Scions shipped too early?

I don’t put any moist paper in a bag of fully parafilm wrapped scion. I see no need for it. Just zip lock the bag well.

Also, I stretched parafilm more thinly than yours.

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Make sure you don’t put them in a refrigerator with fruit, especially apples, as the ethylene gas they give off will sprout your scions.

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Maybe you can request them to hold your order until your return.

It already arrived ahead of schedule. My wife put it in the refrigerator. The photos of the scionwood looked great. I hope the wet paper doesn’t rot anything before Tuesday.

For about ten years I did nothing but throw scion packages in the fridge when they showed up. When there was mold when it was time to graft I would scrub it off gently with a brush. Now I at least fix the moisture level, but several weeks in a wet paper towel will do nothing bad. Don’t worry!

The only real problems I had was things drying out, even mold that looked bad brushed off and grafted fine. Except in the cases where the scions were bad to begin with, those molded because the wood was dead. So, while I do check for mold periodically, to me the #1 enemy is drying out. I don’t put any wet paper in my bags any more, I just open them and wet my hand and flick my fingers in the bag a couple times. Something like 1/4 tsp of water added.

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Hi Drew,
Where did you get the Oldmixon stick from?

The founder of this site was kind enough to send me some. That would be Scott Smith. Mine still isn’t big enough to harvest scion, next year it will be. I had 3 out of 3 takes. All took! The buddy tape, and fairly local source worked well for me. And grafting at bloom, which I can only say works here. It may work for some, or it may not! I put all three on one scaffold. Grafted to SpiceZee Nectaplum. Speaking of which I harvested a couple seeds of Flavor Grenade, one sprouted and the leaves are purple, and it is right next to the nectaplum! (which has purple leaves) I may have a SpiceZee Grenade! I can see a football shaped fruit the size of ones’s hand! The nectaplum produces giant nectarines! Low acid fruit that is very good, my wife’s favorite. The nectaplum is a fantastic example of how low chill fruit can adapt to high chill areas. It has produced fruit for 3 years now and will be 7th leaf. I had to reform the central leader, this tree taught me so much. So first fruit was delayed, plus one year the polar vortex killed all stone fruit buds. Patience is needed in this hobby and does pay off sometimes!

You know I was told by one guy here not to grow Zaiger fruit because it is not tested here. Well much of it. Well one will never know if you don’t try. Arctic Glo nectarine works for me too. As do most of the pluots, with a few that don’t grow well, and a few that grow like weeds, like Dapple Dandy. A great pluot too!

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Thanks Drew,

Scott was nice enough to sent me some in the past, but I didn’t get any takes I tried again last year with some sticks I got from another forum member and none of those took either. Not a technique thing as I get 100%
takes on apples and pears. Last year I waited until the rootstock leafed out and after petal fall on my other peaches. I’ll try again this year with an even later start

I found my roll of parafilm was a little more brittle than what I remember it being last year. I had a hard time stretching it and pulling it tight. I think I need to get a new roll before grafting in the spring.

Which are not peaches. I agree it’s not technique, peaches are just plain hard. Using buddy tape helped! I suggest people try it.Well next year make sure to contact me about OMF scion. I’m close to the same zone as you (6a) the wood will be acclimated to your zone. I can send late too so it does not age much off the tree.I usually can harvest up to the last week in March.

You have to store in a sealed plastic bag. Parafilm or buddy tape. I even take the bag out with me when grafting. When I’m not using it, it’s in the bag.

Yeah, I didn’t do that. I’ll have to get a new roll.

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Parafilm does get old eventually. Sometimes sellers will sell parafilm when it’s already too old and breaks before stretching properly.

I’ve used an old roll before. Just have to not stretch it as much and stretch little sections at a time. It worked OK.

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I think this would be fine to use with your own scion you can readily replace. But if you only have a few pieces of wood, and you may or may not be able to get more in a year, best to use a fresh source. Again though for me I quit using parafilm altogether for a superior product.