August of 2013, with much help from the experts on the original GW from, I grafted 7-8 plum scion to a mature peach tree, one graft survived. So I cut off the branch above the graft. The grafted plum didn’t grow much last year, maybe just an inch.
This is what is the grafted plum look like now. I think it’s about to flower! The whole thing is about 2" long. It’s at a much more advanced stage than the stock peach and the two plum trees where the scion is from.
I planted the two plum trees nearby, the buds are only about 1/4 of the size of the grafted one.
When I first got the grafting idea, somehow I imagined the grafted plum will grow into a big branch eventually. now I don’t what to expect.
This is my original post:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1487384/can-i-graft-multi-fruits-to-a-mature-peach-tree
Sara, to post the pic, just drag it onto the box where you are typing (bottom left of screen).
This past weekend I uncovered my latest attempts at chip budding. Last July (22nd) I made a dozen chip buds on a 3 year old peach tree. In past years, I’ve had horrible results with all forms of budding (Chip & T), but decided to give it another try.
Of the 12, it looks like one made it (another is iffy). Interestingly, the two takes are only a few inches apart on the same branch. I initially thought that it was better bud wood (all of which came from other trees in the yard), but now I’m thinking that it was just a higher, more sun-exposed branch (not that the other were low down).
Here is a pic- it’s the one in the center of my palm, which was the only way I could get my phone to properly focus.
Bob, I finally got the picture posted, thanks!
Hope your graft grows faster than mine. it’s painfully slow.
my success rate is not good either. I tried 7-8 graft (T) each of the past two years, only this one survived. can’t wait to see what happen next.
this is what the graft looked like 5/8/2014
.
Congrats on getting your graft to work. I don’t understand why you have that large shoot growing above the graft, its never going to get any bigger unless you cut that all the way off. If a shoot is not apically dominant it won’t grow much.
Scott, the branch was cut off last year at about 5 inches above the grafting point. I was too scared to cut it close to the graft. Nothing is growing above it now, no buds, no leaves, nothing. Do I need to cut it down more now?
Look up the definition of ‘apical dominance’ on the web, I don’t think this is the case because nothing is growing above the graft to suppress it. Does that mean this graft will not grow into a thick and long branch no matter how long I wait? 
Maybe I can cut down the top a little and cleft graft another plum scion just to practice then.
I would cut that back to about an inch above the bud. Even if that stem is not budding the hormones are being sent up there past your graft (and failing to actually bud due to lack of buds there). There is also another branch that may be too dominant, I can’t tell from the picture where it is going (the one hitting the upper right corner of picture).
The grafted shoot is good, if you get it dominant you can grow a whole trees worth off of it 
Re: “another branch may be too dominant” I have a question. Do you have a rule of thumb for how much distance you want between nurse limb and grafted limb?
It depends how big the limb you completely cut off is compared to the nurse limb. I grafted a pear a few days ago which was a 2-trunk Y tree where I had removed one of the Y’s completely which was 3/4ths of the tree, leaving a very low stump 5" in diameter. I put a few scions into that big low stump even though the “nurse” limb is many feet higher: the low stump is so big that I am confident the graft will take and push. (Note if I was planning on grafting there earlier I would have cut the big trunk off higher; it turns out I needed to back up a variety so it was a late idea to use that big stump). This is an extreme case of huge low stump and very high nurse. The bigger the “nurse” (or rest of tree in general) the more apical dominance you need on the graft.
1 Like
Here’s a pic after I cut off above the bud. I also cut off the bud just below it on the side (from the host tree). Down at the bottom you can see a second chip, which may have taken.
Thanks Scott. The necessary size and location of nurse branches is fuzzy to me. Some grafts e.g. benchgrafts don’t need a nurse limb. Wondering if you ever need a nurse limb when grafting directly on the leader?
Last week I topworked a friends’ old apple tree. It was Y shaped also with the Y down low. I cut one eight inch diameter side of the Y at six feet and left the other side of the Y (very tall) as nurse. I put in eight barkgrats on the big cut.
Making this up as I go. I made such a large cut because neither of us wanted to do ladder work.
You are right, Scott! that is another branch of equal size connected with the grafted branch at the base, as you can see in this picture.
It’s pretty long and have lots of flowers on it. I will cut it off later.
The Grafted Plum has already flowered, if it bears any plum this year, can I keep it or I should not let it fruit?
Thank you for all your help!
You are OK to let it fruit, there are few enough buds on it. First year grafts you never want to fruit, 2nd year top workings you can let fruit a bit.
thank you! hopfully I will get a plum this year, even one is good:-)
