Inspecting new grafts. Pleased the Reinette Tres Tardive was showing a hint of green. Noticed some bud growth below the graft. Dutifully pinched them off. Remembered where I was. That was the rootstock that had surprised me. What I thought were failed Idared buds had come to life. It only took two seconds. I killed the Idared buds. Fortunately we have a huge old Idared tree elsewhere on the property, so I can try bud grafting again in late summer. But, rats, it ruined my morning.
If I had a $1 for every time I accidentally pulled a T-bud out of a root stock!!
When you do several hundred of them a year, sooner or later you yank the wrong bud!
I don’t want to admit to how many grafts I’ve accidentally snagged and broken off.
I sympathize. I had my first three Vavilov pears set on a branch I grafted a few years ago. Really wanted to taste them so figured I’d pay special attention to them. I killed the first two when I bagged early and they sailed off in the first breeze. Broke the final one off bending the slender twig to get a better view of possible PC wound. New rule: keep hands in pockets.
I’ve pruned off grafts. My worst (most repeated) is knocking a fresh graft off with my elbow while I’m doing something else in the tree.
Yes!! I have to try remember to work from the top down when adding multiple grafts to one tree. That way I hopefully don’t bump grafts I’ve already placed. Easier said than done.
Just a couple. I think 95% of my pear blossoms got frost nipped because there was a huge bloom and almost no fruit set. Apples were fine.
I’ve read it’s crunchy with good flavor. How did you like the flavor of Vavilov?
I did not get a good read on the taste this year.
Maybe not recently but I’ve done worse. Let’s all confess I pulled the grafting tape instead of loosening it to have a wind storm come through an hour later break off 15 field grafts. Then I have left the tape on letting it really harden up to come back and realize I girdled a bunch of grafts. I rubbed off callery leaves on a field graft several times and got the graft as well. The callery rootstock will aggressively send out leaves. Stuff happens but don’t worry about it.
Boss I used to have: “Sh*t happens. Get over it.”
My original post was from May 2020. I’ve gotten over it.
I’ve accidentally removed bud grafts like everyone else. We do quite a few, so what helps us is that we paint around the healed bud grafts about a month after budding. That way when we go through and rub rootstock buds off, we are less likely to rub off the grafted bud. Amazingly, we still occasionally accidentally rub off a grafted bud.