Parafilm vs. Polyethylene for grafting

Agreed, Appleseed, I didn’t like the unwieldiness of green plastic non-sticky garden tape, so I grabbed a roll of electrical tape from my toolbox, US made, and it has such good stretch that I don’t feel like I would need rubber bands. I’m just a newbie but I have done 36 grafts in the last few days. I don’t do the layer of backwards e tape because I wrap the union first in parafilm M, and then do a really tight wrap with the e tape. I wrap the scions in para M before I even cut the stock or the scion, that way I don’t break any buds on the scion when I’m making cuts.

I just have to add that there is such a wealth of knowledge in this thread. Three weeks ago I was googling for info like this and it took me hours to compile LESS than the info on this thread. Thanks everyone.

1 Like

Lizzy. You and I are on the same track. I’m hoping the tape removal goes as well as I anticpate. Good luck, Bill

1 Like

I have only ever used electrical tape for grafting (apple only). It will peel the bark off during removal, but if taking care during removal this does not have to happen. I found that if when unraveling the tape, I get to a point when I run into some resistance as I approach where the tape contacts the bark, I just let it go for a day or two and come back. I don’t know if it is the sunlight or exposure to the air that helps the tape peel off. Peeling the tape off very slowly while pulling at different angles helps too.

swamps…if you do the first wrap backwards like Tony was saying, or wrap with parafilm first like Lizzy does, the removal is totally a non-issue. Again…the courtesy tail is important, so you don’t have to be there picking at it. It’s especially useful for those of us whose eyes aren’t as good as they used to be.

This is a great thread, and as the world’s worst grafter it is nice to learn from you all. I just received my first roll of parafilm tape this weekend and after constantly hearing people say how great it was, I’m a bit disappointed. First, it really doesn’t seem to have any elasticity. Certainly it does stretch…but only to elongate…very little if any pull-back. I liked electrical tape because it was truly elastic…it stretches out and then when you release pressure, it has a small amount of “rubberized” action, meaning it sort of pulls itself back. This, to me, helps makes it tighter around a graft. I also like the stickiness of it compared to the parafilm. It helps it stay in place, whereas the parafilm can sometimes start to unravel when I release it if I don’t have it really right. On the other hand, I did ruin some great grafts last year by stripping the bark off when I removed electrical tape. So maybe the perfect solution is just what Lizzy said…start with parafilm and end w/electrical. I’m going to try that.

1 Like

Try starting with rubber band to get it very tight an then cover with parafilm.

I for one am going to try the rubber electrical tape as I’ve read it is not as sticky as the vinyl electrical tape And come off easier after the grafts have taken.

I have some of this 3M Temflex 2155 splicing tape.It may be more rubberized than the Super 33.It stretches a lot and probably will fuse to itself as the weather gets hot,so I wrap the graft with Parafilm first.

I will also use a rubber band and Parafilm over that.
All these ideas makes me wonder what materials were first used to make grafts.Maybe some thread and the joint was covered in wax. Brady

1 Like

Brady, I like to think that trying to imagine just how you might do a graft without modern materials could be useful. For example, I think that after melding the parts they might well have wrapped it with string or plant fiber and covered with wax, but let’s pretend that they wrapped the splice in a tough, juicy leaf, or strips of bark cut from a plant that sealed/moistened/nourished it. “What if” the plant material they chose contributed some serendiptitious hormone to encourage the whole thing … ? “What if” the moisture in the plant tissue helped prevent dessication? And if any of our “what if’s?” are true, how could they contribute to the state of the art today?

Well, just thoughts.

:-)M

2 Likes

I also think Lizzy has it right. I did do 9 whip grafts with only parafilm grafting tape and they have started growing without any problems. If I don’t have to remove the parafilm on these it will have a place in my grafting arsenal at least on small scions. Bill

People still make Willow water to root cuttings,because of the hormone in the tree.If bark could be stripped and then wrapped around the graft,that may help the process.It might be an interesting experiment. Brady

Yeah it would. I remember that a few years ago I asked (on the GW forum) whether rooting compound might help grafting and inadvertently got a pretty good controversy going- I don’t remember the upshot, but as I recall the better science was probably on the side of “not”.

If not rooting hormones though, maybe some other hormone that lives in the cambium?

Might be worth thinking about. If any professional plant chemists are lurking out there Brady and I want a cut of the royalties, OK?

:-)M

I like this idea, Lizzy, and have done it some too. Probably should make it a matter or routine. I have sometimes caused myself problems trying to wrap the scion after making the graft.

1 Like

cityman:

Parafilm is for one thing only, to water proof the scion. It’s not meant to place any pressure on the union. It is kinda hard to apply properly. I’m not real fond of the stuff but it does do that one job while allowing the buds to push through when they want.

Exactly. Use any other means for mechanical strength. I like to wrap the joint with rubbers and cover that with parafilm pulled snug to the point of breaking. But I’m leaning now to rubber tape or electrical tape twisted over, or applied over, parafilm.

Fruitnut- I want you to know that I really appreciate your continuing efforts to keep me on track with all things fruit tree related. I was trying to use the parafilm as the one and only wrap for the few grafts I did today, and as I said…it didn’t work too well for that. I do have some wax for waterproofing, so I probably don’t need the parafilm at all. Wish I’d know that before I spent $15 bucks on a couple rolls (with shipping)! :slight_smile: I’m really struggling with the whole grafting thing. I’ve watched 100 videos and get the how-to, but its in the execution that I seem to fall short! I can’t even seem to cut scion and scaffold smoothly enough that they fit flat. I have an omega tool coming tomorrow so maybe that will help, though many people don’t seem to like them. Maybe it just takes practice to make the cuts and do good grafts.

1 Like

HB-101 Plant vitalizer
Well I was curious about this stuff, it may do nothing, but I heard others say it makes a huge difference in growth. it can also be used as a rooting hormone or a seed soak. It’s been used a long time in Japan. You only use a few drops per gallon. I requested a free sample.They are now trying to market it in the USA.
But the people barely speak English, show no real proof. I heard the spoakeswoman on a radio show and a couple people called in and said it works really well. The free sample is enough for 20 gallons. So it can’t hurt to try it. I was thinking you could use it on the rootstock and scion before grafting. I heard one guy say he thinks it captures something the cedars and pines have to make them long lived. Both are conifers, and the world’s oldest trees are conifers.
http://www.hb-101usa.com/
The stuff is expensive. I happen to have right now a number of pepper and tomato seedlings. Most I have two of each variety, about 16 varieties going. So I’m going to use it on one of them. I will use it on the smaller of the two too. See what happens…

Thanks Drew,I just put in for a sample. Brady

Speedster…what you want is non-fusing rubber tape. It doesn’t stick at all. I’ll post some photos when I do my grafting this year. I have a ton of the stuff here.

City…I agree with you on the parafilm. I think it is almost useless as a single tape. Where it really shines is wrapping the scion to prevent dessication. I think it is tops for that as buds can push through and it’s very non-restrictive. It has such little strength though for pulling things together. It also self degrades rather quickly which is another positive I think. It also really does well for under-wrapping when using electrical tape, although for that you could use something else with as good a performance.

The Temflex is way too thick to easily work on smaller grafts though. The silicone light gray non-fusing stuff is the ticket.