Worms.
Just did grafts # 26 and 27 for the season…and now have 43 more available rootstocks just waiting for me.
Grafted June Stripe and Indian Sweet to B-10 rootstock.
(And, if I must brag a little, them two whip and tongue grafts were just about perfect.)
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I should be doing a better job at it, but all the grafting I do are after these classes, so it’s a year between grafts. So, I probably forget most of what I did the previous year.
But, after being 6 out of 6, I guess I’m doing something right. I’m kind of worried that a couple of the rootstocks had little buds peeking out, so I hope I wasn’t too late?
@marknmt, yeah it looked like a woodchuck had a party in my kitchen after I was done. Good thing my wife wasn’t around to see it until I got it cleaned up. I don’t have a proper grafting knife, I usually use a box knife, hence the whittling.
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A little growth on the rootstocks won’t be any problem at all if you keep them hydrated and don’t let 'em get all dried out before planting or storing for callusing or whatever you do with the new benchgrafts. (I usually will rub off any green shoots on the rootstocks, otherwise, not an issue.)
Now, swollen buds about to pop open on the scionwood … I’ve avoided using such scions.
Maybe somebody else can explain what the odds are if using scionwood no longer dormant.
Incidentally, a stick of wood with the terminal bud still present will take off faster than one snipped and waxed on top.
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Agreed - my understanding is that the scions that are trying to emerge are more liable to burn up their stores before they knit to the understock. They need to have cambiums (cambia?) that are successfully transferring nutrients from the stock. But that’s not to say it cannot be done. I’ve gotten away with grafting pear that had some swollen buds. It gets progressively touchier as the bud swelling progresses. Makes sense.
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Actually, if you have a ‘green thumb’ you might snip the portion of root with little buds ‘peeking out’ and pot it up and graft to it next year if you are up for such an extended effort.
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Thanks for the info. The scions looked to be dormant, whereas the stocks had teeny leaves on the tips. I trimmed them down a few inches before the grafting. I left 2 or 3 buds on each scion, except the Dayton just had two. Generally, there’s about 4-6 inches between roots and the graft.
After I was done with the grafts and labeled them, I wrapped the roots with a few layers of paper towels, and wetted them. I then put them in a plastic bag, then covered that with another bag, squeezed the air out, and tied them together. Then the bags were put in the closet.
If I do any this evening, I’ll probably do that too. So far, this year, I did all mine outside and potted them up.
Haven’t notice much difference in the percentage that succeeds one method vs the other.
Yeah, I’m prob just going to plant these in the ground if they take. It should be about a week or two before I’ll know if they succeed. Plus, I’m running out of pots…
Sometimes it’s 30 days before I am sure if a graft has ‘taken’.
Anyhow, usually bench graft goes into pot. Pot goes into row under trees. (Natural shade structures, lol).
I did just that with some pieces of Geneva 30. They all rooted and I grafted to them the next year.
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Planted some pink guavas and rescued a Jasmine Sambac from the Walmart clearance plants. Slowly trying to convince myself I live in Hawaii.
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Apple grafts are leafing out!
Mostly interstems but some on straight m111- had to make a homemade version of grafting seal since the Doc Farwells is only available in gallons. Looks like it’s working, but then again they are apples.
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All right, I’ll bite! Just how did you make your home-brewed Dr. Farwell’s?
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It was just a guess with a little bit of descriptive info of the original from a fellow member, but I used an entire 18oz bottle of gorilla glue,1/2 tube of Alex fast dry caulk and about a quart of latex paint. I started with 1/2 quart of paint but it was too thick so I added more until I had the right consistency. It’s been several weeks now and it’s still stable in the container I mixed it in.
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Gorilla glue? You realy went all out. Don’t think you need it at all.
A dab of wax at an exposed end of scionwood and wrapping each graft union tightly with garden tape would be sufficient.
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My Imperiale Epineuse Euro Plum in bloom (it has many other Euro plums grafted on it but IE still comprises most of the tree):
I grafted these Warren Euro Pear and Korean Giant Asian Pear onto OHxF-87 rootstocks in April 2018. They are blooming profusely two years later:
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You’re right it’s probably overkill😁, but I did the interstem and the top graft at the same time and I hate to risk losing my scions.I usually just use parafilm or Buddy tape. I wanted something more for the interstem grafts, since there are two graft unions to callous before the scion gets connected to the roots.
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