I grafted the Peach in the picture about 45 days ago at a garden that I volunteer at. 4 out of the 5 grafts have progressed well. All except for one are bark grafts with the other being a wedge graft. I am new to grafting Peaches and need some advice.
Is it recommended to;
Prune some of the growth to control size in order to protect the new graft union?
Provide stakes or better support for the grafted branches?
While I have some support splints already in place, I don’t think they will support the grafts at the rate they are growing. The red arrow indicates the graft point in one of the grafts.
You can place a vertical pole tall enough to tie each graft top to directly under each graft. Sharpen the point of each pole then drive it into the ground about 7””-10” to hold it in a vertical orientation. Then use some wide plastic ties to tie each scion to the support thus removing its weight on the graft union. Leave them supported in that manner until after year 2-3 of growth and the grafts with eventually be strong enough to support fruit loads. If in doubt, keep the supports in place, or thin future fruit loads to avoid too much bending of the branches under fruit loads. Your poles should be tall enough so each top is above the level of canopy to act as bird perches.
