Success! After many years of attempted grafts, my plum graft has finally taken!
I grafted my proprietary chocolate jewel plum onto my burgundy plum about month ago, and about seven days ago it started to leaf out.
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TWM,
Great Job. I usually rub off any growth under the union so all the nutrients go to feed the graft only.
Tony
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Great job, you are not quite out of the woods yet, it can still fail, but it but it does look nice and healthy.
I have done a fair amount of grafting but I am no expert and if anything I say is wrong someone please correct me. You said you have had poor success in the past. Like Tony said remove the green leaves below the graft. I would also not graft such a long scion with that many buds, that’s a lot of growth the graft union has to support at an early and critical time. I like to have 3 or 4 buds at most. I would have cut it about where the tree in the background is. Your tape also needs to be tight and may only look loose in your picture.
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Weatherman. Congratulations on your first graft take. You will be great at it before long. My caution is that the scion has just leafed out and the graft union is frail at this time. Normally the scion needs to grow a few inches before tape removal. Best wishes, Bill
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What those other guys, c5tiger and Tony and Bill, said.
About tape: I imagine that the tape we don’t see (under the loose wrap of tape we do see) is tightly securing the graft and possibly even sealing out air, but if that’s not perfectly reliable it will have a big influence on your results. I’ll reiterate my fondness for parafilm and Johnny Wax over a rubber, but there’s lots of good ways to get there.
As my favorite mechanic once told me: “Keep at it- you’ll get there.” And it looks like you are getting there indeed.
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Huzzah! Take good care of it.
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Thanks for the advice.
It is actually pretty tight, it is the pic that makes it look loose.
I’m also planning to graft my peach x nectarine hybrid onto my burgundy plum. what would be the best type of graft to perform during this time of the year?
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It depends on the size of what you are trying to graft. I use whip and tongue for everything but it works best when the two sizes match. If you are trying to graft a small scion to a large limb or rootstock you would need to use a different method like a bark or cleft graft. I have not done a lot of these maybe someone else can give you better advice with that.
The more different your two items are the less success your are going to have (ex. peach on a plum). Under the right conditions and right varieties you may be able to graft an apple to a pear. I grafted a walnut to a pecan that lived for 3 years but never grew much and the graft union never really healed. My examples are MUCH more extreme than yours, just be aware it will be a little harder and don’t get discouraged.
I have another question. I grafted a raineer onto a Stella cherry; it appears that the scion will start leafing out in about a week, however, the Stella limb has already leafed out. My question is, should I remove this growth?
Yes. I just wrap my hand around the branch below the union and strip it down. I continue to remove them until the branch stop making new shoot.
Tony
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I initially just tip pinch the shoots below the graft and leave a few leaves. After the scion starts growing I remove all the shoots below the graft. Bill
I have a couple of grafts that I just put in about 1 month ago that are now flowering. Any chance those will actually produce fruit this spring??
I would get rid of the flowers and let the graft grow. Fruits will break the graft and slow the growth.
Tony
Thanks Tony, will do.
I also grafted a flavor top nectarine onto a goldkist apricot graft.
Great looking branch. Love the leaves
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