Post by materman on May 24, 2013 9:45:02 GMT -5
I don't know if this is off topic or not, but I seen some conversation on grafting as I read through the thread. I had a gentleman in Organ tell me how to graft over the phone, and when I attempted it with cherry, apple, pear, and asian pear, I had 95% success rate. I thought that was great for a newbie. I as well started out with some scion wood from GRIN and some ordered root stock.
The tools I found that worked for me was one very sharp pocket knife. I actually believe the one I used was a steel bladed castrating knife, but any real sharp knife would do. I next got me some waterproof bandage tape like the 1/2 inch wide role for holding the two pieces together as I finished the process. I then went to the local office supply store and bought me a box of 3/4 inch wide rubber bands for wrapping the cut and keeping it tight. And lastly I used the wax from a wax toilet bowl gasket to seal the whole thing up.
Some of these things might sound unethical to a professional, but they seemed to work great for a gringo grafter like me.
The process started by finding a root stalk and scion that were a good match diameter wise. I would then make an angled cut through the root stalk at like a 60 to 70 degree angle or like a 3/4 inch diagonal cut. I would then take my scion wood and hold it above the root stalk cut and get a eye as to what angle I needed for a match.
after getting my two cuts to match, it was time to join them together, which I did by first cutting off a one inch piece of bandage tape and putting it length wise on the bottom of the angled cut. I would then take one of my rubber bands that had been cut in half and hold it below the cut and start wrapping it up the length of my cut. Once the cut was covered with the wrapped rubber band, I would make a last loop around while holding the last loop so as to be able to have a hole between the band to tuck the end under so it would stay in place. Now the rubber bands are not UV protected and will start deteriorating fairly quickly and maybe too quickly, so that is where the wax ring would come into play. I would wipe a little wax over the whole bandage to seal it up and prolong the life of the rubber band. I say prolong, it still would only last a couple months at most for me, but that was enough time for the joint to fuse which is what you want. the tape would last a while longer so that is why I would not wrap the whole thing in tape. You actually don't need the tape, but I found it a real benefit while trying to wrap the rubber band around the cut.
Now the process would be complete except I would cut the scion branch off above the second bud and then out to the nursery row it would go. Just remember that they will be fragile for several months so watch as you work around them like pulling weeds or the like for you can bump them and break the graft. I did a hundred or so and like I said got at least 95% success for my labor. Got me a small orchard planted out of the deal and gave away a many trees as well.
The apples that I grafted I used I believe was MM106 for it made a tree that was only 3/4 the size of a standard tree and as well they seem to start producing faster on the smaller trees.
Been several years since I have done it, but it really is quite easy. if you were serious about it, they do make a special tool that snips the two angles off the same for faster progress. But even with the method I have just described, a person should be able to knock out 40 or 50 a day if you wanted to. Hope something here might be of use to someone and have a good day.
The tools I found that worked for me was one very sharp pocket knife. I actually believe the one I used was a steel bladed castrating knife, but any real sharp knife would do. I next got me some waterproof bandage tape like the 1/2 inch wide role for holding the two pieces together as I finished the process. I then went to the local office supply store and bought me a box of 3/4 inch wide rubber bands for wrapping the cut and keeping it tight. And lastly I used the wax from a wax toilet bowl gasket to seal the whole thing up.
Some of these things might sound unethical to a professional, but they seemed to work great for a gringo grafter like me.
The process started by finding a root stalk and scion that were a good match diameter wise. I would then make an angled cut through the root stalk at like a 60 to 70 degree angle or like a 3/4 inch diagonal cut. I would then take my scion wood and hold it above the root stalk cut and get a eye as to what angle I needed for a match.
after getting my two cuts to match, it was time to join them together, which I did by first cutting off a one inch piece of bandage tape and putting it length wise on the bottom of the angled cut. I would then take one of my rubber bands that had been cut in half and hold it below the cut and start wrapping it up the length of my cut. Once the cut was covered with the wrapped rubber band, I would make a last loop around while holding the last loop so as to be able to have a hole between the band to tuck the end under so it would stay in place. Now the rubber bands are not UV protected and will start deteriorating fairly quickly and maybe too quickly, so that is where the wax ring would come into play. I would wipe a little wax over the whole bandage to seal it up and prolong the life of the rubber band. I say prolong, it still would only last a couple months at most for me, but that was enough time for the joint to fuse which is what you want. the tape would last a while longer so that is why I would not wrap the whole thing in tape. You actually don't need the tape, but I found it a real benefit while trying to wrap the rubber band around the cut.
Now the process would be complete except I would cut the scion branch off above the second bud and then out to the nursery row it would go. Just remember that they will be fragile for several months so watch as you work around them like pulling weeds or the like for you can bump them and break the graft. I did a hundred or so and like I said got at least 95% success for my labor. Got me a small orchard planted out of the deal and gave away a many trees as well.
The apples that I grafted I used I believe was MM106 for it made a tree that was only 3/4 the size of a standard tree and as well they seem to start producing faster on the smaller trees.
Been several years since I have done it, but it really is quite easy. if you were serious about it, they do make a special tool that snips the two angles off the same for faster progress. But even with the method I have just described, a person should be able to knock out 40 or 50 a day if you wanted to. Hope something here might be of use to someone and have a good day.
