Steven,
Thanks for conducting this test- there should be a category stronger than ālikeā for posts like that, maybe something users earn themselves by receiving likes or at a set rate of 1 per week/month.
I had initially figured that soaking wouldnāt make much difference, but your data leaves me thinking that this is a very interesting possibility for improving take rate in things which can be challenging (peaches and maybe grapes).
A couple other avenues for investigation:
1.) What is the usual water loss in ānormalā stored scionwood?
Test: I always have extra wood of some varieties that I cut, but donāt end up sending out. Iāll wait until grafting season and try the hydrating trick to see how much water can be added in 3 days. It looks like peach gets back to ~94%, so I should be able to back into how much water was lost, by how much the weight increases by (plus a bit, as it is only getting back to 90-95%). It could also be interesting to look at how much is lost from other types of wood. For instance, Iāve seen a lot of bad persimmon wood- maybe it dries out quicker? On the other hand, maybe apples and pears tend to hold onto their water? An interesting topic to explore.
2.) How much does being re-hydrated help in terms to take rate? Does it have an impact on post-grafting vigor? Some of Daxās questions could come into play here.
Test: Graft both treated and untreated wood to the same established rootstock. Measure the take rate and the initial seasonās growth from both versions. I often make backups anyways, so this just calls for a bit more prep and record keeping. This one could be tricky to get enough data for- there are a lot of other factors which impact take rates and growth.
I do have a couple questions about how you conducted the test.
1.) In the initial post, you said that you were separating the 28 scions into groups of 4 and re-hydrating each group for a different time. Is this how you eventually did it, or did you re-hydrate all of them and just put them back in the water after measuring? If you kept to the original description, how did you make sure that all the groups weighted the same amount?
2.) When re-hydrating, did you submerge the entire stick, or just the end, relying on capillary action to pull the water in?
3.) What temperature were the scions at, during the re-hydration process? For the initial test, you could do it at room temp, but if you were actually planning to use them in grafting, I imagine you;'d want to do it in a fridge, putting the whole thing in a plastic bag.
Thanks for the great post!
