I grafted some peach/nectarine yesterday.it was in low 80s then 70s today and 60s tomorrow. Not ideal temperature but I think it’s doable. However it is pretty windy today. I start to wonder with all the winds blowing/bending on the branches, would this help the graft heal faster or harm the graft, assuming all grafts are secured attached to the branches, anyone care to comment?
It won’t help. Won’t hurt either if securely attached unless the scion is bumped against another limb. Then it could be knocked out of position.
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Round 2 begins.bb
Wednesday
75°F / 54°F
Partly cloudy in the morning.
sunrise: 05:24 sunset: 20:49
humidity: 66% wind: 2mph dew point: 50°F pressure: 1013mb
chance of rain: 7% visibility: 10mi cloud cover: 24%
Thursday
77°F / 52°F
Partly cloudy throughout the day.
sunrise: 05:23 sunset: 20:50
humidity: 67% wind: 1mph dew point: 52°F pressure: 1014mb
chance of rain: 11% visibility: 10mi cloud cover: 26%
Friday
63°F / 46°F
Mostly cloudy throughout the day.
sunrise: 05:22 sunset: 20:51
humidity: 74% wind: 6mph dew point: 48°F pressure: 1011mb
chance of rain: 78% visibility: 10mi cloud cover: 82%
Saturday
77°F / 54°F
Mostly cloudy until evening.
sunrise: 05:21 sunset: 20:52
humidity: 66% wind: 3mph dew point: 50°F pressure: 1013mb
visibility: 9mi cloud cover: 57%
Sunday
84°F / 55°F
Mostly cloudy starting in the afternoon.
sunrise: 05:20 sunset: 20:53
humidity: 53% wind: 4mph dew point: 50°F pressure: 1012mb
chance of rain: 4% visibility: 10mi cloud cover: 44%
Monday
81°F / 55°F
Mostly cloudy starting in the evening.
I count grafting peaches, nectarines and apricot all together here.
We had a very cool and wet spring this year. I was impatient to wait for warm waether (70-80 F). I went ahead and grafted early this year. I was glad I did.
4/24/19 high temp 60, low 40.
Did 2 grafts. 2 took.
5/4/19 high 58. Low 50.
Did 2 grafts. None took.
5/6/19 high 63, low 45
Did 17 grafts. 14 took, 3 did not.
5/18/19 high 73, low 47
Did 2 grafts. 1 took. 1 did not.
Total 23 grafts. 17 took. 6 did not.
Of the 6 that did not take, 3 were grafted to rootstocks that were just potted up a few weeks earlier. No surprise they failed.
The other 3 were Lasgerdi Mashhad and Shah Kar Pareh (2) on a nectarine tree. Not sure about compatibility there.
I am happy with the success rate I got this year.
To me, 3 factors that have helped with successful peach grafting are:
- consistent weather at least in the 60’s for 3-4 days from the day of grafting on.
- quality of scionwood
- position of the grafts on a tree. Grafting on vigorous, one year old shoots on upper part of a tree when possible.
Just my 2 cents.
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I also had good results with peaches this year, it was wet and cool here. I think it helped keep the scion from drying out and baking in the sun , some years it switches from spring to hot summer so fast here.
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My peach grafting was almost an absolute failure this year. I grafted at different times and used methods same as in the past and got almost nothing out of at least 80 grafts. In the past I’ve had more trouble with persimmons and this year I did 3 grafts on one tree to make sure one would take and all 3 did.
At the moment I’m completely dumbfounded- the more experience I have grafting peaches, the more I try to follow advise of others here the worst results I get.
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I had just about the same results,with maybe one working.bb
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By the way, I followed all your requirements and always do. However I waited for temps in the 70’s that didn’t exceed the low '80’s. Had no better results from shaded grafts than those fully exposed. I did wait until 5-27 to do it just to be sure of warmth and some dry weather. Next year I will try sooner, but spring started late this year so I did it at least as early as previous years as far as the state of the trees.
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Alan,
I am far from an expert. I’ve noticed that when I had good success with peach grafting (2017 and 2019), the 3 things I listed were main factors.
I believe for my area, waiting for 70’s-80’s temp is way too late. From now on, when temp is in the 60’s and stays consistent for 3-4 days, (the longer, the better), I will graft peaches. Not when it’s 70 one day and 40- 50 the next.
Here are my Winblo peach and Florilege apricot grafted on April 24. The earliest peach grafting for me, ever,
Challeger ( I think) grafted on May 6. Lot of success on this day.
And Spring Snow grafted on May 18. I sat on the ground grafting this in-ground rootstock. (no success with newly dug up rootstocks with grafting. Should have waited a year)
This is what has worked for me.
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you’re not alone, I feel your frustration. I have very disappointing grafting this year on peach, cherry, and pear , plum was low taken too. I am thinking setup a kinda grafting God/Goddess might helps next year:smirk:
Yes, I will try to graft them sooner as I used to. I believe Scott said '70’s and maybe that’s the ticket where he is. The problem is I have lots of grafting of other things to do and it seems like the stonefruit all take best right when I need to be spraying all the orchards I’m responsible to do that.
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Can you share the name of the grafting cover/wax? Do you prefer it to tape?
It is parafilm with Doc Farwells grafting compound over it. Doc Farwells seems to no longer be sold in the quart size so I will probably be working on my own recipe for it eventually. I think straight latex caulking or that plus some latex paint would be similar.
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Thanks for the info! I have been using a grafting tape and tying it off per recommendations. I have noted that over time the tape has sometimes started to come off. I read that several have checked their graft to see if it has taken, but I hesitated to touch it myself. I see in many of the pics that others do use tape. Just checking in to see what works best–looks like it is an individual decision.
I see this one. Would also help identify the graft so I dont accidentally brush up against it when walking between trees. Thanks for the info.
I am pretty sure that is out of stock… I bought some there not long ago but I think the 1qt is no longer made - ?
This year I will try grafting to your guideline and not mine or Scott’s. Let’s see what happens. You mention dates, but what about where the trees are at. Do you graft at full bloom successfully? You seem to successfully graft all stonefruit well before what I considered the optimal time. I have time to graft when peaches are blooming.
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@alan,
I did not pay attention to what stage my peach trees were when I grafted. I could not remember if it was before or after bloom. I only waited for a stretch of steady temp (over 60 steadily) for 3-4 days from the day I grafted ( longer would be better but it often not possible)
I’ve grafted plums when the trees have started to leaf out, often before peaches. I treat grafting plums the same way I graft apples and pears. When they show some green, I am ready to graft them. By then, temp is usually over 40 F.
I PM’d you a couple of days ago. Could you please respond?
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You are right. I dont read the info closely enough.
This product is no longer available in quart size from the manufacture
I wrap my scionwood completely with stretched parafilm. No need to use Dr. Farwell’s grafting seal. If you graft on stump that has large exposed surface, using sombething like that (or other product) to seal of the surface to prevent it from drying out is recommended.
When I first started grafting, I used Dr. Farwell grafting seal. I made a mistake and this liquid got into a crack of my cleft graft preventing the scionwood and the rootstock to fully fused.
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