best time for grafting in the field?

12 years ago

I'm unclear about when the best time is to graft and/or bud onto seedlings in the field (like the callery pears in the other thread), and I'm hoping y'all can give me better understanding. I have persimmons, callery pears, mulberries, pawpaws, sour cherries, and a peach in the ground that I want to graft or bud onto this year. What grafting and budding options would you all think best for these things? My only successful experience is with whip and tongue grafting, but I'm eager to learn other methods. My main question is about timing, though. Some of the callery pear buds are cracking open and showing leaves already. Is right now the best time to graft? Even if it's supposed to get down in the low 20's tonight? Does that matter at all? Should I have already grafted several weeks ago?

For grafting persimmons I found a PDF online from David Osborn, and he recommended what I guess is a fairly standard bark graft to be done after the tree has fully leafed out around May. Would I have better success that way than whip and tongue grafting right at bud break? (I've had some limited success with that in previous years.) In a bark graft, does the cambium of the rootstock peel back and remain with the bark (such that the cambium contact is face to face with the cambium of the scion)?

Is right at bud break the best time for whip and tongue grafts onto all species already in the field?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

lucky_p
12 years ago
Cuz'n Floyd,
I do a simple bark graft for just about everything. Usually after the rootstock is leafed out and the bark is 'slipping'. Works great for the persimmons and mulberries. Biggest thing with the persimmons is diligent, almost religious aftercare - you have to check, almost daily, to keep rootstock shoots rubbed off, or they'll rapidly outgrow the grafted scion, sapping away energy that should go into callusing and scion growth.
The simple bark graft works great for pears - but everything works with pears! I prefer a W&T, as it's more sturdy and less likely to 'blow-out' if you get vigorous scion growth; 3' of growth on a pear graft in one year is not unheard of, and all it takes is a bird perching on it, or a vigorous gust of wind, and there it goes...
The few stonefruits I've grafted with dormant scions were done with that simple bark graft - works fine.

For my bark grafts, in addition to the long, sloping cut at the base of the scion, I also 'shave' bark on the long 'sides', to expose additional cambium along the lateral edges of the scion, prior to insertion into the vertical slit in the rootstock bark.
W&T can actually be done before the rootstocks break dormancy. OSU recommends W&T grafting of pecans in March - I did a few last week; also dug and potted up some volunteer callery seedlings and W&T grafted OHxF513 interstems onto them at that time - will come back later and stick fruiting cultivars on(though I have, in the past assembled the 513/fruiting scion unit and grafted that directly onto the callery understock, with good success).
lucky_p
12 years ago
Cuzn.
I looked up the pdf you mentioned. Not how I do my bark grafts, but there are probably as many variations of a given grafting technique as there are grafters. Konrad, who's a frequent poster here, does his a little differently, as well - but it's a graft that takes quite nicely, and it's easy to do.
My technique: Behead the rootstock with your pruners. Make a single vertical slit in the rootstock bark. Make a long, sloping cut in the base of your scion - just as you would for a simple whip graft. Now, shave some bark off the two 'long' sides, to expose some cambium tissue on the lateral edges. Gently 'lift' the edges of the slit in the rootstock bark and slide the scion down into the slit, until the cambium at the 'top' of your sloping basal cut is just above the level of the beheaded top of the rootstock.
I wrap the union and scion with parafilm, then overwrap with rubber band - or sometimes, just with a couple layers of masking tape, if it's something that will callus in rapidly, like pears.
For nut trees, I do a 'sap-stopper' modification of the graft above - instead of completely beheading the rootstock, I just cut 3/4-7/8 of the way through the stock and break the top over, leaving it attached, to serve as a sap-drawer/pressure relief valve, as nut trees often tend to bleed excessively. After the scion calluses in and growth commences, you can come back and snip off the still-attached top of the rootstock.

Osborn's technique, as outlined in the pdf, may actually be a sturdier graft, less prone to 'blow-out/break-out' than mine - might try a few that way this year.

