If I had rootstocks coming this spring I would graft them now and let the scions of the variety you actually want grow instead of more of the rootstock that you will end up decapitating.

I would collect scion wood from the tree you want to propagate now if you haven't already, and wrap them in a barely damp paper towel and store it in the fridge in a sealed plastic bag.

You can do a whip and tongue graft as soon as the rootstocks arrive and before you plant them in the ground.

I don't see the benefit of waiting until fall.

Exactly what Murky said.

W&T makes a beautiful graft that will grow straight out of the rootstock. Budding is faster, and gives you more tries per scion (just one bud inserted instead of a stick with two-three buds on it) but the junction is actually not as strong and does want to shoot off at an angle a bit.

Just get some prunings and practice for an hour or so, and you'll end up with ten nice trees. Well, several, anyhow.

I think your biggest problem is likely to be that old, neglected trees tend to be pretty sparse on suitable scions. It would be better if it had been neatly pruned last year. Any chance of that? You want last year's wood, about pencil size, hopefully fairly close in caliper to your rootstock's.

Good luck,

Mark

Thanks Mark & Murky: I was planning to bud being a total novice, but maybe out of 10 I'll get one whip right. There are 4 or 5 long shoots that are obviously last year's growth on my donor tree. So, take those and cut them into pieces about how long and toss them in the fridge as described above? My book says the scions should be selected from the center or basal 2/3 section of the shoot I'll be cutting out the scion wood from. In addition, the book says to avoid taking floral (more rounded) buds and to look for vegetative (more pointed) buds. Wish I knew the stock diameter when I go collecting the scion wood.

If it all crashes and burns there is always next year, I think... isn't there...? AHHHHH!

I thought I responded to this earlier today, but I'll try again. Sometimes I don't push down on the keys hard enough.

First off, Murky and many others on this board know more about this than I, but here are my thoughts, subject to correction.

I like scions that are "about pencil sized". Actually, a little skinnier than that, no larger. But eight or nine inches is a good length. A good scion for cleft or W&T will have at least two and preferably three buds on it, spaced so that it's reasonable to get a good taper- two inches is generous, one inch is skimpy, one and a half OK, but generous is nicer. You really only need one bud- but the extras are cheap insurance when you're not doing this for a living. Anyhow, when you cut a "pencil" and store it in the refrigerator it might very well be long enough for two or even three scions when you finally go to work with it.

So cut a section with six or eight or nine buds that are nicely spaced, if possible. It should also fit in your refrigerator ...

Cut the scion wood with an eye towards where you will be making your diagonal cuts- don't waste a bud by cutting too close below it.

I was unaware of the idea of avoiding the last third of the shoot when selecting scions, but it makes sense, since that end will be on the wimpy side.

Young wood on an apple isn't likely to have floral buds, is it? I've always just grafted pieces with three buds and been grateful when any of them sprouted! I did have a golden delicious bloom and bear the year I grafted it, but it has languished since. I suspect also that it isn't a good match for my rootstock tree.

It's nice when the stock diameter and the scion diameter are close, but when they are not there's no reason not to do the graft- line up the cambium on one side and the tree will figure out how to deal with the other.

If it all crashes and burns you'll know by early summer- and there's still time to try summer budding in August so that the tree will be ready in the spring. But you'll get a take, probably several.

Good luck,

Mark

Mark: Thanks, your comments are right up the alley of my book. Unfortunately, the book didn't make any reference to how long sections should be cut for storage or (now obvious) consideratons such as cutting to conserve buds. The shoots I'll be harvesting are several feet long so it would have been nice to conserve only the correct diameter pieces needed. Who knows what the stock diameters will be? Guess I'll cut as much scion as possible of different diameters and useable length.

Just remembered. One site I looked at suggested making a fresh cut on scion's basal end prior to grafting after storage though it didn't say how much scion to remove. I could see maybe an inch or more if it was drying one is concerned with, but otherwise it doesn't make much sense since the grafting cuts would be into fresh wood anyway.

Some people wax their scions- it used to worry me that the wax would get in the way of the graft healing, but apparently not.

Drying is bad!. But easy to prevent- the damp (not too wet, just damp) paper towel and zip locks do a fine job. And you can tell: it will be obvious when you pull a scion whether there's any dessication.

