Hi guys, I’ve got some pecan seedlings coming in the mail from the MO department of conservation and have decided to try grafting a few and have some questions.
#1. Should I plant them this year and graft in the future?
#2. Should I attempt to find scion and bench graft them?
#3. When I do decide to graft, where should I get my scion wood from?
#4. Is there anywhere to get Hark and Kanza scion this late in the game?
I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of questions but this should get me going forward.
Thanks everyone
One more question, is it necessary to wax the graft or is parafilm enough?
Parafilm is as good as waxing. My MO. pecan seedlings have been in my greenhouse one month this past Saturday and several are waking up. It will be pretty soon when I see 1/3 of them showing bud swell or more and that’s when they’re all ready. 1/3 is the key. It’s the same for everything btw.
I house my seedlings in rubbermaid tubs and then bench graft them bringing a bundle at a time into my grafting area. Then I put them back in a container and into my greenhouse and walk away except to monitor water. Media should not be overly wet.
To answer your question. It’s always going to be best to field graft. In the long run you will see much more growth if you were to wait and field graft them 2, 3, 4-years from now. If you plant a bareroot graft this year it won’t do much for years. It’ll grow, however a field graft on a three-year seedling will be twice the size or more than the bareroot graft you planted this year. My plan here is to walk away from bench grafting entirely and do all my grafting in the field.
Scions: I’ve given away a few sticks of Hark already that are of caliper for the MO. seedlings, but after I graft I’ll probably have enough left for you to do several grafts. Wanna hit me up in 2-weeks and see where I’m at? I have some Kanza too, and I should be able to send enough for several grafts of those too.
When I say enough I’m talking about pieces Borer with enough room fro a 1.5 - 2.0 inch cut and 1 to 2 buds above it. Where you see 1 bud, sometimes two, there are actually more buds under those should those fail. Those buds are called adventitious buds. There’s absolutely no reason to graft more than 1-bud. Would pieces that size work for you? Send a message to me.
Dax
Thanks Dax, I sent you a message. If I field graft some next year, how hard will it be to move them in a year or two? I was thinking about about just making a row of them spaced about two foot apart and then grafting them next year and transplanting a year or two later. I know a lot of times they have a carrot like root system, would it be best to trim that to induce a more fibrous root system or is that a death sentence? Sorry if these questions seem dumb, I don’t have a lot of experience with nut trees.
You just gotta get the whole taproot. You dig 3-4’ deep. That’s how it works.
In the situation that I’m headed toward I’ll root prune each seedling mid-June to July to promote fibrous root growth whether it be a seedling I planted or a seed. So I’ll drive my spade at 4-5 points around the seedling each year. Then when I am ready to dig I’ll have much more root mass.
Dax