Grafting tape-how critical is it to rooting dormant cuttings? Can I get away with not using it, or will my cutting dry up too fast? (I’m trying to do mulberry)
For the top portion? I have not covered the tops of mine this year and they are rooting fine. Some look dry but I don’t know if the wood is just dying or what. I don’t ever wrap my cuttings when I root outside either, btw, but I water them everyday.
short answer. Not critical.
long awnser. it depends…
from what i understand some mulberry’s root really easy. but some are harder. For the harder ones wrapping the tops in parafilm M or buddytape is really nice.
If rooting them is not that critical. (easy to root variety. or you can easily get new cutting) i would just try without tape.
If it’s a hard to source variety or one known to be hard to root. Sourcing some parafilm M or buddytape might be a good idea.
Keep in mind: not all “grafting tape” is created equal. And a lot that’s sold as “grafting tape” on ebay/amazon i would not classify as grafting tape. It’s more plain plastic. Like cling film or the plastic from a potting soil bag. Not to say you can’t graft with it. But i would not be happy if i ordered grafting tape and got a empty potting soil bag.
Some of the “good stuff” is Parafilm M from bemis corporation. And and buddytape from aglis
Those wax type tapes stretch, stick to themselves, don’t let moisture trough. But do let some air/oxygen through. And thus are superior to “plastic tapes”
They also don’t need to be cut off after a while. Which is a nice bonus. No need to remove or worry about girdling grafts.
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I just dollop the cut tops with wax. Here wrapping the whole scion is merely asking for fungus or rots. Too humid.
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Teflon tape from the plumbing section in hardware stores is very inexpensive and you can wrap it around any graft or cut.
I use it when I chip bud or whip and tongue and others.
Cost a lot less than grafting tape.
Get grafting tape aka parafilm M if your scionwood or cutting is something you value.
Otherwise just stick a cutting in the soil and don’t worry about it.
I do both. With my fig rootstock I simply stick in ground by the dozens. Take rate is about 25%
For figs I paid money for or am rooting for the first time, I take real good care of them.
If I baby a cutting with the best soil, heat mats etc, take rate is > 70%.
So, it’s your decision.
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teflon tape doesn’t let air/oxygen through. And thus is not suited for wrapping cuttings.
you might get away with that while grafting. But when wrapping the whole cutting with it, you likely will run into trouble.
Buds can brake trough parafilm M. So when chip budding you can wrap over buds with parafilm M. You can’t with teflon tape.
im not saying you can’t use teflon tape to graft with. Just saying you have to pay attention to more things with it. Parafilm in my opinion is just superior.
a 4" wide roll of parafilm M costs a little less than 1 dollar per 3 foot. And from 3 foot you can cut roughly 30-50 strips. I usually use 1 (sometimes 2) strips per graft. Comes down to roughly 0.02 dollar or euro per graft. You have to graft a lot (and i really mean a lot) for those costs to become a problem. The largest issue is that you have to buy a whole roll. (although sometimes people resell smaller amounts for a markup)
But if you graft a lot or can split a whole roll with some other people. Parafilm M is actually quite cheap.
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Dunno where you get your Teflon tape, but in my experience it absolutely does NOT cost less than grafting tape. Just bought grafting buddy tape this week and actually need to buy more Teflon - just looking at the price of the big roll of Teflon ends up 500% more expensive per foot, and only half the width
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Please don’t use Teflon tape, insulation tape etc.
parafilm is cheap.
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It kind of depends on what you’re grafting. I wrap almost all graft unions and scions with Parafilm M - unless I’m topworking a 4-6"-diameter pecan or hickory - and even then, I wrap exposed scion with Parafilm.
But… if all I were grafting were apples/pears… Parafilm may be overkill… Ed Fackler probably did tens of thousands of apple/pear grafts over the years, using nothing but masking tape - not even a rubber band.
But… grafting slow-callusing species like pecan/hickory/walnut, I want the moisture-retention that I get with Parafilm-M.
My one or two experiences playing with Parafilm ‘grafting tape’ left me unimpressed and convinced that I did not care for it.
That said, I do not use ONLY Parafilm. It has no ‘structural strength’, and on the couple of occasions that I tried it solo, within 2-3 days, it was cracking over the cuts, allowing drying to commence at the site of the graft union. So, after a Parafilm wrap, I overwrap most graft unions with a rubber band - or a layer of masking tape and then a rubber band over that. The rubbers willl photo-degrade over a period of weeks (I had one batch that broke down in about 3 days!) and I rarely have to remove them or worry about girdling.
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I found the cheap green Chinese grafting tape works very well to seal the graft. The clear stuff is unusable. It is tough. Breaks. And does not stick to itself well.
I actually do use very tight electrical tape over it and it will produce a swelling if you forget to remove it. Forgot it on 4 of the 150 we grafted last year and they all have a swelling. One flat has a cylinder shaped knot. Trees all seem ok though.
You can use a mister and mist the cuttings when needed usually every day. Or you can use parafilm or even better buddy tape. You can even use nothing, but I recommend something, unless you have a bunch and only need a few. Nothing in the early spring before it gets hot will usually work, but I would recommend not letting them dry up. I have never rooted mulberries though, mostly figs.
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TLDR: don’t stretch parafilm fully. Just 50-75%
If had this problem with parafilm “cracking” to. The trick is to not fully stretch it. Like halfway stretch it. You’ll see some lines appear in the stretched taped. If you keep stretching those disappear and you fully stretched it.
I do almost all my grafts with just parafilm M. W&T usually get 4-8" of un-stretched parafilm M. And at that amount it is definitely structural. The nice thing about halfway stretching it, is that it is somewhat elastic. And will keep the union really tight. It does mean you need to wrap multiple layers. So a little more work wrapping. But i still think less work than switching after first wrap to some other tape.
When wrapping, i don’t pre stretch parafilm. I stretch it during the wrapping.
Halfway stretched and shaded parafilm M can last for a year. (i have some spots where i used it to seal a pruning wound. where it is still there after a year)
I think the parafilm M slightly contracts when it gets colder. If noticed if applied fully stretched it can “crack” or brake after a cold night. When the parafilm was applied during higher daytime temps.
Halfway stretching gives it a lot of leeway. And for me it stays on until it photo degrades. Or when it gets shaded by leaves until the growth stretches it to it’s braking point.
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Thanks for your insight. I’ve been using teflon tape about three years now without any problems and when I chip bud I leave a seam for the bud to break through. I haven’t covered any of the buds completely and I bet you are right. I ran out of buddy tape and in desperation I got some teflon tape and it worked,but because of my natural paranoia I left a seam for the bud and the results were good. I’ve since got my buddy tape but in a pinch the teflon did me right.