I have done simple whip grafts on persimmon, with 100% success rate, before someone told me that persimmons are hard to graft. (They're NOT. But, aftercare, for at least the first growing season, IS.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Grafting persimmons.
Related Discussions
best timing and methods for grafting mulberry?
Q
Comments (13)
Cousin Floyd: I just pruned away some unwanted twigs/branches on an IL Everbearing tree (bearer of only very small berries) before going back outside to topwork it with 3 other varieties. Because the tree is actively growing now and forming leaves and berries, the sap is oozing out of the cut branches....good for the scions that will be thirsty for that sap starting this afternoon. .....Flooding a graft with EXCESS sap, such as when doing cleft grafts on muscadine vines, is a problem. The pressured clear sap ends up dripping/squirting through the taped graft for many days and interferes with healing. On those, I have done strategic notching on the upstream r/s vine to divert some of the flow until the graft area stops dripping from the oversupply. When the notches are "deep enough but not too deep", dripping occurs at the notches rather than through the graft tape further downstream.
...See More
Field Grafting In Illinois
Q
Comments (4)
Dax, Eddie Rezek (Long Island, deceased) used to graft Chamaecyparis onto Thuja during the summer outside. He used a clear plastic bag and full shade with lots of indirect light. I think you can graft outside but you have to store the scion wood for 4-6 weeks and that can reduce your take. You want your scion wood completely dormant and your understock breaking dormancy. Seal the graft union with parafilm or grafting paint and prevent dessication by bagging with a white polybag. Put a piece of wet sponge in the bag to help the humidity. Experiment. You have nothing to lose but your time. Find some 5-6' high conifers and graft something wierd. That is when you really have some fun. Bob
...See More
Field grafting
Q
Comments (12)
Jarpe, Barbara: The field grafts my friend has done haven't been in large enough numbers to have a reliable system established. He has a lot of shade in some areas of his yard. Personally, I would use white plastic to reduce heat build up. The two grafts with clear bags that I looked at the day I took pictures looked fine, but we haven't had too many sunny days this spring. I think that gradually opening the bottom of the bags to slowly decrease humidity is a good plan. As far as I know, he has only had success with five needle pines. He has tried on spruce several times without success yet. He tried fir as well (1 or 2 grafts) He grafts in late winter/early spring If I were going to experiment, I would try to harvest scion a couple of weeks before anticipated bud break on the rootstock and then graft as buds were beginning to expand on the rootstock. Sluice: I agree the SP growth is fantastic. It took us a while to figure out what we had on there because the tag was gone, but then I remembered what we'd done. Unpro: wish I could give you more info. I think the typical grafting methods are probably superior. Unless you are looking to modify something already in the ground this is not the preferred method. I did review a couple of Youtube videos with demonstrations of top grafts of pines. One is linked below. Keith Here is a link that might be useful: Field grafting loblolly pine
...See More
Best time to graft roses in N-Cali zone 9b
Q
Comments (35)
Help Me Find lists three offspring of Louis Philippe. One is a mutation; one is from its seed and one from its pollen. Archduke Charles is a mutation of Old Blush and has produced only mutations. That doesn't necessarily mean anything other than no one has reported raising any seedlings from it, but seedlings have been raised from Old Blush. Mel's Heritage may be fertile, or not. There are no listed crosses involving it, either direction. Again, though, that only means no one has reported raising any crosses from it. Of the three, I would think Mel's Heritage would be the most interesting to try, because of its parentage and the fact no one has reported any results from it. Unless you're going to try something really far out, like species crossed with Archduke Charles or Louis Philippe, you are likely to raise "more of the same" from them.
...See More
lucky_p
12 years ago
Ooh. Missed the pawpaw.
They're almost as easy as everything else. I've done bark grafts, simple splice, and W&T - after the rootstock breaks dormancy - all with good success.
Some folks love chip-budding - but I've never, ever been able to do one correctly - or at least, never had one take. So, I stick with what I know.

So...you probably need to wait a few weeks on the persimmons, pawpaws, mulberries and stonefruits - but you could W&T the pears, if the bark's not yet slipping.
My experience with persimmons has been that sometimes if you try to graft too quickly after the leaves first start pushing out, the bark is still not slipping enough to make a good bark graft.

best time for grafting in the field?

Comments (3)

lucky_p

lucky_p

Related Discussions

lucky_p

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US