Graft union incompatibility, bulging/swelling....repare..
When stock and scion growth is uneven, bulging/swelling of either stock or scion, I have learned by making vertical cuts, preferred early in the growing season, bark will expand and you can substantially increase the diameter over several years until a match is completed.
Here, Capilano Apricot top heavy on plum, can be repaired by making several vertical cuts on the thin part. This is a old picture and didn't get to do it here, tree died a year later after transplant.
Most often I get top heavy when grafting prunus domestica onto Jap. stock.
Here you see some old expanded wide scars on old cuts and new ones on the root stock, started about 3 years ago, now almost matching. [green part,..remanent of grafting seal]
Top worked tree, cuts on the stock is expanding.
In reverse, new cuts on top, [scion]. Use sharp thin knife.
Comments (15)
alcan_nw
8 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Prunus sargentii life span
Comments (9)Look until you find one raised from seed or even a cutting. In addition to possible delayed graft incompatibility there is the possibility of the aforementioned ugly differential between the diameter of the sweet cherry stem and the stem of the Sargent cherry, as well as likely issues with emergent roots and suckers - here in western USDA 8 sweet cherry root-stocks are often a nightmare in parking strips and other turfed or paved areas....See MoreLeaves turning brown
Comments (15)Sure is a lot of ant discussion here lately! Must be having a good year. I find it surprising to see both trees with nearly identical full-length trunk wounds. That's bad. The trees may manage to close up those wounds and grow new wood around them, but at the very least, sap flow is impeded on the corresponding sides of both. I think the bulging areas are just the graft union acting like they usually do. And while there are clearly some roots "strangling" one another, as posted above, not quite sure there's any girdling going on. There could be though-the one side of both trees has a flat look usually associated with such. BTW, it's not unusual to have a few good years with a tree that is headed for problems from trunk wounds/girdling roots/etc. Trees store lots of energy so they normally exhibit a delayed response to some of this stuff. Now back to ants: When ants do cause problems for plants, it's usually indirectly, by constantly churning and digging up the soil in said plant's rooting area, causing it to dry out. That is except fot those ants Spruceman brought to our attention which actually do directly attack trees. But they are an exception, not the norm. I surmise that with most of the nation in drought, ants are doing especially well and are especially numerous this year. Hence, every ailing tree also coincidentally has ants on it! +oM...See MorePotbound? - Not so fast!
Comments (12)Good point, bboy. You will have to take my word that the flares were readily visible with no tangling or clump of criss crossed roots on both trees. I do know exactly what the Acer looked like when I up potted it since removed all the soil at the time and it was fine. From what I could see of the Metasequoia (much more detailed view in person of course), it was also in good shape. I also want to add that crossing roots (not the thick unworkable roots that classify a plant as 'potbound') BELOW the root flare are less of a detriment to the long term health of the tree due to self root grafting and/or natural tolerances genetically endowed upon the plants than stem girdling roots ABOVE the root flare. Hence, there were no stem girdling roots on the above examples so I am not concerned about a few crossing roots deep in the soil which happens ALL THE TIME in nature. Bboy mentions quite often the option of planting grafted trees with the graft union buried so the clonal scion will produce its own roots, thereby eliminating the threat of graft incompatibility. When this is chosen, once the scion as rooted into the surrounding soil sufficiently, the remnant root system of the root stock becomes insignificant over time if I understand him correctly. This should be no different than a tree with a deep tangle in the rootball that has roots that eminate from the main trunk/root system higher up since the higher placed roots remain in place to supply the top growth with the nutrients/water it needs to survive. If the lower tangle at some point becomes compromised or even aborted, the tree remains alive due to the fully functioning higher placed roots. This post was edited by j0nd03 on Wed, Nov 20, 13 at 16:23...See MoreWhat's with all the buds?
Comments (8)Dax, I agree. And sometimes the lower part of the scion does bulge out, maybe due in part to a callus effect? With regard to compatability, it does look like there might be a difference, but my thought is the same as what Resin says, time will tell. Sam, the presence of buds does not concern me, but please keep us posted on this, and the graft union! On a related note, here is an abies concolor scion (on concolor understock). I had given up on this one (grafted earlier this year) since all the needles had fallen off and no new shoot developed from an existing bud. But this weekend I noticed multiple buds appearing, which may be considered advantageous. I used to think you had to have live needles on the scion in order for it to take. But this year I've had a few instances where that was not the case, either by chance or design (i.e. I plucked the needles off the scion prior to grafting). On this scion, you can almost see two different sections, one live and one dead....See More
mattpf (zone4)
8 years agoHow deep do you make these cuts and can I do it on first year grafts. I can already see certain grafts growing way faster and longer this first year and I don't want to loose them as they are perfect connections and the scions have grown longer new shoots than I've ever seen.
.......another question is some of my grafts have grown 18" new shoots and they are this years scions grafted. Do you think I should cut the tips to stop growing ? I am not sure how strong the union actually could be since March april to now and can it actually support this new weight.
This graft is a lot bigger than this picture now it burst through the parafilm long ago and I do not use electrical tape so I wrapped the union back up with plastic wrap and used tape over top to act like a cast over the union just to give it some extra strength so these really long branches do add to much side pressure and break the union. Is it possible the union is strong enough to support it?
mattpf (zone4)
8 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
8 years agomattpf (zone4)
8 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
8 years agomattpf (zone4)
8 years agobenfisher
8 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
8 years agomattpf (zone4)
8 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
8 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoThese cherries would have benefited in the repair ...think it's too late, a strong wind can snap them off. Looks at least double in circumference.
yovan mcgregor
7 years ago
mattpf (zone4)