First off thanks to everyone who has provided advice and criticism up to this point. I have learned a lot from you all so far. I unwrapped some of my budgrafts after 3 weeks. All of them except one appears to have taken. Dax, you were right, it appears the rootstocks are much more receptive when planted in comparison to bench grafting.(I still enjoy bench grafting though). Here are some pics. My only concern is that up top on some of these grafts there is some overlap, I hope these grafts survive, don’t fail eventually due to rot.
Nice! The one you think didn’t take might pleasantly surprise you next spring by sprouting. So just sit tight and don’t mess with it too much like I normally do with my grafts.
Thanks, I feel like the first one seated the best, since the chip is a touch smaller than the cut to the rootstock. There seems to be callousing on the others tho, as long as they survive I’m happy. The grafts that didn’t take, will the cut to the rootstock heal?
Yes if the bud fails the rootstock will heal over. Just ignore it. On the ones that take I’d cut off just above the scion bud in early spring after severe cold passes but before the tree starts to grow.
It’s going to heat it up to a degree, Brady. I take the tape off.
I just happened to go look at six chip buds of World’s Best Mulberry I did about 17-days ago. They all took beautifully (I’ll assume) but one a rabbit ate the bud right out “beautifully.”
You can see the bud grew/plumped up and that’s what pushes off the petiole.
They look great Gary, much tighter than the ones I did. @Barkslip , I had several bud grafts begin growing. Are those more likely to suffer winter damage due to the tender new growth, or will the bud be ok? (they were all apple)
The parafilm in time will split and be flaked off as the grafts heal themselves and start swelling in size, at less this is for the most part has happened to my cleft grafts this spring.
How many weeks should a bud “take” before you harden the tree off?
I will explain what I am trying. My son got me a Dew Drop Pear tree from Walmart, it grew but I know it will not survive out in the winter air. I did three bud grafts from it onto a potted rootstock last week, I have it in my greenhouse so when can I harden it off and still have the buds survive?
I do have a -5 C place I can keep it. In the future I want to plant it and train it to a step-over tree in an area that regularly gets 4 feet of snow, and some residual heat from our greenhouse.
Once it’s calloused it’s ready. Mine will callous around the edges in probably another 7-10 days. That’s when I’d call it a done deal.
As far as winter goes, all any woody plant needs is 2-weeks of dormancy until it’s put in a sheltered location. What I’m saying is I allow plants to drop their leaves and then when temps are cool/cold I leave them to the elements for two weeks minimum at which point I bring them into my greenhouse which is kept a few degrees above freezing. Here, they are exposed to the elements for more than two weeks. My cue to get them inside my greenhouse is if the soil in the pots begins to freeze or when I see snow. At that point, it’s been a minimum of two weeks but usually longer because I’m in a warmer climate than you.
When I was young…uh…er I would get seed packets and it would say “plant in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked”. I did not have a clue what that meant. With that thought I really enjoy listening to/reading explanations from a totally different environment. I couldn’t garden In the north…too big of a learning curve for an old mind…
