Showing posts with label fig grafting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fig grafting. Show all posts

Thursday, June 09, 2016

Walking around. Persimmons, Figs, Vines, Kiwis, . 6.8.16


Chocolate persimmon scion, grafted 4.14.16.  6.8.16
 I was away for a week.  This time of the year, a lot changes.  Some of the last grafts are taking off.  Not fully there yet, but growth is encouraging.  Chocolate persimmon on Saijo, Fuzzy male kiwi on Blake kiwi, and Petite negri fig on Dominic.

I have left the scions wrapped.  The graft tape can be removed when they are more mature and more growth has occurred.

Nikita's Gift Persimmon Flowers.  6.8.16
It's been unusually hot.  I missed the persimmon flowers (Nikita's Gift and Saijo) at their peak.  Even though Saijo was much bigger than Nikita when planted, Nikita is much more vigorous.  There were many more fowers this year.  The primordial fruits seem to be swelling, so maybe they will take.  These are in their 3rd year.  I planted them from dry root, mail order trees in 2013.'

This is the first year that I have put significant effort into the row of grape vines and kiwis.  They were planted from early 2013 to this spring.  This year I cleaned up the row, mulched with grass clippings, and fertilized (peecycle) to promote vigor.  Most are at or above their deer cages.  There is some risk for deer damageif those animals become more ambitious.

The mulberries (Illinois Everbearing) are producing very well.  They are incredibly sweet.  For some reason, there isn't much, if any, bird theft.  I moved this tree from Vancouver to Battleground in October, 2012.  I originally planted it March, 2010.

Saijo Persimmon Flower.  6.8.16
 The Fig graft, Petite Negri on Domonic understock, is growing better.  This was grafted late March, so about 2 1/2 months now.  I tried before in 2009, but was less experienced with grafting then.  Fig grafting is not new - Eisen wrote about it in1901.  He used cleft grafting, and recommended 2 year old scion for reduced pith, and terminal buds.  So far, only one of my three scions, has taken.  But that's all I need.

All of the brebas fell off Smith Fig, but now there are main crop buds.  This tree is an experiment, not know to do well in Patcific Northwest.  Meanwhile, Lattarula figs are swelling bigger, showing promise.  Same for Carini.

Grapevines and kiwis.  6.8.16
The last of the pawpaw fruits fell off.  The trees look good.  Maybe next year.


With more nurturing, mulch, water, fertilizer, Blake Kiwi is growinbg more vigorously this year.  The male fuzzy kiwi graft on that vine is also still looking good.  There isn't a lot of info on growing kiwis in the Pacific NW, so I am on untested ground with this one.  So far, deer have avoided this vine, while eating any grape leaf that sticks out of the cages.
Illinois Everbearing Mulberries.  6.8.16

Illinois Everbearing Mulberries.  6.8.16
Petite negri graft 6.8.16,    Graftged whip / tongue, 3.21.16
Image of grafted fig tree.  Eisen, 1901.


Eisen's method for grafting figs.  1901.

 


Saturday, May 21, 2016

Grafting Progress Report. Plums, kiwis, figs, ginkgo, persimmons. 5.21.16

Male fuzzy kiwi on fuzzy kiwi female.  Graft at ~ 2 months.  5.20.16

Chocolate persimmon on Saijo.  Graft about 6 weeks.  5.20.16
 First graft follow up today for the less typical  - for me - grafts.  All were whip-and-tongue.

The kiwi grafts were quite delicate.  The scion wood is hollow with a pithy center.  It oozes a slimy sap that reminds me of the fruit juice itself.  I have two kiwis, one is the big fuzzy type, and one is the grape-size hardy type.  From my reading, both will probably need a male pollinizer, something some of the nurseries don't tell you.  The scion were from the Home Orchard Society propagation / scion fair.

The fuzzy kiwi graft is looking good.  The growth appears to be past the stage of obtaining nutrients and must have a vascular connection now to the understock.  I usually unwrap scion at about 6 inches or 1 foot of growth, so leaving the graft wrapped.

The hardy kiwi is further behind.  I had trouble determining which end is up and wondered if I got it upside down.  If so, I expect it to rejecct the graft.  Just a little growth so far.

I stored persimmon and kiwi scion in the refrigerator until the understock plants were well leafed out.  I understand that works better for these, less easy, plants for grafting.  Less easy compared to apples and pears, anyway.  I cut the Chocolate Persimmon stick into two scions.  After grafting - all of these are whip-and-tongue - I wrapped the scions completely in grafting tape and overwrapped in parafilm, then covered with aluminum foil to protect from the sun.  After about 2 weeks, I removed the foil on a clouded rainy day.  One graft looks dead and one looks like it's starting to grow.  I cut the lower growth from the stem today, to reduce nutrient competition.
Hardy kiwi male on Ken's Red hardy kiwi.  Graft about 2 months.  5.20.16

My Dad's male ginkgo on seedling.  5.20.16
 The ginkgo scions looked good for a little while, then seemed to die back.  This one has started a little growth again.  I cut back the major growth on the understock, but leaft a few leaves at each point.  I don't know if it will grow and take over.  Intent is to keep enough understock growth to keep it alive, and if the scion is viable maybe it will take over later this year or next year.

