Let’s see what @k8tpayaso has to say. My TX geography is not good at all, but maybe her conditions are similar to yours. Perhaps she’ll know the best time to graft.
1 Like
I usually graft persimmons in April. I always wait for the weather. HOWEVER!.. this year is hard to know what to do. This week has been cold and we have a forecast of 36 for Tuesday night which translates to frost at my house. Everyday they have dropped the forecasted temp by one degree. So not only am I thinking of grafts but also tomatoes, peppers and tender leaves on my small trees.
My persimmon rootstocks are well leafed. I’m still going to wait at least another week for them. Most are going to be bench grafts and I can keep them in the shade. Because… after this cold week is over we jump straight to the 80’s!
I still have some jujubes to graft. I was going to ask what you guys in colder climates do about grafting jujus in the cold. I have grafted jujus in May before. So you jujube guys I’m gonna tag you to this question.
@jujubemulberry @BobVance @mamuang @tonyOmahaz5 @castanea (now that you are in colder climate) and @PharmerDrewee (you’re already here! I’m being lazy by not reposting this on a juju thread…
2 Likes
Good luck with grafting. I am deferring any grafting until night time temps get warmer but that’s just my personal feeling about it.
2 Likes
I have grafted jujubes (and most fruit trees) based on the trees’ development. For jujubes, I start when I see tiny green fuzz emerging.
I believe @BobVance has already grafted his jujubes two weeks ago. Even though he is half a zone warmer, I still think that was quite early. I look forward to hearing from Bob how his early grafts turn out, too.
1 Like
I got busy last year and didn’t graft mine until towards the end of June. The weather was in the high 70’s and low 80’s. My solution was to use foil heat shields. They took fast and grew well with 8/8 takes.
1 Like
I think this post shows that even with experienced grafters in many locations, there’s still randomness and luck. I will be happy with 50% takes any day. I just grafted a few and then the weather turned cool again so we’ll see how it goes.
2 Likes
I started grafting jujube this year on 4/3. I’ve continued grafting over the last 2 weeks and am getting close to done (over 130 jujube grafts).
Last year, on 4/6 and 4/7, I made about a dozen jujube grafts on established trees. All survived. I also did some grafts to new suckers and a tiny tree which was coming back from the roots after the scion died. There, I had some failures, though I suspect that would happen whenever I grafted.
Jujube, apples, and pears are the first things I graft.
I’m still waiting to graft persimmons this year. And I think Katy is right to wait a bit more on them as well. I’ll get to persimmons sometime in May.
edit: I should mention that’s I’ve had some success grafting jujube late as well (though more June grafts failed), so it is a pretty forgiving tree to work with, though the wood is a bit tough to cut.
5 Likes
been having weird weather here in vegas as well, but not as extreme as in your area and other regions of usa that are prone to sudden drops. There are three things i will take into consideration when grafting in climates prone to sudden dips: dieback, grafting tape/parafilm durability and sap flow.
a graft is more prone to fail in severe dips considering its circumstances. Deciduous trees supposedly ‘dehydrate’ their above-ground stems during autumn to minimize the volume effects of freezing, so if a supposed rootstock stem gets blast frozen when it is already loaded with fluids the sapwood is more likely to crack and the hydrated cambium/meristem cells(the only “living” cells that comprise a tree’s stem may burst). Some tree stems/trunks would crack due to pressure effects(and some cracks will be too small to see). The cambium and buds may still be alive in many parts, but the cracked stem is subject to parching due to ambient exposure, so sap flow to graft may be compromised. When we graft we only apply parafilm all over the scion wood, and directly on and near the graft junction, but not the entire length of the rootstock stem. Rootstock stems that are suspect to have frozen over will need additional wrap over its stem, to as far down as possible for good measure. If you inspect your bare-root trees that were initiated as bark-grafts or bud-grafts, you’d also notice the nursery worker applied yellow wax over the stump, because that is quite a broad area of ambient exposure.
anyway, i am typing too much. Again. LOL
so going back to topic, IF your weatherman was honest about 36F as the minimum, and with zero chances of going lower, then go ahead and graft since you say your area will jump to the 80’s soon. And as you’ve indicated, your juju trees already started leafing out, so sap is already flowing.
pragmatically though, the only thing stopping us from grafting is just so the budwood will be spared from the splitting/cracking effects of frezing. As for the rootstock that will have to endure being outdoors, there’s not much we can do other than hoping there are enough cambium cells that didn’t burst, and that pressure effects of freezing didn’t do so much damage to the rootstock stem/trunk
and if you should decide to graft late, say, when weather projections don’t indicate any late frosts, but your trees may already have leafed out all over, would be good to clear out some of the foliage overhanging the grafts, so the grafts would catch some sun.
