@Dax, I have probably watched your grafting video 20x in preparation for this years grafting season. I have all of my understock potted and ready to go. I decided to start with Pinus strobus, because they are virtually indestructible in New England and I was able to hand select wild growing understock, since it is so abundant in the area. I plan to graft scions from a local Pinus strobus 'Pendula' and from the broom I found last winter. Thanks for spending the time creating this tutorial for noobs like me. Also, I searched high and low for those thin/large sandwich bags at dollars stores and other locations, then went to Walmart and they have them! Hope that saves others some time. Walmart also has "cork tiles" for a couple bucks, they are thin, so I just glued it to a larger cutting board. Amazon has a nice selection of grafting knifes, I picked on up for about $15 bucks. Any recommendations on lighting? I was thinking about buying a 400w light, since I will be doing this in my garage, not a greenhouse. I know there is some new blood on this site, so hopefully this bump up will allows others to see this valuable post. Thanks, Shawn

Hi Menno, Conifers need no wax, only deciduous grafts do. 50 degrees constant is perfect. Tent the grafts at supper time (dark) and remove the tenting early morning. Mist them 4-5 times daily (not at night). Use bottom heat. When preparing the understock, never cut more than 25% into the understock, instead, you want a thin cut but the flap you're creating should be a little longer than the prepared cuts on the scion. Insert the scion so that it is nicely snup and so that the flap is excessive/longer at the top so you know the scion wounds are completely covered. Keep the humidity up - you want high ninties to 100% if at all possible. Your knife should be sharp enough to remove the hair off your hand by scraping. Anything less than that sharp you're grafts will be very unsuccessful. Keep the knife clean with rubbing alcohol. (Periodically dip to remove built-up resin). Wipe the blade clean and dry. Deciduous grafts (side veneer) treat the same with a few exceptions: You use your bud tape (bud strip) but the grafts need be coated in paraphin. The entire "strip" needs to be coated. Do not tent deciduous grafts. After growth has occured on a deciduous graft (full leaf push on the scion), you must remove the understock. Cut just above the graft union leaving only the scion to continue growing on the roots of the seedling understock. Pot up your grafted plants and untangeling all roots early spring. Then and only then, add fertilizer to the soil mix. For the next couple years, keep these "fresh grafts" shaded. Under a large shade tree is perfect. For the conifer understock, snip back all but one or two main branches at spring pot up and leave the understock on for a year (this is debatable to no end) - and the following spring remove them just as you did for your deciduous grafts. These must also be placed under a shade tree. Keeping both out of full sun is very important and I want to stress this. Lastly I'll just say, when you make your understock cut, try your darndest best to make it exactly as wide as your scion - 'otherwise' - line "at least" one side of the scion up with "one side" of your understock flap. Tie it off and call it done! Dax

If you are interested please e-mail direct with your list. These grafts were done in January 2008. Here is my trading list: Abies alba ÂVariegata Abies concolor ÂCandicans Abies concolor ÂWintergold Abies koreana ÂNanaimo Abies procera ÂGlauca Abies veitchi ÂGlauca Picea abies ÂAurea Magnifica Picea abies ÂFrohburg Picea abies ÂVermont Gold Picea englemannii ÂHoodie Picea likiangensis var. Balfouriana Mittenwald Picea mariana ÂArgenteovariegata Picea obovata ÂGlauca Picea omorika ÂPendula Bruns Picea orientalis ÂEarly Gold Picea orientalis ÂGolden Start Picea pungens ÂHoopsi Pinus leucodermis ÂGold Tip Pinus contorta ÂTaylorÂs Sunburst Pinus koreansis ÂRowe Arboretum Pinus nigra ÂWalter Pinus parviflora ÂTenysu-Kazu Pinus parviflora ÂWatnong Pinus strobus ÂFastigiata Pinus strobus ÂGolden Candles Pinus thunbergiana ÂOgon Pinus leucodermis ÂAureospicata Pseudotsuga menziesii ÂHillside YellowÂ

This guy I know who is an owner of a nursery that sells only grafted trees(mostly conifers) grafts his picea jezoensis species because grafting is his specialty and why grow from seed when he can just graft it easily. None of his products are propagated from seed. Also, I can't believe I forgot about Sc77s comment. I saw it and I was going to re ask the same question but turned out I forgot. I will re quote it "One interesting thing I always wondered.... a grafted plant is said to have the maturity of the parent tree, meaning that a grafted tree has the ability to cone right away, or within a year after recovering from the trauma of grafting. I always took this to mean it inherited the age of the parent tree, but I guess that can't be right, otherwise really old cultivars would be literally hundreds of years old now, since they all originated from the same tree... So what's the story with that? Is it just juvenile vs. mature DNA, but not necessarily age inheritance?" So yea, what is the deal with this? If a scion for grafting or cutting for root formation was taken from a 70 year old tree would that make the scionwood/cutting 70 years old once it has its roots?