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Fruit & Orchards

Peach tree graft failure

11 years ago

Hi all. I tried grafting a peach scion to Bailey rootstock this year, started a bit later and they seemed to fail. I did use a lot of grafting wax and I am wondering if this caused the failure? I used a cleft graft and taped it after smothering the graft with wax.

Any advice would be appreciated as I am going to try again with new scions.

Thanks

Jason

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Comments (3)

Scott F Smith
11 years ago
Jason, peaches are much harder to graft than most other fruits. They are picky in many dimensions so it can be hard to pinpoint the failure. You need temps to be highs in the 75-85F range, they don't like it too hot or too cold. Wrap in alu foil to help even out the temps (shiny side out). Grafting wax is usually OK but if you are not careful you can get it in the graft by mistake. I use parafilm to avoid this. You also need to completely seal the scion, either put grafting wax all over it or use parafilm or doc farewells (I use the latter). Sealing keeps it from drying out, it can take longer to get a take and you don't want it drying out while its mid-process. Lastly do 3-4 of each variety to increase the odds. Its easier to do multiple grafts on the same big stock if you use bark grafts - I can get 4-6 on one stock.

Scott
Jazen
Original Author
11 years ago
Scott
Thanks for the reply. I definitely got way to much grafting wax in the graft. I also taped around the wax, so it being +90 here in Illinois, I am sure it seeped into the graft. I will try your suggestions in the second attempt. What size scion should I be using?
Again, many thanks
Jason
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What Frank says ... I've failed at most stonefruit grafting because I thought one could follow the rules for spring grafting, which works quite well for pomes -so because I had some success with pears and apples I thought the same pattern would work with apricots. But stone fruit require warmer temperatures to callous over well, and warmer temps happen in the summer. Scottsmith and others speak well to the exact temperatures where this happens well, but the short answer is "summer grafting", which means either budding or chip budding depending on your preference. The buds you would use in the summer haven't grown yet. The bud you use in spring grafting grew last summer. Hope this didn't muddy the waters for you.
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Yeah, that's pretty much a mess. But I've had them as bad from deer "buck rub" and survive at least a few years. That is a very, very big gap to cover. Honestly long term, though, it will probably get some kind of rot and die in a couple of seasons even if it can compartmentalize this damage and survive for a while. That was the scenario on mine. I've had oh sooooooo many trees killed by Bambi over the past couple of decades, or at least damaged. I assume the back side of the tree has intact bark? It will survive that way at least long enough to ripen a crop if you have one this year. In my crazy horticultural mish-mash world, I say try it if you feel you must, because you don't have a lot to loose. But I have a thought for you. Rather than trying to bridge graft with bark, is there any possibility you could get your hands on a pretty thin, young, whip type peach tree, plant it on the damaged side, and do an inarch graft??? Also, fungicide is your friend at this point, I would dust the wound with something like Captan powder to help keep it clean, or even maybe Rootone F to promote healing. Once again, I have NO scientific proof this works, but I do it and it seems to work for me. Here is a link that might be useful: North Carolina State University extension brochure that shows inarch grafting
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I've always felt that I needed the good mechanical pull that a budding rubber provides, and to keep it from drying out I think it needs to be sealed with parafilm or wax. Parafilm is my first choice because it breathes a little. But it's not enough by itself to make me feel secure! I used the Ace rubber tape this year on clefts and felt like it worked really well. Rubber tape or bands or rubbers all seem good to me. I think that if you use the wide budding rubbers or tape and overlap thoroughly then the parafilm/wax precaution is probably redundant, but it's cheap redundancy and I do it. I use wide and long rubbers also because it's easier to wrap them off- you have so much to work with, and they're cheap enough that you can afford to cut off excess. Like MiHiGirl I'm in the Rockies, but not at a mile high! We're at 3200 ft, give or take a couple of feet. But it's definitely an arid environment: we get about 12-13 inches total precip per year.
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Jazen
Original Author
11 years ago
Scott
Thanks for the reply. I definitely got way to much grafting wax in the graft. I also taped around the wax, so it being +90 here in Illinois, I am sure it seeped into the graft. I will try your suggestions in the second attempt. What size scion should I be using?
Again, many thanks
Jason

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