They also won't take in too-hot weather, not usually a problem in spring but we had a heat wave of 90+ this last spring and I lost many peach grafts in that spell. I use the same method as Ace and I also paint the whole scion with Doc Farwells to help keep them from drying out (do that before putting foil on). They may take a long time to callous and if they stay moist they won't go dead before they callous. You need several days of good weather so look at the forecast and time your peach graft accordingly. When I have good timing the odds can be very good. I have not found the odds any different based on the type of graft and I use many different types depending on the situation. Scott

Thank you Dax. This was about my third year in trying to propagate this J. virginiana. The first year I tried strong rooting hormone on cuttings, that failed. Second year I tried grafting with a knife (not razor sharp, just sharp) and doing the bag method except I did not let them breath, those all failed (quick), Spider mite infestation on the root stalks, and the knife not being razor sharp was likely the main causes for a quick death. Third year (this year) The scions seemed green for a long time in the humidity chamber after grafting, but I think that was just because the humidity preserved the chlorophyll even though the scions where getting little to no water uptake from the root stalk (guessing). The only ones to eventually grow a tiny bit and did not turn brown for the longest time, were the ones I had half in a jar of water (approach grafts), and they actually grew, but after I took the "graft" out of the humidity and removed the jar the tender new growth quickly shrived up and the last couple of scions I had died. I don't know if this guess is true or not, But I've been guessing (and hoping) the the only reason they failed is because I got the scions off the parent tree as the tree was coming out of dormancy in February (pollen cones on the tree where large and swollen, and just about to burst open). A very warm winter did not help either (breaking dormancy even earlier than typical.) So perhaps the scions did not have time to heal before the water started to transpire out of the foliage of the scions and juices flowing in the scions, thus a very poor graft union that was very susceptible to even tiny stresses in the aftercare (in other words: little to no water and nutrient uptake for the scions). Does this sound likely or not, (I don't mind if you disagree with what I said above, I want to learn as much as possible, so you can tell how you think about it). This time I want to get the scions in the dead of winter (in January). Do you think bagging the grafts could be better than the humidity chamber? Bagging them would be more work and I worry about spider mites, but I don't mind to do what ever it takes to get a successful cone of it, I'll do it. I would even spend hundreds or maybe even thousands of dollars to graft/clone it successfully. lol You probably know how it is for me, ones favorite plant/tree of a plant enthusiast is kind of like a very close family pet.

Dave, good luck with that! Let us know how it turns out. Sunseeker, you might even consider cutting out a center piece to graft onto an even shorter trunk, then you'd have a nice thick center-cut to root as well. In fact, you might be able to air-layer at two spots on the trunk, one about a foot above the other. That would be a good experiment. And to answer your question from the other post, yes, I did lose that inflo on Makaha when it got grafted. It was awful because the buds were so close to opening but the cutting was getting horribly shriveled and I was afraid I'd lose the whole thing. Now I have to wait another couple years to see those gorgeous buds again, which looked sooooo promising! The air-layering posts on MPG came up shortly after I discovered this on my multi-tip Intense Rainbow: For some reason it wasn't covered with latex though I found the break after only a day or so. Don't know what happened and if it was ball play damage, no one here is fessing up to it! After reading about someone's borer experience I freaked a little and quickly covered it with masking tape to discourage any boring critters that might want to make a home there. The break goes about 2/3 of the way around. I checked it after a couple of weeks and it, too, is starting to swell to form roots, but I decided instead of air- layering I would just let it heal and grow over like a graft since I'd rather have just one Intense Rainbow with several tips.

In my experience, my side veneer grafts have been most successful when I used a larger, thicker budwood and made sure to line the cambium layers up as best as possible.....you want to match at leeast on side. Another challenge is matching the budwood with the rootstock so that it makes as much contact as possible. I use clear grafting tape to unite the scion and stock, leaving the bud area exposed, which I then wrap with parafilm because it is much easier for the bud to push through than the grafting tape. I used the tape to unite the 2 because it is stronger and I can wrap it more tightly. I like using the clear tape because I can see if the budwood is turning black (which means the graft isn't taking) without having to unwrap the tape. Also, I now sterilize my grafting knife with hydrogen peroxide before making a graft in order to avoid infecting the graft with fungus or microbes.