Well, my hubby simplifies all that thinking for me.
He hates multigrafts, so no more of those.
This year he has given me the go ahead to top work three apples. He wants varieties we know we like, so I’m gonna put Virginia Gold on one, Suncrisp on one, and probably the “little crispy” thing on the third.
Sweetbough, Snow/Famous and White Winter Pearmain will be history. 
I’ve a mind to top work the two seckle pears too to larger fruited European pears…Aurora and Bosc.
Hafta ask him about those…
I spent 9-days at 6-8 hours a day simply waxing scions, alone. This is the first year I haven’t filled one refrigerator and 1/4 of another. This year was chill with only 7 grocery store type plastic bags.
My buddy and I both do this ‘just in case’ somebody else we usually don’t know yet will need them.
I find myself looking at my trees at grafting time and telling myself "I’m not indecisive…or am I?
I do this all the time. Halfway through a thought process I will realize I had already considered and rejected this particular plan for a different one. 
I started tying green flagging tape on limbs I want to graft to, orange tape on limbs to prune out. Then I couldn’t remember what varieties I was considering grafting so I started labeling them, which would have made more sense to do at the onset. With so many scion, it’s hard to decide what should go where.
I switched to adding labels on painters tape, it’s easier to read since doesn’t flap in the wind. This isn’t a very good pic, but you get the idea.
@KSprairie You really are on the prairie! Yes flagging the latest grafting plan helps me too. My latest debate with myself is frameworking (graft lots of small branches) vs topworking (graft a few large branches). @Skillcult advocates frameworking for backyard growers. I’ve got a lot of blind wood (no branches) so would need to use a side graft that I’ve never tried and he says has reduced success.
@hambone
If done some sucseful side grafts (i think 4/5 took last year)
I am worried about long term crotch angles and bark inclusion on most side grafts where you don’t cut the stock after the side graft.
If the wood is not to thick. Id first consider a chip bud. Or even T-bud. Since those get less risk of bark inclusion. Notching them can help force them to grow. Although not a 100% reliable.
im overthicking grafting a lot -_-
bought a 100 “pack” rootstocks. (100 is cheaper than 60. due to discount)
Thinking i would have spares. Now when grafting and planning im short a few.
Considering grafting 2 different varieties per rootstock even. Although thats a pain to label.
last year was especially bad. Had way to many scions way to little rootstock. Grafted 2+ varieties on most rootstocks. Surprisingly the majority grew 2 or more varieties reliably. (2 out of 3 buds grew a branch). Im pruning back and trying to get the 3e variety to sprout this year.
2 years growing to get 3 varieties per tree with branches at the right spots. Seems like a good deal to me
especially considering bench grafting is way more convinient than field grafting.
I share the worry about narrow crotch angle on side grafts but have no experience with it. @Skillcult apparently does not have that problem with it.
@mroot
Yup, Yup, Yup…
For me it started with four trees but, I had room for 90, so… 90 + it is…
Why just do it when you can overdo it?
Mike
I plan it out all year then when it’s all done I look at what I just did and realize I didn’t actually do what I had planned at all. “I’ll only do two and trash the other scions” becomes me grafting every single scion. I’d stop all the overplanning if I could. I can’t.
I think for me it was feeling indebted to the person who sent them that I should use every single one. That can result in having the same fruit grafted 5 times. Mostly it was lack of confidence in my grafting ability. Add to that all the space I’m taking up in the frig. This year i learned a lot and my grafting is significantly better so I might not feel compelled to repeat the same scion over and over in the future.
I don’t like wasting them either. But at this point, since I only have the one 3 1/2 foot tall tree with 15 varieties grafted to it, I’m lucky to be able to find even a few suitable grafting sites left on it–no room for duplication. So last year I taught my friend to graft. She also has only one apple tree, but it’s about 6 inches taller than mine. We graft my leftover scions on her tree. We grafted 5 varieties onto it last year (4 took) and 5 this year. So with only 9 varieties on it, there’s room for plenty more, haha. It’s such a luxury to work on a tree where you don’t have to worry if you ruin your one suitable grafting site, there aren’t any others. 
Great idea!
Anyone else doing this? I ordered scions to graft for the first time this year and it turns out that I have about 8 extra buds per scion I need to find homes for 
I’m pretty sure I’ll be making visits to everyone I know with a crabapple… Bench grafts do seem like the better option, especially where I have espalier multi grafts planned anyway…
i grafted 2 varieties on oposite sides but at the same height, like show on the pictures i posted here.
And a 3e one immediatly above it. (2 on oposite sides to form “horizontal” esapaliers. And the 3e, to continue the stem.
I did the grafts on rootstocks that where braking dormancy. and rubbed off the buds of the rootstock. This might have halped in making 2/3 buds grow a shoot.
Also the close proximity helps i think.
I would not graft them far apart. im pretty sure only 1 would sprout than. And surpres the others from growing a shoot.
Also put the smallest bud in the 3e position (slightly higher then others) in the hopes it would sprout a little later.
im still experimenting with it though. So not sure i can recomend it. It’s definitly not a garanteed and reliable way. But might be worth a try if your out of space/rootstocks.
This year I got many apple and pear scions along with the dozen of persimmon scions. My fridge (particularly got it for scions) was full. Now it’s only half full. The second pic is a pear tree that got nearly all it’s branches grafted to preserve the varieties.
Thats some collection in the fridge
It’s hard to see on the picture. But those branches seem really close together. It’s not visible on the picture. But is the crotch angle not to steep? It would be a waste if the branch broke due to bark inclusion after a few years. Especially considering how many varieties you have on it.
No need to immediatly worry though if it has a bad crotch angle/bark inclusion you got a few years to fix it or graft over your varieties to save em.
The crotch angle is pretty straight, the picture doesn’t make justice that is for sure. 2 years ago the branches were even closer, now they are making a gap, this pear was planted by my father, don’t know the variety, it was my only option to save the new varieties.
Talk about hard decisions on where to graft. Here is one of my fig trees, with well over 100 grafts and nearly that many varieties on it. Any new graft requires grafting over an older one.
That seems like one of the better problems to have.
