once??? my neighbors would have reported me to the authorities for plant abuse if i did that, lol
i know michigan is renowned for cherries, due to the long chilling hours, but you guys in water-rich midwest and northeast SHOULD be the fruit capitals of usa, and not those states with drought problems.
incidentally @Appleseed70 just realized that my brother has been double-dipping, he has a house in phx, az, and also has one in maryland. Never really asked him about irrigation and weather. Quite sure though his fruit-growing skills already span a wide spectrum, having grown trees in both states.
ok, admittedly hi-jacked this thread with my off-topic queries. My apologies, and thanks!
Back on the late grafting thread, I would say the only constraint beyond a healthy scion and good temps is to not force a graft too late in the season - that is when it might not harden off. I always force grafts done through June and don’t force ones in August. July is on the fence, depends on the situation. Also if a tree snapped at a union and a replacement is grafted in, you are forcing whether you like it or not 
And if the bark is not slipping you need to switch from bark and T-buds to cleft and chip buds.
My last grafts were a few weeks ago, both were forced and have about 2" of growth now.
Scott,
Remembering I’m a relative newbie, can you explain what you mean by “forcing” a graft? Thanks.
No Scott here but you force a graft or bud by cutting off all growth on the stock above the graft/bud. Maybe Scott disagrees or can add something else. If so we can all learn.
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Cityman, I remember pruning away a perfect successful bud graft because I did not understand this concept. Here’s what I had to understand to clarify it for me:
When you insert a bud (or chip, for that matter) and the incisions heal over, the bud will usually stay dormant because it is being supressed by hormones created above it. Apical dominance limits growth in a branch or stem. When you remove the part of the plant above the bud there are no longer restrictions on it and it will usually sprout. So you can keep the bud dormant by leaving the rest of the branch alone, or you can force it to sprout by removing the restraints.
I’m neither Scott nor Fruitnut and don’t mean to butt in, but that’s my experience and understanding and I thought I’d share it.
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Wow…that is just plain fascinating. I had no idea about most of that, and you did a great job explaining it. I kind of knew some of what you said (ie if I cut the top off a tree, it puts out new growth under the cut area) but certainly didn’t know WHY. Fruit trees are amazing!
[quote=“thecityman, post:26, topic:1738”]
Fruit trees are amazing!
[/quote]Ain’t they though?!
We’re exceptionally lucky on this particular forum at this particular moment to have wonderful tutors who will take the time to share their hard earned experience. They’ve certainly opened my eyes many times in the few weeks since we moved over here, in addition to everything on the “precursor forum”.
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Hey fellas. Great info. What if I were to insert 4 chip buds on a rootstock 90 degrees from each other and 3-4 inches vertically up the stock for each graft? When the time comes to force the graft would I cut right above the top graft and if so would all 4 chip buds send out shoots or just to the top bud?
I have an extra rootstock from a failed W&T graft and I want to play around with chip budding this summer instead of waiting until next year.
Cut right above the top inserted bud leaving a short stub so as not to damage top bud. If the rootstock is vigorous all 4 buds will push. You might try T budding now. If those don’t take chip bud later in summer.
To me neither make an ideal tree as the branch angles are likely to be narrow. I prefer to T or chip bud on already established limbs. Then I’m assured of branch spacing and angles I want.
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As for super, super late grafting.
Zestar grafted to seedling grown from a pip late last year. Grafted on July 11. Seedling didn’t wake up until late June as it got all goofed up being moved inside late last season. It seems to be off and growing well, so I’ll cut back most of the original seedling growth now.
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BTW…I should mention in case anyone is wondering: I grafted it up a little higher, because as I said the seedling was all out-of-wack and broke fairly slowly and weakly. I didn’t want to risk killing it by removing the lower growth if the scion failed. The wood was quite old and had began to shrivel.
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