Bud Grafting Update. 9.20.14

Tart Cherry.  9.20.14

Apple 1.  9.20.14

Apple 2.  9.20.14

 I've been very ill for 2 weeks, starting to recover.  No fever and back to work.  Still a lot of fatigue.

So gardening has lapsed.  Not much is lost, some wilting due to not watering.

The grafts mostly look pretty good, going into fall.   Now they should be uncovered.

Most of the tart cherry grafts appear to have taken.

Most if not all of the plums took.   The Satsuma tree died, so that doesn't count.

I only budded two apple buds, onto the 3-way grafted tree.  So if they take, it will be a 4-way tree.  These are un-named, from neighbor tree.  Small, McIntosh type, maybe small due to lack of care.  One looks more viable than the other.

A couple of the Sweet Cherry bud grafts did not take.  Most look like they did.

At least one lilac didn't take.  The others, I don't know.  The one that didn't take looked plump, but it fell off.

Asian Plum.  9.20.14

Sweet Cherry.  9.20.14

Grafting was one of the most fun parts of gardening this year.  I learned a lot, it's really easy, and kind of an adventure.

Grafting follow up. Cleft, Whip and Tongue, Bud Grafting. 8.31.14

Sweet Cherry Bud Graft.  Grafted mid-July 2014.  9.1.14

Lilac Bud Grafts.  Grafted June 2014.  8.31.14

Hollywood Plum Bud Graft.  Grafted late May 2014.   8.31.14 

Cerasifolia Plum graft.  Grafted late May 2014.  8.31.14

 This is a follow up on a few of the grafts I've done.  The lilac bud grafts all appear to have taken.  The buds are plump and green and look similar to the "native" buds on the stock.  They have a good start for winter.

Most of the earlier bud grafts, from late May, healed and merged with the stock, and did not grow.  That is pretty much as I expected.  They look ready for winter.  For late winter pruning, the plan is to cut the stock above the buds, so that there is no auxin - inhibition and they take off and grow next Spring.

Two of the May plum bud grafts took off and grew like crazy.  The cerasifolia graft shows up nicely against the green foliage of the stock tree.  Hollywood would do the same.  i wonder if these rapidly grown grafts will bloom next year.  If they do, that will be awesome.

Cerasifolia Plum Bud Graft.  Grafted late May 2014.  8.31.14

Sour Cherry Bud Graft.  Grafted July 2014.  8.31.14

Sweet Cherry Bud Grafts.  Grafted July 2014.  8.31.14

 The sour cherry and sweet cherry bud grafts mostly appear to have taken.  Possibly, all of them.  Most look about the same as the native buds on the stock trees.  The sides of the T-slice tend to curl back as the bud and tree callous and merge.  The top of the T seems to callous and merge without peeling back.

Last year's cleft graft on the Asian Pears, have almost completely healed over.  I was interested to see if the expose wood, would be a problem.  It looks like there is not problem.  At this rate, next year they will be completely filled in, leaving a visible graft but no open wood.

This year's Whip/Tongue grafts on the Asian pears, both the Asian pears I grafted and the European pears, have all healed over completely.  Growth surprised me - most had 2 to 3 feet of growth.  That is faster than the cleft grafts, in general.  Not a good test, but with no exposed wood, and instant, full cambium connection, whip/tongue in theory could give a faster start.

This is only a few of the many grafts I did this year.  All plum grafts took, all pear and apple grafts took.  Only one of the whip/tongue grafts on lilacs took.  It looks like all of the bud grafts on lilac took, so maybe that's the best method for them.

Grafting is amazing.  I can't believe it works.  It should - it's been done for thousands of years.  But it's still amazing.

Asian Pear Cleft Graft. Grafted March 2013.  8.31.14

Pear Whip and Tongue Graft.  Grafted March 2014.  8.31.14



Another Lilac bud graft, about 3 weeks.  9.1.14

Summer Bud Grafting Cherries, Plums, Peaches. 7.27.14

Cherry Budwood.  7.27.14

Cherry Budwood, trimmed.  7.27.14

Today I am lazy.  I did re-work 2 cherry trees, added new varieties to the established Asian plum, and added a pollinating peach variety to Indian Free Peach.

Why.

I have 2 cherries, in Battleground, that did not produce this year.  The first is North Star, a tart cherry, which is in its 2nd year, about 5 feet tall.  The branches tend to grow horizontally, which results in deer eating them.  Some branches finally took off and grew, but it doesn't look like much and I don't expect much next year.

So for that one, I chose bud-wood from a Sure-Fire I have been growing in Vancouver for 10 years or more.  Sure-Fire has an upright shape, so once the branches get past deer-height, should be relatively free of deer foraging.  There are 3 main branches, with some bifurcations, on the North Start tree.  One looks unhealthy, so I used the other two.  I grafted the Sure-Fire buds onto each ramification of the branches, about 10 grafts.

The Cherry bud-wood is pictured.  I cut it this morning, kept in water, and trimmed off the leaves before using.

