I grafted for the first time last year and had some successes, but the disgusting looking graft unions keep me from getting a swelled head. Show us all your worst, and post your ugliest graft that actually took! Here are some of mine. I’m not proud.
The above was a bark graft on my peach tree, and I swear it was successful, you can see an apricot setting on the right! It didn’t help that I was at first using some graft sealer that was gray-green and turned black and nasty over time.
Is this a cork tree, or what?! Ugh! I originally tied my first few apple grafts with green garden tape, but forgot to take it off until the poor limb had grown all this corky stuff around the graft. I finally had to perform surgery to get the tape out of it, then splint the graft for a while in case it broke off at the girdle. Still, no excuse!
Ermagad, what is that? A bark thumb? Eeeew! That was a whip and tongue, and I guess the part that stuck out decided to grow a thumb. I don’t think anyone can beat that for a deformed graft union.
A Cleft graft from seven years back, now I leave both scions to grow for a full season at least before culling one. This trunk died back one the side that I cut the scion off in the summer after seeing the other growing well. Maybe this will be the year it heals over!
Here’s my first attempt at a Whip & Tongue. Totally missed lining up the tongues! Having a dull knife didn’t help at all. This is Korean Giant on my existing 4 in 1 Asian Pear tree.
This apple graft is pretty ugly because the grasshoppers tried to girdle it at the time after I pulled the tape. They saw that tender new growth and went for it. I will cover that new growth in pruning seal from now on.
Unknown red pear (probably Red Barlett) onto Callery root stock that grows everywhere in my neighborhood! The graft took but is so ugly to look at! When I first unwrapped and looked at it, I thought of the dried out Egyptian mummy displayed in the Chicago museum!