1 Like
I just get so depressed and self critical when you guys talk about 100% juju grafts!!! 
I think jujus hate me. I can graft apples and get 100%; pears and get 100%; and even persimmons and get 90% and barely manage 50% on jujubes. And and I cannot figure out why. And I do have a few that are looking positive this year but it is taking soooo long to see anything that makes me hopeful.
(Ask me if I want some cheese with my whine…”
6 Likes
Bob,
Have you had any night below 34F? Just like to see if that low could affect callousing, based on what @jujubemulberry ob,
Have you had any night below 34F? Just like to see if that low could affect callousing, based on what @Jujubementioned.
Where I am low at 34F in April is not unusual at all. It was 34 F yesterday, in fact.
My early graft success are apples, pears, plums and cherries.
That’s why I asking you guys. It’s really cold to us here but I know what we have now is normal for a lot of you.
2 Likes
I get about 75% on jujubes.
You probably don’t want to try chestnuts. Some experienced grafters have had 20% takes.
2 Likes
I’ll pass on that!!! My psyche cannot handle it!!!
@ggrindle Gene, are your persimmons with swelling buds still growing? You have so many that were looking good. What are they doing now?
This year, it got down to 31F on 4/3, the first night after I started grafting. Though there were only 3 grafts that day, as I was just starting to get active after being sick. Since then, the low from the Weather.com is 36 for the other 131 grafts. So, it was probably above freezing here (though it can be a few degrees colder than WC).
Last year it got down to 31F four times after I grafted (4/12, 4/17, 4/19, 4/23).
2 Likes
I am looking to make some magic and need some assistance. I have 3 American rootstocks and 5 different scion types (hybrid and American). Preferably I would like to have 5 stand-alone trees/grafts, no multi-grafts. The stocks have been in the ground for a year (after purchase from a state program) and have been variable in growth with one close to a 1 in. caliper, another at 3/4 in, and the last at around 1/4 in. Do you think that the larger rootstocks might have a root or two that I could graft to? I have read that persimmon roots were delicate, so I am not sure if a root graft is a good idea. Also, if I cut away a large amount of root mass from the stocks, maybe that will steal too much energy from the actual rootstock that I will graft to? I am looking for honest and creative opinions/perspectives. Thanks!
1 Like
I think that would probably work. I’ve seen other folks on here succeed with persimmon root grafts, and I had to severely prune back the roots of my d.v. seedlings to fit in the plant pots. I had 19 out of 21 grafts take. I think they probably would have grown more if they hadn’t been root pruned (and maybe had more fertilizer), but they were fine. Since they’re in-ground, the trick is going to be finding an adequately sized root to snip without disturbing too much of the root zone.
I think you are overthinking it.
What if you graft your big calipers and 2 don’t take and then you’ve burned up 2 scion on root gambles?
I’m not confident enough in my skills to do just one scion on a larger tree.
@jcguarneri @ggrindle Thank you for your perspectives. The confidence and caution that you express, respectively, reflects the vacillation in my own opinion! I have never grafted persimmon, but it does not sound like the most difficult graft. However, when I start adding some fun stuff/experimenting then I am at risk of loss. I guess that I will prioritize the scions and graft them to the stocks that I think are most robust. It is good to hear that others have been successful root grafting persimmon- I did find anything in my web search that mentioned root grafting persimmon.
1 Like
Also, I’ve never done a root graft of any kind ever. So my opinion is from that standpoint.
My first persimmon graft ever was this year. Some are definitely going to do well. Some are not…
2 Likes