The next photo shows the method I have been using.  I slice into the bud-wood making a vertical cut on each side of the bud, a horizontal cut above the bud , and 2 angled cuts below the bud.  I then peel the bud from the bud-wood.  This is not the method most authors describe.  I think it's an easier method for a novice like me, and it gave 100% success on the plums in June.

The 2nd cherry was Almaden Duke.  I bought that variety thinking it might bloom later than sweet cherries, thereby giving a 2nd chance for cherries in late frost years.  As it turned out, it bloomed at the same time as the sweet cherries.  I moved it from Vancouver to Battleground in 2012.  It was looking  very nice, but this year the deer developed a taste for cherry branches.  Again, this variety has a horizontal form, giving the deer fresh salad each time the branches started to grow.  The branches that did survive being browsed, did not produce many cherries.  It's time to rework it.  Ning especially likes Ranier, so I removed budwood from the Ranier Cherry in Vancouver.  Some Lapin as well, to keep it varied.  I bud grafted using mostly Ranier, and a couple of Lapin buds, making use of all of the branches as close to the trunk as I could.  I can let some Almaden Duke branches remain, to pollinate.  They may produce better with the other in-tree pollinators, too. 

Peeling Cherry Bud Shield from Budwood.  727.14

T-Bud Cherry.  7.27.14

T-Bud Cherry.  7.27.14

Reworked North Star -> Sure-Fire Cherry.  Deer Net Added.  7.27.14

I wrap each bud as I go along, for minimal exposure to the elements.

The budwood now has a thin papery cuticle layer.  I do not know if that layer should be removed.  For maximum cambium contact it seems that layer should be peeled off.  It seems to be non-living, peels like paper.  For maximum protection of bud, it seems the cuticle layer should remain in place.  So some buds, I left it on, and other buds, I peeled it off.  It peels very easily, is not strongly adherent to the underlying epidermis.

I replaced the deer net for the re-worked tart cherry.  I have not done that yet for the Duke / Sweet cherry but should.

I also added  some buds to branches of established Asian Plum.  I added Toka and additional Prunus cerasifolia.  I think it would be useful to have In-tree pollenizers because it's so windy when they are in bloom, maybe all pollen from other trees, which are all downwind, blows away.

Finally, I added 2 buds to the little Indian Free Peach.  This is one of the few peaches that is listed as needing a pollinator.  In addition, that little tree is upwind from the potential pollinating varieties. I chose Oregon Curl Free because it was less bothered by leaf curl, compared to Charlotte.

This is my first attempt at grafting cherries and peaches.  I'm curious to see if they take.

Bud grafting is an act of optimism.  Growth is not likely until next year, and bloom or fruit, in 2017.  A lot can happen before

Shiro Asian Plum, Bud Grafted onto unknown variety, at 2 months.  7.27.14

then.

July Bud Grafting. 7.15.14

All that's needed for bud grafting.  Scion, knife, sharpener, pruning shears, tape.  7.15.14

Plum scion trimmed and ready.  7.14.15.

 Yesterday I did some more bud grafting.  This time I expect they will stay dormant until Spring.  Given the heat, I don't know if they will survive.

I took scion wood from Shiro Asian plum.  I grafted onto some small Hollywood Asian plum stock, grown from cuttings started last winter.  They have put out about 1 foot of growth.  I grafted onto the original, now 1-year-old, main stems.  It was awkward working in that location, and difficult in the heat, so after the second one, I gave up.  Now that I have done a number of bud grafts, they seem quite versatile and even those attempts might take.  They are very shaded in a tomato raised bed.

I also bud grafted a couple of Shiro onto other plum trees.

Elsewhere I've shown photos of the completed bud graft.  Here are the steps leading up to it.

My method is a little different from the books, because I am clumsy.  I make an incision to the wood, actually 5 incisions.  One on each side of the  bud, one across the top, and 2 at the bottom to make a point.  Then I peel the bud from the underlying wood.  With these plums, it works every time, and leaves a nice large patch of cambium for maximum cambial contact with the stock.

Bud "shield" ready for use.  7.15.14

Bud "shield" ready for use.  7.15.14

Shiro bud grafted onto Hollywood Plum Stock.  7.15.14

Bud Grafting / Budding. Progress Report. 6.29.14

Shiro bud graft on Satsuma @ 2 weeks.   6.29.14

If anything indicates that a bud took, it's new growth.
The 2 week old grafts all look good.  In another week I'll consider removing the polyethylene wrapping.  It does not look like removal of wrapping on the first set of buds caused harm, and some are growing.

Shiro on the big unknown Asian plum, bud now growing a new shoot.

Prunus cerasifolia / burgundy plum on the same unknown Asian plum, also growing a new shoot.

This tree was too tall for me to safely bud higher branches, and this was just an experiment.  The plan at this point will be let these grow and remove the nearest larger branches, to part of the top growth is replaced by the grafted varieties.  That will give plums sooner than starting new trees, and equally important provide pollinating varieties within the same tree for better production in both the original branches and the grafts.

