Kiwi Graft. 4.27.19

Male Fuzzy Kiwi Graft And Possible Blooming Spur on Blake Kiwi.  4.27.19

This is fuzzy male kiwi graft is from Home Orchard Society.  The main shrub / vine is Blake Red Kiwi, a somewhat hardier version of fuzzy kiwi that is claimed to be at least partially self-fruitful, depending on whose website you beleive.  It has not bloomed yet but there appear to  be flower spurs so we will see.

Often, fruits that are partially self-fruitful will be larger or more productive if there is a male or other cultivar, depending on the species.  There isn't a lot of info out there on kiwis for the maritime Pacific Northwest, so anything I do is an experiment.

The grafted male is a green leaf variety, while the Blake has a red tinge.  Easy to tell apart.

Kiwis have a delicate stem with central pith.  The carpentry is a little challenging for making grafts, but it looks like they took.  They are whip-and-tongue, wrapped firmly and I matched the green cambium as best I could.  Also, I had a hard time telling which way was up on the grafts,  so I grafted two in one direction and two in the other direction.

This one was apparently right-side up, since it's growing so far.

I think that understock growth on this stem needs to be pruned, now, so it doesn't compete with the graft.

Grafting Update. 4.17.19

First Growth, Northpole Apple on Bud-9 Rootstock.  4.17.19

First Growth, Northpole Apple on Bud-9 Rootstock.  4.17.19

This is the update for tree grafts that I did this late winter.  Almost all have pushed out buds.  As is usual for me, all of my grafts this year were whip and tongue grafts.  I like how straight-forward the method is, once I knew how.  I think any method with good cambium contact, and with good strength, will work.  By using whip and tongue method, if there is a good match in size of scion and rootstock or understock, the cambium heals all around and new bark forms, so there is no bare wound remaining.  The method would not work so well if there is a big mis-match of size between scion and stock, in which case cleft grafting or bark grafting would be better.  But for me, it's almost always whip and tongue.

This year, all of the plum grafts are looking good.  It's only 2 varieties, 3 grafts - two for Black Ice and one for Beauty.  I'm glad to get to try Black Ice, but have some doubts.  Black Ice is an American x Asian plum hybrid, and most of the ones I've grown, so far, bloom but don't set fruit.  I read they need American Plum as a pollinator.  I don't know why Asian plum, which I have a lot of, won't work.  But so far, only Toka has produced.  And that one is almost gone from a canker infestation.  These are grafted onto a tree of Ember, another Asian x American plum hybrid that has never fruited.  The tree also hosts a seedling variety that bloomed this year but doesn't appear to have set fruit.  This tree was created as a graft I did about 6 years ago, grafting Ember onto a cutting of Hollywood plum. 

It's interesting to see one of the Bud-9 (Budagovsky 9, a cross of M.8 x ‘Red Standard’ AKA Krasnij Standard) rootstock pushing some leaf buds on the columnar apple tree grafts that I made.  Apparently Red Standard is also called Red-leafed Paradise or Bud 9, pruduced by Michurinsk College of Ag, Michurin, Russia, in 1946.  I'm guessing there is some Antonovka in there somewhere.

Regardless, it's interesting to see the growth.

Kiwis are more difficult.  The stems are hollow, with a delicate pith center and thin layer of wood with delicate cambium.  I struggled to get these to match, and wrapped firmly.    The other challenge is knowing which way is up.  I don't think they will grow if grafted upside down.  I did some one way, and some the other.  Looks like a couple of those took.

Fuzzy Kiwi Male Whip and Tongue Graft.  4.17.19

Beauty Plum Whip and Tongue Graft.  4.17.19

 I think this growth is more than the small amount of sugar stored in the little kiwi stick can support.  Therefore, I think this graft took.

It will be interesting to see if any of that growth on the quince multigraft, is a precurser to flowers.  Of course, I won't let the grafts produce any fruits.  But one of the branches was left ungrafted, so I can allow that to make a fruit if it blooms.

I'm very happy with this method of wrapping the grafts.  As described earlier, I used strips made from freezer plastic bags, and over-wrapped the scion ends with parafilm.  They are all looking good.

Black Ice Plum Whip and Tongue Graft.  4.17.19

Quince Whip and Tongue Graft.  4.17.19

Quince Multiple Trunk Tree, Multiple Whip and Tongue Grafts.  4.17.19

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.

 

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

Grafting Progress Report. Kiwi. 4.28.16

Never having grafted kiwi before, I wasn't sure how to proceed. I waited until the understock vines started growing. I used whip-and-tongue method. The scion is fragile, leaks a slimy sap, and splits while being worked, but it looks like they took.

Usually there is not enough reserve nutrition in a small scion to put out this much growth, unless they take.

Adding to uncertainty, I could not tell which end was up for the hardy kiwi scion. It's possible it will take, then abort, or grow poorly, if I grafted it upside down.

All things considered, the growth is promising. In both cases, the scions are male, grafting onto female vines so I don't need to buy additional plants for pollination.

Fuzzy kiwi vines are really beautiful by themselves. This one has a reddish coloration and fuzzy leaves and stems, very nice.

Hardy Kiwi Graft at 2 weeks.  4.28.16

Fuzzy Kiwi Graft at 3 Weeks.  4.28.16