….inexperienced.
Check out the modified cleft graft as well. I like this graft for smaller scions and you get a few different points of cambium contact. YouTube may help. Jsacadura has a video on apples and pears with a demonstration of this graft.
I am in big hurry today–and out of practice!–so not my best work. These photos I took of my hurried effort should give you the idea though. I took one photo of end view of root trying to show you need to slice bark for graft on most pointed side in order to get into wood below bark without getting too wide. (Thinking now this should be called bark graft, because barely into wood most times.) You’ll see what I mean when you try it.
Other photos self-explanitory. Photo with knife in tongue to show how bark will separate from root and or scion, and that is no biggie. Just wrap it all together with parafilm and t will heal nicely when done. It also takes some trial and error to discover how thin or shallow to make tongue on root–thinner is better.
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