Grafting Results So Far. 5.4.2021

 These are a few of the grafts that I did in March.  I wondered if the unseasonable warmth last week would be an issue.  Maybe for a few.  Most seem OK so far.  They are at that stage where, the scions are obviously alive and getting some nutrition, but growth isn't yet sturdy enough to say, yes they took and are home free.  Close, getting there, but not quite yet.

Chestnut Graft, Primato I think.

Another Chestnut, Bisalta III

 

 

Apples that I grafted to make the top Espalier tiers.

 

 The Otterson looks like it tried to bloom.  I've had that happen with other grafts, then the vegetative growth began.  Otherwise, it could be a dead end.

There are also grafts on some of the larger apple trees, a wild / domestic black cherry, and apples on smaller rootstocks.  All look about the same.

Completed Grafting. 3.19.2021

 I enjoy making new grafts, a lot.  It still feels like magic, taking a stick (scion) from one tree and adding it to a rootstock or shoot of another tree, and having it grow and become one with it's understock and make fruits.  So I look forward to when the weather and season are right.  I plan ahead, collect scion wood and refrigerate it over the late winter, and order from sources such as Burnt Ridge or Fedco.  This year I ordered a couple unnecessarily.  I was over enthused.  Blame the pandemic.  Even so, all of the grafts are done now.

Apples -

I started converting the Jonathan multigraft back to mostly Jonathan.   Some of the older grafts were not appealing for me (Keepsake and Granite Beauty) so why keep them?  I got to test them out, which is good, and they didn't pass.   Porter, on the same multigraft tree, is very good.  I want to keep it, but it is too vigorous on a Jonathan, so I started the process of cutting that back.  I have a minitree started for Porter which probably won't bear for a few years.

So I pruned off Keepsake entirely.  Granite Beauty had a graftable small shoot that I grafted with scion from Jonathan, then removed the rest of that branch.  Granite Beauty was also too vigorous for that Jonathan.  I also pruned back about 1/3 of the Porter, and grafted two small lower shoots of that with Jonathan scion.  If they take, I hope there is still some good structure and I can get the tree mostly converted to Jonathan.  It will be interesting to see what happens. My scion in the fridge was a little mildewed, so I cut new scion from the Jonathan, seeking stems that had buds that had not started to open yet.

That leaves Priscilla, the rest of Porter, and a large branch of Airlie Red Flesh on that tree.  I want them to bear this year, then reevaluate for whether to leave any of those on or go 100% to one variety in the next year or two.  Priscilla is OK, is disease resistant, and bears well, same vigor as the Jonathan, but doesn't seem too special.

I'm not that crazy about the Airlie Red Flesh now.  It's a decent apple but tends to get scab.  I also have a branch of that on another tree, so that might be enough.  They seem to keep - I had some this week, so at least few kept in the garage to March and that was better than the famous super-keeper, GoldRush.

Pears - I grafted "Dana Hovey" onto a branch of "Rescue Pear".  Fedco describes Dana Hovey as "Small...  rich golden-yellow russeted pear. Possibly the best eating of all winter pears. Keeps extremely well."  That tree needs some pruning and shaping. Pear grafts usually take very well.  I thought a winter pear seemed like a good idea.  Usually a lot of the summer pears spoil on the tree.

I had some rootstock left over from last year, Geneva-222 that had a graft of Fuji Beni Shogun that didn't take.  I think the Geneva wood was too thick and hard at the time for a whip-and-tongue.   It was still alive so I cleaned it up and put on a new graft with William's Pride.   This time, a cleft graft.  The William's Pride scion was skinny, so we'll see.   I don't know what I'll do with it if it takes.  There are usually some trees that die or I give up on them, so there will be a replacement ready.

I also added grafts to two of the Chestnut trees.  One goes on the "Marissard Seedling".  I planted that tree about 4 or 5 years ago before I understood that a chestnut seedling may not bear for many years, compared to a grafted tree, and that it may not make pollen (that variety), and that there is no assurance that it will even make nuts.  That tree is upwind of the 3 other chestnut trees, so I want it to make pollen if nothing else.  Last year I grafted the four lower branches with Precose Migoule, Marigoule, and Marivale.   That way, if one or two are not compatible, there are still the other(s).  Those all seemed to take.  This year I added Primato.   Primato is reported as early ripening, which would be good here in WA State.  The branches are so high, I stood on the bed of the pickup truck to graft it.  That scion was more than pencil thick, and hard.  I don't know if it will take.  I also bought scion of the variety "Bisalta #3".  I added that to the Easternmost tree, the Precose Migoule. I thought it might be useful some time in the future to take over the tree if that one continues to have nuts that are (a) quite a bit smaller and (b) fall from the husk, allowing animals to eat them.  If nothing else, two of the four chestnut trees now have potential pollen producing branches within the tree, so wind direction and insects are less of an issue.

I also added one more black cherry graft to the North Star pie cherry tree.  That's a sad looking tree, due to a giant maple fell on it a month ago.