The figs were from my old Petite negri fig tree in Vancouver.  I did 3 whip-and-tongue grafts onto the extra Dominic fig tree, which has several stems coming from soil level.  These were scion that I had refrigerated for a few months, well wrapped.  Like kiwi, the scion has a soft pith and is very fragile.  Petite negri establishes slowly from cuttings - for me - and the first tree I started from this variety died 2 winters ago.  No harm trying a more vigorous rootstock.   Of the 3 grafts, one appears to be leaving dormancy.  For cuttings, this is still much to small bud growth to say if roots have started, so same for graft take.  However, these have been at ambient temperature for a couple of months, and I think if they are not deriving nutrients from the understock, they will not swell at all.  We'll see.

The Red Washington (European) Plum - I guess, a NOID - scions looked near dead, but both have taken and grown.  These were also from the Home Orchard Society scion fair.  I added them for the pollination effect,  but in case they are good plums, I should prune back more of the Stanley Plum branches to allow them to grow larger.

I don't have a good macro lens and some of these are small, so some are a bit blurry.

Not pictured, one of the ornamental cherries that I grafted onto wild - likely sweet - cherry rootstock did not take, but the other did.  The other two ginkgos look like they did not take.

Red "Washington Plum" on Stanley.  About 2 months.  5.20.16
Petite negri fig graft at about 2 months.  5.20.16

Monday, March 21, 2016

Grafting Progress Report. 3.21.16

First bud break on grafted ginkgo tree.  3.21.16
 This is one of the ginkgo trees that I grafted 2.2.16.  At this stage, growth doesn't prove the graft took, but it does show it's alive.  Considering about 7 weeks have passed from the graft, I'm thinking they have taken.  More new growth, especially vigorous, will make me more confident.

I don't have a pic, camera battery died, but the pear grafts from about the same time, also look good, with larger bud growth.


In addition to the apple grafts from Fedco last week, I added more today.  These came from this weekend's Home Orchard Society scion exchange yesterday.  From those, I grafted -

Red Airlie apple, which is sold in stores with the trademarked name "Hidden Rose".  Inside of the ripe apples is pink.  According to reviews, these apples are slower to brown after slicing.  Flavor is considered good.  Late ripening.

King David, apple.  I looked for this one via Fedco, they didn't have any this time around.  Thought to be a hybrid of Jonathan and an unknown, possibly Arkansas Black or Winesap, 1893, apple looks more like Arkansas Black.  Very resistant to fireblight. 

Dolgo Crabapple, because crab apples are considered good pollinizers for other apples.

Hawkeye, considered the original Red Delicious, before Red Delicious underwent multiple generations of sports giving us the famous beautiful, cardboard tasting apple.  Hawkeye is said to be the true "Delicious".

These are all the apples varieties my little trees can handle for now.  If some turn out to be duds, I can prune them out and let others take over.  The multigrafts should all be self pollinating, and each branch should give at least a couple of pies, or a few bowls of apples, which is all I want from each variety.  For me, it's like a collection, I see something interesting and add it.  The cost is minimal - $5 for scion at Fedco, or free at the scion exchange.

The new scion from this year, assuming they take, will need 2 or 3 years to produce fruit for a taste.

I also grafted the following, yesterday and today:

Onto the Stanley European plum, a plum labeled as "Red Washington European Plum".  I grafted that one as a polllinizer for better or more fruit production on Stanley.  If it's a good plum, that will be good too.  I don't have more info on this plum.

Male Hayward Kiwi - to pollinize the no-name kiwi that has been growing for 3 years in my arbor.  I didn't want to buy an additional plant, not knowing if it would help.  Kiwi turns out to be very soft wood, hollow with a pith.  The wood was also delicate, fell apart easily.  I needed several tries, and in the end it was not clean.  The kiwi sap is syrupy.  It might take.

I grafted three grafts of Petite Negri Fig from home, onto the extra Dominick fig tree at Battleground, to see if I can get a good start of this fig without growing from cutting.  Fig wood is also soft, and fragile, with a central pith.  These might or might not take.   I had stored the scion, well wrapped, in the refrigerator to keep it dormant until the understock started growing.  The figs are all producing buds now.

Flowers on Ember Plum.  3.21.16
I did a whip and tongue from Toka.   That was also stored in the refrigerator, well wrapped.  I used one of the Hollywood Plum own-root starts as understock.  I want a spare Toka.  It's a delicious plum, a vigorous pollinizer, but the existing tree appeared to have some canker last year.

This leaves a male scion for the hardy kiwi, and a persimmon scion, "Chocolate" to add to either Saijo or Nikita's Gift.  From my readings, persimmons are difficult, and take best if the under stock is already growinbg actively.  That will need to wait a few weeks in the refrigerator.

Native Plum Seedling in Bloom, 4 years old.  3.21.16
From grafts done last year, Ember and Hanska plums are now blooming.  They are later, compared to the Asian plums.  One Ember plum is a free standing tree, grafted March 2015 onto Hollywood rootstock.  The seedling plum, taken from what I think are native American species plum tree, is just beginning to bloom for the first time.  This tree is 4 years old.  It has been raining a lot, so I don't know if they will pollinize even if compatible.







