Did some pear peach apricot grafting yesterday, last night was 27 degree , tonight will be 26, will be above 32 after that. Will be 70 on Thursday and Friday. Really nervous about the outcome.
For pear, it probably would be OK.
For peach and apricot, I think it’s too cold for the grafts to take. I’ve never graft peaches with temp below 60 F. Peach is quite temperature sensitive and needs warmer temp (60-80 F) for grafts to be successful. I’ve grafted apricot about the same time I grafted peaches. I’ve had good success rate with both.
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I found this to be inaccurate for my area. Your grafts still have a chance. Some do all their peach grafting before temps hit 60. Here local experts say it’s more to do with sap flow than temperatures. I would talk to local experts as to when to graft. Here temps are usually in the 50’s when i graft, and have had the most success. Here, the experts say when tree begins to flower is the best time. Mine should be flowering in about 3 weeks. Currently it is 35F here.
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Drew,
You quoted me that my statement “I’ve never graft peaches with temp below 60 F.” was inaccurate.
How? I just stated the fact about my peach grafting that I’ve never grafted peach with temp below 60 F.
If you meant to say that you have grafted peaches successfully when temp is below 60 F, that’s good for you.
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Cloud,
As was mentioned, your pear may be (probably be) fine. Your apricots and peaches are more suspect. Peaches are harder to graft anyway, which is why the nursery trade almost exclusively buds peaches (when temps are very warm, but not excessively hot).
Some in the forum are experimenting with grafting peaches in cooler temperatures. This is because traditionally hobbyists have found grafting peaches more successful at higher temperatures. Specifically two members have grafted peaches at lower temps and had success. As far as I know, only one of those members has grafted large numbers of peaches during cooler temps, with good results. Drew is very vocal proponent about cool weather grafting, as evident in his post.
However, there are many references which suggest higher success rates of peach grafts with higher temperatures. Ed Fackler, a somewhat notable nurseryman who used to own and operate Rocky Meadow orchard, and past president of a fruit explorers group called NAFEX, maintained temperatures needed to be 70F for grafting peaches. I’ve run across other references which suggest the same.
Also note that it’s much easier to topwork an existing peach tree than graft a new peach tree. So if you’re topworking, temperatures may not be as critical for your peach grafts.
All this is to say the “jury” is still out on the optimum time to graft, as far as the most experienced fruit growers of this forum. My personal experience more closely matches Mamuang. I would not suggest trying to graft peaches below 60F.
But, please do provide feedback of your successes/failures. You are adding to this body of knowledge with your experiences!
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Thanks a lot for your guy’s input. I will update the results in a couple of month. Tonight’s temp. actually will be 25. I can only hope for the best.
. My advice is to ask local experts. You can follow it or not? Most know exactly when the best time is for your area. Often classes are offered etc. I never took one, as my technique is well practiced. I had a timing issue which I resolved with their advice and i was amazed at the results. Day and night difference. Peaches seem easy now.
When to graft peaches is a constantly debated question and I could be one of the posters that Olpea is referring to who is leaning toward earlier grafting. This spring has been so cold that I haven’t grafted anything but a couple mulberries (and then just because I happened to be at the property). With a nice warm-up coming (low 40’s turning to 50’s and a few ~70ish) I plan to start grafting everything. I’ve already scheduled a couple days off from work on Wednesday and Thursday. 
But, I think another part of your question is also interesting- does going below freezing damage grafts in general.
I would lean toward saying either “no” or “not much”, but freely admit that it is mostly a guess. The reason I think so is that the all the branches on the tree are experiencing the same conditions and not dying. If properly refrigerated, the scion shouldn’t be ahead of the host tree, so I wouldn’t think that it would be more susceptible. But, if anyone has a better supported answer, I’d be interested.
That’s the kind of statement issued just before disaster… 
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Yeah probably! That Murphy guy never stops!
I think the best temp is 70F, Chances decrease in as temps rise or fall. That has helped me a lot. But often it’s 50F when i start, but soon is 70F. Grafts will last till conditions improve too, so hard to say exactly. Seems around 70 is ideal, but it’s better to error on the side of colder than warmer. Once it consistently over 70F I feel your chances diminish.
Maybe callusing works well at higher temps, but cooked scion isn’t going to allow it anyway. At 60 many will take, at 80 very few. At least around here, maybe other factors are involved? It was 80 here last year only for 15-20 days all year, and plants not used to it stress greatly. I think we hit 90, 2-4 days last year. We did not hit 100 and have not in some time. So for trees around here 90 is like 110 in say SC. All gardening is local.
Our average high for a year is 59 average low is 42. So grafting at 75F here is 16 degrees warmer than the mean temp the trees are exposed to.
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That’s about my take on it as well, which is why I’ll start grafting them (and everything else) tomorrow. Upcoming weather for me:
49 (today)
51
55
67
71
48
52
50
55
53
But, we should recognize that our experience seems to contradict what others have experienced. I’m planning to keep grafting for a while to get a bit more data. Though I will try to make sure at least one of anything I really want a take on gets into the first batch.
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I need to wait a couple weeks before I’m at those temps. But I’m close so grafting is going to start soon for me too. I think you’re right on time, good luck with it!
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No, didn’t get the chance to talk to local gardeners. Temp will be 50-60 this weekend, will try another round of grafting, then last batch after temp hits 70s. Would be informative to compare the results later.
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A quick update of graft did 19 days ago, temp was between 25-60s, only have one day above 70. Seems like peach and pear grafts started to pushing bud, not obvious for apricot though. Is peach graft real take or just budding using scion wood’s stored nutrient?
Will do last round grafting tomorrow.
After nearly three weeks I’ll bet you’re in the clear.
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