OK, so scions are in, and leaves are starting to come out. Do I wait for the entire tree to have leaves before grafting? Is a low temp of 48* coming up a concern?
I grafted my spare jiro persimmon with hachiya in mid April in zone 7a when the buds on the trees were starting to open you can see some green ones in this pic. I did cleft and bark grafts as well as budding on the main trunk. All but one took, though the wind ripped off one of the bud grafts on the bark once it grew. You donât need to wait for the leaves. I used parafilm and zipties as well as rubber bands. The zipties made the grafts really snug which helped.
What graft did you decide on? If youâre going to chop the tree down for bark grafts, you will have to support the grafts since they will shoot up with vigour and the wind will rip them off. If it were my tree I would graft it lower, itâs already too tall in my opinion to reach the fruit but that is your preference 
I am not super worried about reaching fruit. I am doing my best to resist the urge to use both forks. I know I have gotten good advice on that, but itâs tough to give up on that lol.
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I have successfully grafted to my wild dv rootstocks when they look about like that.. and there is a warm week ahead.
That one is now Kasandra.. fruited last year.
I would not worry to much about one night in the 40s.. as long as you are getting 65-75 daytime temps.
Good Luck !!
TNHunter
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Above is my successful Rosseyanka scion. What now? Am I going to choose one to take over?
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What does it look like under the covers?
Keep an eye out for psyllids⌠they often attack my persimmon graft new growth when it gets about that size.
They are sap suckers and can devistate young tender growth like that in no time.
Seven spray does a good job of taking them out.
I have lost probably a half dozen grafts the past 4 years because of them.
Eventually you will have to pick a central leader .. and then cut the growing tip out of the others. Let them remain with a few leaves to provide support.. but donât let them grow fully and compete with the CL.
Support the central leader well to protect from wind, birds, etc..
Good luck !!!
TNHunter
Later on.. when your CL makes it to 4.5 ft tall⌠cut the growing tip out of it. It will then send out branches from several buds below it. These will be your first scaffold branches.
4.5 ft works for me.. and my deer pressure.
You may want something different on that.
If yours are protected from deer .. you may want your scaffolds to start lower on the tree.
TNHunter
I have not removed anything. Is that safe?
Thanks! I hope I can keep posting as this grows. Itâs in a fenced yard in a neighborhood with no deer. Biggest offender so far has been a mockingbird that would rather land on the graft than the stick/pole I provided.
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I have not removed the tape. Is that safe to do?
I wouldnât. I didnât realize that the white stuff is tape.
Basically Iâm asking what kind of grafts you did. For example, if I had 2 bark grafts, Iâd let both grow until the growth begins to converge, which could take months or on a big trunk years. Then Iâd cut one back to a stub. Eventually you probably want one trunk.
This is a graft of Saijo that I did last year..
Notice the lower leaves all currled and wrinkled.. that is psyllid damage. I caught it in time and sprayed it a couple times ⌠and then it grew and did well.
Also notice I have that CL tied to the support pole to support it. If you dont.. a summer thunderstorm.. will huff and puff and and blow your growth off the scion.
You can see the growth from one other bud much lower.. not competing with the CL.
TNHunter
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