Can anyone tell me what is the black stretchable grafting tape being used in this video. Looks like it’s very worker friendly
No, but I tried three before selecting my best bet…Iron Buddy. It’s on an earlier post showing the grafts and applications.
I know @PomGranny turned me on to Temflex black stretchable friction tape. It’s the bomb! It is flexible, stretchable, and holds tight as a rock. One roll cost me less than $4 at Lowe’s and lasts a long time. I prestretch it just a bit so that I don’t have to pull so hard to get it to adhere and pull my graft out of position when wrapping. I have seen it degrade with some fast growing grafts, but generally it needs to be split later too avoid girdling.
I use temflex rubber splicing tape too. It’s thick. I cut it in 3 lengths, so it’s smaller width than a pencil, and a 1 inch section of that stretches out to do a bench graft plus more. I’ve done over a hundred grafts with one roll and given sections away and there is still a lot left. I’d say that one roll should last 400-500 grafts if done correctly.
This is the one that a lot of people here including me use. The pic was copied from @k8tpayaso ’s on the Parafilm thread.
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Nice. I’ve been using buddy tape this year, and applying rubber bands where I want the extra tension. This looks like it does both, although I don’t think I’d want to leave most buds to force their way through it.
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Yep. Temflex is a perfect solution to hold a graft together. Strong. Neat and tidy. Removeable. Secure.
I use Parafilm for the first layer and to keep graft from drying out. Then I use a piece of Temflex - (approximately 1.5" long) to really keep that graft protected and strong while it heals. Most wraps split on their own by next spring. If they don’t - I take my box cutter and lightly score lengthwise, so that I can remove it without a lot of tugging. There were grafts that needed that treatment at the end of winter, this year.
Temflex has made ‘learning to graft’ so much easier and successful.
(Whip & Tongue cuts? Another story!!! - I still can’t get that right!)
TEMFLEX HINT: Cut the Temflex off the roll, on an angle, so that you have a narrowing end to wrap - when you adhere the end of your piece of the tape to itself on the graft. Like a little arrow with a single angle to its point. Stretch it really really tight and squeeze it down as hard as you can. I find this keeps the end of the tape from ‘unwinding’, as it tends to do from time to time.
I cut a bunch of these ahead of time and drop them in a little plastic bag to keep them ‘clean’. They stick better that way. I don’t have the weight or bulk of an entire roll in my pocket. And it saves time, by cutting them before heading out to the trees. 
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When first using Temflex about three years ago,I put it on first and then the Parafilm.Not good.There are some grafts from then,that probably still have it on them.
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I use #3407, 6 mil ‘Miracle Garden Tape’ in 1/2 inch width. It begins to stretch at just the right point as you wrap it around the graft which is a good cue that you have applied enough, but not too much, tension. You can snap it off easily by hand.
I wrap the graft first with the Miracle tape then with parafilm. I put the parafilm all the way up to the tip of the scion.
https://www.lecooke.com/supply-division/miracle-garden-tie.html
A box of 24 x 200 ft rolls is $55 plus shipping from Growers Nursery Supply although you need to email them to request it. For some reason it’s not currently offered in their online store but they will send you a link to place the order. They show it in green but do offer it in white which is what I use so I can see it among the leaves.
https://www.growers-inc.com/search.php?page=2§ion=product&search_query=tape
I also label the grafts with a ribbon of the tape using a Sharpie which holds until I know the graft has taken at which point I put a permanent tag on that branch.
Brady - the scions you sent to me last year are doing really well! thanks again!!!
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