How early can I graft?

General Fruit Growing
#1

Hi all. I’ve been grafting and budding (mainly apples) with reasonable success over the last couple of years. I have a far better strike rate with grafting, and I enjoy it a lot more than budding, although I will keep practicing with budding in spring and summer as I want to do some stonefruit soon.
My question is: How early can I graft apples? About one month into winter is when people tend to prune their trees here in my home town in Christchurch NZ (latitude 45.5ºS), and rather than store the scions in the fridge for two or three months I’d rather get them straight onto the rootstock. Although the tree is dormant, I seem to remember reading that a winter graft will still heal, which seems to suggest to me that the dormancy isn’t 100%.
I’ve checked as best I can through this website for information on my question and haven’t found anything, so if anyone with early grafting experience can offer some guidance, I’d be very grateful.
Cheers,
Johnnythehat

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#2

The thing about grafts is they cannot be allowed to dry out which will happen if you graft to early. You can wrap the scion in parafilm or dip it in wax to help prevent drying out but you have another problem which is sap is not flowing. It’s best to keep the grafts in the refrigerator for a while. You can graft some trees such as apple, pear, plums etc. very early so the length of time in the refrigerator can be greatly reduced in a pinch.

#3

Try a few in winter…see what happens. Some of them will take. You’ll learn what your take rate is only be doing it.
bb

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#4

Here in Northern California, dormant wood is cut in early-mid January and grafts can be made as early as mid-February. Scionwood can stay fresh for up to several months if stored well. Wrap it in parafilm right after it has been cut and store it in a ziplock in your fridge, and it will remain fresh for a long time.

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#5

I had 100 percent take on mid February grafts and maybe 2/3 rds lived of the grafts made in mid April. Zone 6 Kentucky.

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#6

OK, thanks to all who have replied.
I’ll leave the scions in the fridge for another few weeks and graft closer to spring.
Cheers for the input

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