I’d like to order jujube scion woods such as Honeyjar, Blacksea, Massandra, Dongzao, Si hong, Sherwood, Red land. After knowing that England Orchard had a lot of jujube trees lost, I could only get the scion woods of Red land, Si Hong, Sherwood. Does anyone know Xu zhou jujube?
I graft jujubes based on the tree’s developmental stage. When you start seeing green fuzz showing up as the tree is waking up, you can graft. Possibly mid May for you as you are a bit warmer. July is way too late.
I grafted three jujube cultivars last year on Li after it fully leafed out. Scions were on small side and one was a toothpick size, still 100% take rate.
Good to know. By then, I am praying there will be some fruit set from tons of flowers 
@PomGranny
This is multiple choice for sure,
No one “ right way “
(May be some bad ways too. 
)
Here are some of my thoughts,…
Your grafts ,I count 4 ,look well placed .
There are 2 branches, close to and above , your lower right side grafted branch. Removing these will reduce shading , and increase the growth of your Graft on that lower branch.
At the yellow dots , would be good sites to add grafts, that have that dominant position I spoke of, should get good growth at theses sites with grafts.
Also cutting these yellow areas back and adding grafts there will stimulate your other grafts to put on more growth.
There are flower buds on that upper portion.
So cutting that off , you may lose some apples this year. .
But it would be a good place to add additional varieties,
Just my thoughts , many ways to do this.
You have a good start , good job.
I am sure others will have something different to say about this.
So let’s listen to other ideas …
Thanks so much for taking time to look at that Goldrush tree.
I really took everyone’s advice to heart - and added 2 grafts each, to my Aunt Rachel and King David, this afternoon, keeping in mind what you and others had said about grafting to the dominant branches. They were planted in spring of 2020 - so it was easy to choose which branches those are. They are both dwarf trees - and I’m hoping that the new varieties will eventually fill the ‘quarter’ of each tree - where they were put.
Thanks again! And yes . . . it will be interesting to hear what others say. I learn from the advice - keeping in mind that it’s hard to tell ‘for sure’ what is happening with the tree branches - in a photo. But, I get the theories behind each person’s advice - and can put it into practice when I approach each tree.
When using a toilet grease ring on a graft, do you melt it or rub it onto the exposed cut surface? How much increase in graft survival does this give as opposed to heavy parafilm coverage?
Also, how do you hold the cleft open enough to insert the grafts while not removing the natural compression once you’ve removed the “hold open tool?”
A few years ago I used a toilet wax ring, later I bought some grafting sealant. In all cases I wrapped with parafilm first, then coated it and a good distance onto rootstock and scion, with the wax/sealant. FYI…
Did you have to melt the toilet wax ring or just rub it on?
Have there been any very good scientific studies about the use of wax on grafting to increase success rate/prevent infection? I’ve seen a few contradictory articles that say you’re better off not coating as the coatings can hold moisture (pretty much all literature on pruning says you’re better off not coating unless it’s a rough cut.)
I’ve tried searching on my own but most results in the first few pages are just examples of grafting with wax.
It seems like there is a balancing going on with scions and moisture.They need some to keep the wood from getting crispy,but too much can attract fungus.
I’m not sure if there is any one perfect way.Sometimes though,everything lines up just right.
Heated/melted it…
Totally different end goals with grafting versus pruning though, right?
If you let it sit in the sun on a cool day it will soften up quite a bit. I am not sure if this is safe but I once put a very cold ring in the microwave for 15 seconds to soften it. The consistency is more like very thick sticky Vaseline than candle wax as it never seems to harden in my climate. I only use it on large grafts such as topworking where covering with tape or parafilm leaves gaps such as the top of large rootstock stump. There is no reason to use this product if your graft can be be properly sealed by the tape.
I would like to make a comment about toilet ring wax. It seems that they are no longer made from bee’s wax and some have reported that the petroleum based wax has affected their grafting negatively. It seems to melt and migrate at higher temperatures.
New ish to grafting. Took a class and had success, trying to top work and make a fruit cocktail tree (my apricot tree is the rootstock).
How do I know when my apricot tree is ready to be grafted? I have some blossom buds showing up. Is it time? Should I wait? How do I know wen it’s time?
I haven’t been successful yet, but I wonder if it’s my timing…
What signs an I looking for? I’ve hear “rising sap” but what does that actually look like? And how long until I know if the graft “takes” or not?
Hi Cynthia,
Ideal air temperatures for grafting Apricots are 65-70F.
like Brandybb said,
Temp
-Apricots tend to heal better at higher temperatures (around 20 celcicus ~70 F)
Seeing your zone 5, i do not expect those temps for you the coming weeks.
Apricots flower really early. And you can also graft when the tree already has leafs.
“Slipping” bark
-Another factor that helps in grafting sucses (besides temperature) is the sapflow in the rootstock. If it is high enough, the bark can be “peeled” loose from the trunk of your rootstock. They call this “slipping” bark. This makes bark grafts posible.
But a lot of grafts are also possible when the bark is not “slipping”. Like W&T , cleft, chip etc.
Slow dehydration
-Another factor to increase your grafting sucses is slowing dehydration of the grafted scion.
Fully wraping the scion in parafilm M or Buddy tape (fully stretched so buds can brake trough easily) Helps here.
Also when grafting in extreemly sunny weather, painting the graft white with watered down interior latex water white paint. Or putting some alluminium foil ove it, also helps.
Storage or source of scionwood
-If you already got your scionwood from a trade/store. Keep it in the fridge around or slightly above freezing. In a dubble or tripple packed ziplock freezer bag. When your winter cut scion starts to leaf out, it is usualy to late to graft.
If you have the varieties you want yourself or close by. You can always summer chip bud.
(skillcult has a nice video on chip budding on youtube.)
Flavor King budded on Myro waking up
Fuji budded on M-111. Planted really deep to avoid burr knot issues