That's all of my Spring Grafting for the year.  Apples, Pear, Cherry, Chestnuts.  Mostly some whip-and-tongue but also a couple of cleft grafts.

Propagation Projects, Progress Report. 3.3.16

Pink Ornamental Cherry, whip / tongue 3.3.16

Single Pink Ornamental Cherry, whip / tongue  3.3.16

Ginkgo whip / tongue.  3.3.16

Ginkgo whip / tongue  3.3.16

 These are some of my plant propagation projects.

On the past 2 days, I grafted scion from ornamental cherries onto wild cherry root stock.  The root stocks were volunteers in the yard, likely sweet cherry or descendents from sweet cherries.

It was difficult to identify scion that was not already too far along.  The main tree is an ancient - in suburban terms - double flowered, fringed, pink Japanese cherry.  Very beautiful.    From the rootstock of that tree, are growths that bloom much earlier, pink prolific single flowers.    That one is even more advanced, fully blooming.  There were some 1-year growths that have mildly swelling buds, so I used one of those.

If the flowering cherry scion don't take, I can alllow growth of the wild cherry root stocks from below the grafts, and try T-budding this summer.

I've already posted on the ginkgo tree grfts.  The buds might be swelling a little.  Hard to say.  The trees are no further along.  I tiny patch of green is visible in some  buds.  It takes imagination to see that.

Grape Cuttings.  3.3.16

Genetic Dwarf Peach Seedling.  4th year.  3.4.16

Sedum From Stem Cuttings, Overwintered Outdoors.  3.4.16

Buds are swelling on the grape cuttings.  Those are from February.

The seedling genetic dwarf peach has pink flower buds.  I don't know what will happen.  If the flowers take, then the peaches may be small, due to not being on a vigorous peach rootstock.  If dwarfing rootstocks make for normal size fruit, them maybe own-root peaches are no smaller than their grafted counterparts.  This is an experiment.

The large varietiy sedums from stem cuttings last fall are growing nicely.  I kept a few inside - they dried out and died.  The starts that I kept outside for the winter are growing.

June T-Budding. 6.5.15

Apricot T-buds onto plum.  6.5.15

 Today seemed like a good day to T-bud.  I had a day of vacation.  Temp is 80 degrees F.  The bark is slipping very nicely, on plums, apricots, and cherries.

Several of last year's June T-buds on plum, took and put out about 18 inches of growth before winter.  The others all took, but remained dormant until Spring.  All of those have been growing rapidly, good solid robust growth.

Cherries were another story.  Only one Cherry T-bud took.  Maybe they are just more difficult,  and I'm still a novice.   One observation, was that there was a lot of callous formation under the grafts.  The callous seemed to push the grafts off the unions.

Last year I also grafted the cherries in mid July.  This time is more than a month earlier.

  Today, I T-budded some apricot onto the multi-graft plum.  It's a long shot as to whether they ever bear, because apricot blooms too early and is frost killed.  But if those couple of branches do that, it's OK.  I also T-budded Methley onto the plum multigraft.  The Methley is from my 4-year tree, which has not yet borne fruit.  I thought about also adding Toka, but did not find good understock branches. I can wait and do them as whip and tongue grafts next Spring, if I still want to add them.

As for Cherries, I T-budded 3 each of Stella and Ranier onto Almaden Duke.  Also 4 of Lapins, onto the same Almaden Duke.  This time, I double-wrapped as I did this Spring's whip-tongue grafts, first with polyethylene tape, then with Parafilm.  Then, to hold the cambium at the back of the bud, firmly against the stock, I overwrapped tightly, with a non-stretching nylon twine.

 Now it's wait and see.  From what I've read, the string will need to be cut at 3 weeks.

Ranier Cherry T-bud onto Almaden Duke Cherry.  6.5.15

These will need to be observed for the right time to unwrap, without letting the twine girdle the grafts.  It's worth a try.

I copied the bud-wood illustration from last year's attempts.  

Budwood Illustration from 7.15.14

T-bud Grafting Update. 3.18.15

Apricot T-bud 1st leaf.  3.28.15

Hollywood T-bud 1st leaf.  3.28.15

Rainier Cherry T-bud 1st Leaf.  3.28.15

 These are some of the T-bud grafts that I did last summer.  All of the plums took.  Of the cherries, only 1 took.  I think that was Ranier, that is on Almaden Duke.  None of the tart cherries took.

It's an interesting process.  These are grafted in summer, June, July, August.  With a couple of exceptions, the buds remain dormant until the following Spring, which is now. 

I pruned off the stem distal / above the grafts, about an inch above.  Now they have no competition and should grow vigorously.

I did not label some of the well.  All of the red leaf are Hollywood, and most of the green leaf are Shiro. 

Since these have been on the trees for about 9 months, if they are growing, that must mean they are solidly grafted now.

I hope to do more T-budding this coming summer.  Maybe, for the ones that did not take, I did not do them tight enough, or took off the wrapping too soon.  I'm very excited that many did take, and it gives me a sense of wonder.

Shiro T-bud 1st Leaf.  3.28.15

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.