Saturday, April 25, 2009

Fig Grafting Update

So far, so good. The little grafted fig tree has started to open its terminal bud. If it was DEAD that would not happen. Still not proof that the graft 'took', but also encouraging.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Fig Grafting. More from Eisen's 1901 book.

Additional information from Eisen's book, available from Google online here. I was interested due to the grafting information. In the Gardenweb Fig Forum, contributers state that grafting is difficult or can't be done. It's exciting to see that the method used successfully in the 19th century are what I recently tried. Who knows if they will take, still too early.

My copies & editing are awkward, but get the point across.


Interesting - here, thought not to be difficult! Cool!

Close to how I cut scions, so I have some hope that's a good sign.

I grafted scions onto small rootstock. It could be that mature branches are needed. However, the intent is different. I'm not topworking a mature tree.



Here's a mature tree that resulted from topworking.




Saturday, March 21, 2009

Spring Garden Chores

Today (Saturday), I...

Weeded the rose bed. This bed now has almost as many fruit trees, brambles, and plants, as roses, but still contains about 10 rose bushes. I had moved one rose bush to accomodate the new Surefire cherry, and today moved a second one a little further from that new tree. I also moved a David Austin rose from the front yard, and a peony as well. It looks like I butchered the thick peony roots, even though I thought I was digging a wide distance from the stems. We'll see if it grows. It's interesting how few roots the roses seem to have - surprising that they survive moving. I pruned the tops further back to balance the reduced root mass.

Mulched the rose bed with bark mulch. It's now basically ready for Spring and Summer. I did not add compust to most of it this year, because the roses were too rampant last year and I don't want to overstimulate the fruits and roses. I did give some chicken manure to the roses that I moved.

Sprayed most of the fruit trees and roses with Neem oil. Not the peaches - the flowers are opening.

Moved one Orchard Mason Bee house to the front yard, since there are many fruit trees there as well.

Turned over the soil in the tomato patch.

Pruned the remaining rose bushes.

Stood around and stared at the results of my labors.

Grafted 3 fig scions onto the petite negri tree. Just to see if I can. According to most references, it can't be done. I hope they are wrong.

This time I used rubber bands to tie, and used plastic tape to cover and protect. The plastic tape was made by slicing a ziplock sandwich bag. Also used petroleum jelly as an antidessicant, as I did with the apple grafts. It's not just stubbornness - I really would like to see if they grow.

Added some petroleum jelly to the apple grafts - forgot to do that earlier, purpose is to serve as antidessicant.

Also mulched around this red-bark Japanese maple, that I moved to this location a few days ago. It was a seedling in the rose bed, among many others. I had never got around to pulling it up, and now will see how it does as a specimen tree.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Fig Grafting Experiment

I don't have enough fig starts to do a big experiment. This is a Petite negri that was started almost by accident from a cutting 2 years ago - stick stuck into the ground in the onion bed, just to see if it would grow. Last fall I dug it out and transferred to a container, and kept it in the garage to overwinter during the coldest weather. It's been outside again for about one month.

I don't really need more fig trees. Here is my thought: I would like to have a containerized tree, with multiple varieties, that I can move indoors for the winter. Doing so might preserve the breba crop. Petite negri is naturally small and slow growing, with short interstems. If PN can be used as a rootstock, just maybe the small, slow growing trait would be passed on to the scion. I could use the scion as the start for a multigraft tree.

I don't know if figs can be grafted this way. Since they grow so easily from cuttings, there isn't much reason for grafting. So this is my attempt. I used reverse saddle graft because it seems like the easiest method. Unlike the apples, I used rubber bands to tie, and I remembered to cover the grafts with petroleum jelly to hold in moisture.

This tree had 2 stems. That gives me 2 chances. If both grow (counting my grafts before they take), then one can be removed later for a stronger main trunk.


Petite negri in pot, Brunswick "Vancouver" in bag. The scions had been held in the refridgerator for the winter, with plan to grow cuttings.

Both scion and rootstock cut to size that I hope will match.

These match very closely.



Photo showing cuts for scion and rootstock.

Same as above, but the other branch.



In place. Note to self: After trimming, the scion diameter is a little smaller than the rootstock. If I do this again, adjust so that the scion starts a little bigger, for a closer final match.

One is completed. The other is held in place with a cut rubber band. I am concerned that the deental floss that I used for the apples might be too restricting, and am unsure of when to cut it. The rubber band gives more flexibility, but is more difficult to tie without moving the scion in it's new perch.

"Real" grafters use asphalt pain or waxes to protect the new graft from dehydration. I'm using petroleum jelly because I already have some. It does not harden, but should have a similar function. I also forgot that step with the apples, but in this chilly rainy season, they might still survive.

Final step - I wrapped them in plumber's teflon tape. It sticks nicely to the petroleum jelly, is easy to handle, and is very stretchy.

Count'em. 10 fingers. No blood. Another sign of success.

Will they 'take'? I'll have to post later with either report of success or failure.