Bingo.
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The professionals at my friends nursery use Parafilm to cover the entire scion and to seal the graft contact area, then they use strips of plastic ribbon that doesnāt stretch much at all to secure the graft. They do this process at amazing speeds. I mimic their methods until it comes to securing the graft, my mangled hands just are not capable of nimbly tying those short little ribbon pieces. I wrap mine with the narrowest cellophane tape that I can find. I can wrap and break fairly quickly and easily. I just no longer have the dexterity to do the quick little tie .
The wrapping with cellophane lets my clumsy self get a good tight fit.
I have not tried the grafting rubbers or the stretchy rubber tape, but I intend to soon.
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Iāve been experimenting, it seems if I stretch the tape a good bit, the liner breaks and I can peel it off. I think that might make it stickier.
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I use Temflex 2155 in recent years and found the take rate of peach graft increased. Using Temflex 2155 to tape the grafting unit together, I donāt need to peel it off after the graft take and the joint started to grow/thickened . The tape will split itself without girdle the branch.
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I use XFasten Self Fusing Silicone tape. $14.99 at Amazon for 36 foot roll of 1 inch tape. I use about 6 inches for each graft. It is very stretchy and sticks to itself, without sticking to the bark. Very easy to remove once the graft has healed.
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Oh yeah, I pull off the liner before I use it every timeā¦
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Exactly!
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Yeah, thatās the proper name of it. I guess itās sort of old fashioned cloth electrical tape, eh? Also popular for putting grips on hockey sticks. It works a treat for any graft that needs pulling together or reinforcing. I use it lots when Iām field grafting. On smallish trees - 2ā and under- Iāll look for a lateral at about the right height and either whip and tongue or side veneer graft onto it. Often, the cuts wonāt be perfect, or the angle of the lateral will be too wide. The friction tape works really well in both cases, and since it sticks to itself most any way, but not overly tenaciously, itās pretty versatile, IME
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I used parafilm and rubber bands last year on every graft. I noticed the rubber bands splitting pretty quickly so I added temflex for support. Itās pretty amazing stuff if youāve never used it. Not sticky at rest but when you stretch it it can stick like crazy to itself. I got good percentages on takes with it.
I did release the temflex and rubber bands by making a slit down the side after a couple months. I didnāt remove them usually because I didnāt want to tug on the new graft. Once the temflex tape has sealed on itself, it really wonāt unwrap much at all. In most cases it split and fell off, especially if the graft was a vigorous grower.
In some cases it remained hanging on the graft. In cases where the temflex tape was still in contact with the graft, even when sliced open, it stimulated large bizarre growth. For most, they still look terrible and probably will never disappear.
I also used some synthetic rubber bands which did not break down like the rubber ones. It was important to release them or it could girdle the graft and actual stunt it. Iām not very good with tiny scions, especially when trying to graft, hold and wrap them at the same time. Tying a rubber band around either the tree or the scion first allows me to get a quick couple of turns around the tiny graft to secure it while I finish.
I think there are pros and cons to different methods. The method I have consistently stayed with is the use of Parafilm M to prevent the graft from drying out. I usually cut to size and prewrap and label scions before heading outside. I find it saves a lot of frustration and keeps me organized. I actually mark one end as it can be difficult to get a clear vision of the scion buds when prewrapped. When I only have to wrap the graft union outside I feel it puts less stress on the completed graft as I wind the parafilm tight.
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Exactly what I do. I think prestretching it a bit does make it stickier and helps to get the backing off.
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I do the same, as I like to ensure that the structure is stable before sealing things up.
I just leave it on. It gradually stretches with the tree and comes off on itās own in 2-3 years. Much better than the green vinyl tape which doesnāt stretch much and starts to girdle the tree.
I used to cut it in half for cleft grafts of the really small stuff. But, for scions that small Iāve moved more toward bark grafts (small scion slipped under the bark of a big rootstock) which can use the full width. Pencil-width scions or a bit less can still use full. At most, I might slightly pre-stretch it.
This is the parafilm (type M) which I got last year, which closely matches the one I got in 2017 (it took that long to use up 250ā). I generally cut this in half, using 1" wide strips.
I bought it for $27 last Feb, but it is $61 now. Though there may be cheaper vendors if you look around.
I do the same. But it still took me 5 years to use 250ā x 2". In that time I did about 1200 grafts. I may have given a bit away as well to a couple people trying grafting out for the first time, though I donāt think it was that much of the roll.
If anything, Iāve slightly increased my parafilm use in the last couple years. Now, I wrap a decent amount of the wood as soon as I cut/receive it. If Iām going to wrap it eventually, it makes sense to do it up-front because it helps preserve the wood (I did side by side tests and it seems to make the biggest difference for persimmons and peaches) and also saves time in the busy spring.
For me, the Temflex supplies the structural integrity and the parafilm keeps the scion moist
Wow- thatās a lot of tape. I generally use 1-2" of Temflex (or generic equivalent from Lowes). Maybe 6" if I am bark grafting into a large rootstock (like a 2" treeā¦).
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Have you had the problem of the graft expanding much more than usual if it remains on?
Hey Bob, thanks for reading through all the posts.
For reference, I wanted to confirm the splicing tape does split on its own. Two Harrow Sweet (Thanks @Barkslip) buds from last year confirm it.
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Do you use grafting wax on anything you graft using this tape? I am going to try my luck at grafting on an existing apple tree this year. So any help will be greatly appreciated.
Mike, I didnāt use wax. I mostly do cleft, use the tape and finish the graft with Parafilm. Scion wrapped with Parafilm is another element that improves the take rate.
Apple is relatively easy to graft,you should be OK.
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Does wax date back to pre-parafilm days?
I believe so, but there are advantages to using wax if you are bench grafting on a large scale so you can just dip a bunch of trees and be done faster.
These guys do both. Fastest grafting Iāve seen (shared here in other threads) Grafting 2012/2013 - YouTube
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Thank you to everyone who chimed in. I purchased the following via Amazon to experiment with. Historically I used grafting tape (3rd item) for citrus and avocado, plus some large rubber bands on a few occasions.
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FWIW, I use Scotch 130C Linerless Rubber Splicing Tape. Iāve had great success with it. It must be similar to 2242 because like Stan I find it strong and stretchy and self-adhesive. It rebounds from the stretch to pull the grafted pieces together.