I love the Shiro plums, and the cerasifolia plums are exotic and flavorful, not available in any store.  So this is a great development.

Burgundy cerasifolia plum on Asian plum @ 4 weeks.  6.29.14

The branches may or may not bloom next Spring.  There is still most of the summer this year to grow.  But the following Spring they should be large enough and mature enough for bearing flowers and fruit.

I thought budding would be difficult.  These were my first attempts, and all of them took.  It was very easy.

Shiro bud grafted onto unknown Asian Plum @ 4 weeks.  6.29.14

Bud grafting. Progress Report. 6.21.14

Shiro Plum Bud Graft at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

Shiro Plum Bud Graft on Older Wood, at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

Hollywood Plum Bud Graft at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

These are some of the plum bud T-grafts at 3 weeks.  I read they should be unwrapped at 2 to 3 weeks, so I did.

The Shiro graft on new wood looks very good.  Still green, plump.  So I'm confident it took.  The bud portion also looks viable.  I pruned the branch back some more, about 6 inches above the bud graft.

The Shiro graft on older wig - many 3 years old - is less  green looking, but maybe OK.  I think the younger wood is much better, when there is a choice.

The Hollywood graft is burgundy, so harder to see if it is alive or not.  I think is it alive.

The second batch of bud T-grafts look OK.

I think I'll wait for July or August before grafting more.

Sunroom. Budding. 6.17.14

Homework day.

Not bad.  The sunroom makes for a more tolerable time.  The tile floor warms up nicely, even on cloudy day.  Under the floor, is 6 inches of insulation, so it should be warm in winter, too.

I did take an hour break for garden project.  I grafted new buds from Shiro and Hollywood plums, onto the existing plum trees.  I imagine if they take, it will be 2016 when they first bloom and bear.  That will help with pollination, so I don't have to run form tree to tree with a little paintbrush.

I used Hollywood and Shiro because those are what I have.  I think they are good choices - easy to see the burgundy leaves of Hollywoodo, so I easily know those are grafted, and easy to identify which plums are the small bright yellow plums of Shiro, and burgundy of Hollywood, for harvesting.

It rained Sunday and Monday.  Today drizzled.  So the tree tissues were moist, the bark slipped easily, and the grafts were not too difficult for a novice.  I don't know if they will take and grow.  If not, there is July and August budding as well, and now I have more practice.

Bud Grafting. Progress Report. 6.15.14

Shiro plum, bud grafted onto unknown plum variety.  2 weeks after budding.  6.15.14tao

 I think several, if not all, of the bud grafts have taken.  From what I read, if the entire graft turns brown, that's a sign it did not take  It is normal for a petiole (leaf stem) to turn yellow and fall off, when a leaf is cut.  So if the graft takes, that happens with the bud graft too.  Some have fallen off.  This one shows the abscission layer nicely, with hyellow petiole and proximal to the graft, nice green bud wood and bark.  This one is in the shade, so less likely to dry out.  As I recall, I can wait a week or two before removing tape.

I may do some more bud grafting.  Some of the new wood still looks pretty green, might be better to wait for it to mature a bit more.

Bud Grafting Asian Plums. 5.31.14

Bud Grafting Book Illustration

Yesterday I cut some shoots from the Vancouver plum trees, to provide buds to graft onto the younger plum trees in Battleground.

Bud grafting needs to be done when the bark is loose, or "slipping" as stated in books.  If an incision is made in a fairly young stem, the bark lifts from the underlying tissue fairly easily.

I wanted to work quickly, so did not take photos of the process.  I have never done or seen this procedure, so it's a gamble.  That never stops me.

The illustration is an old book illustration.  It is long past copyright.

Shiro bud graft on unknown stock.

Red leaf plum bud graft on unknown stock.

 First, I made the T incision on the stock.  I chose branches that looked juicy and young, this year's growth or 1 year old.  I eased the bark off the underlying tissue, then placed it back while cutting the bud scion.

Then, I cut the leaves from the scion branches, leaving the amount shown.  That serves as handle.

I used a very sharp grafting knife, cutting through the young bark to make a shield with central bud, as in the illustration.  I peeled that off the donor branch.

The shield is slipped into the T incision, then wrapped with plastic grafting strips.

It sounds easier than it is, but I felt like most of these attempts had a chance to survive.

I noticed, the moist inside wood was white, but changed to brown in a few minutes.  I don't know if that's harmful, but I suspect it's not good.  I proceeded as quickly as possible.

This is early for budding.  If they take, it's possible they will start growing in a few weeks.

Shiro bud graft on Methley stock.

If these grow,  they will provide pollinating branches within each tree.  In addition, the unknown plum tree doesn't seem productive.  It might help to have pollinating branches on the tree.  These grafts could also be the start of converting the tree to proven varieties, such as shiro.

Budding now also gives me practice to try again later.

I also noted one of my pruning efforts earlier this year stimulated one very vigorous new growth, with easily sliced and manipulated bark.  That served as stock for two budding attempts.  If they take, ultimately they might replace a branch of the tree.