If you have plenty of nice, long shoots I suggest you start slicin' and splicin'. Just take a shoot and practice on it. You'll find sticking points (what taper is good, getting a clean, straight, flat cut, fighting with bark that peels off oh, so delicately) but if you do a dozen or so practice grafts you'll start to feel like you're getting a handle on it.

Keep things clean and don't let anything dry out. Make your cuts as cleanly and as clean as possible (and try to avoid whittling, but you'll do some) and don't let the cut parts sit around while you fumble- air not only dries, it oxidizes. It's OK to prepare one half of the graft and tuck it in your cheek. Slip the pieces together gently and and wrap snuggly but not crushingly. It's more like hugging a small child than bear-hugging a junior varsity football player.

If you use parafilm I suggest a snug but careful wrap with a soft rubber band to hold things in place, followed by parafilm. It's impossible to wrap parafilm too tightly as it'll pull apart first. But it's probably not strong enough to guarantee contact, so the rubber band provides the mechanical strength while the parafilm backs that up and seals the air out. Both degrade in sunlight, which means cleanup is limited or nonexistent.

Get the cambia aligned. The trick here is to NOT aim for perfect, parallel alignment, but to very slightly cant the scion off just a bit. The tip of the scion will be just barely too far into the wood of the rootstock, and the tip of the rootstock will be just barely too far into the air, (or vice-versa)and a very good section in between will be the active cambia in pretty fair contact with each other.

Keep posting- we expect to hear success stories in just a few weeks.

:-)M

Thanks M: I was wondering about Parafilm's strength alone. Also, thanks for the finer points on alignment. Sat down a couple of days ago with my very sharp little Buck knife, not the tool to use! The Buck got me to wondering if a blade that is sharpened on only one side might make a more predictable cut in that it would be trying to push itself into the wood constantly unlike one that is double-sided. I've never seen a "grafting knife" up close to see how they are designed but could probably make my own. My practice cuts so far have been horrible, waiting for a different knife, couldn't possibly me!

Oh by the way, went to collect my scions yesterday. The shoots that I previously thought (after a very brief examination) were 1 yr-olds were 2 yr-olds with shoots too small and short to use. That old tree had very very little new growth last year. So now it is back to the original plan; plant the stock and fall bud to it. I really want to save that old tree though because it must have very good CAR tolerance to have survived so long and grown so large. Send some good vibes my way.

A friend uses disposable blads (the snap-off kind) and I am partial to an old Stanley box cutter, which I don't try to sharpen, as the blades are so cheap and sharper than one I can achieve in spite of lots of effort!

Good vibes enroute.

:-)M

Duh, never thought of that. That's why I like to have lots of smart friends.

Thanks smart friend,

Michael

We've always grafted a stick with at least 4 buds (6" or so) using regular masking tape - and quickly immersed the newly grafted tree top down into a container full of melted parafin. We melt the parafin in a double boiler (an old metal coffee can in a crock pot works great). We've always used regular canning parafin that we get from the grocery store and get over 90% success. I like to melt a crayon or two in the wax to get a better visual for coverage. I usually take a pencil sized scion about 12" long and will cut out the best looking 6" section from that in March. My wife, Suzie will be posting some pictures on our blog showing the whole process - wagonwheelorchard.blogspot.com in the next week or so. Hope that helps, Rick

Here is a link that might be useful: Wagon Wheel Orchard Blog

Hi all: I ended up waiting forever for the G11 liners to show up in early April. The liners were far larger than my sorry, wimpy scions in the fridge so I decided to plant 3 in the ground and 6 in pots. The ones in pots will be my practice rootstocks for t-budding unless y'all would suggest another method. The rootstocks have sprouted and look very well.

Michael

Kansas,

You say you immerse the newly grafted tree top into a pot of parafin. I'm assuming you are doing bench grafts here. What about grafting onto a tree? And what is your favorite method for storing the bench graft until planting?
Marc

When I'm grafting on a tree I use an aerosol can "tree wound" spray. For storing bench grafts I wrap the roots in paper towels and insert them into quart milk cartons. The milk cartons were sold as spray protection for young grape vines and were dirt cheap (Wilson Irrigation?). I'll use duct tape to seal the bottom on 9 cartons and tape them all together to from a "flat". This works great with keeping the benchgrafts from being injured. I store in a cool place like the garage usually on top of our chest freezer. I'll check for moisture every few days and sprinkle water over them as needed. I've tried storing in plastic bags as well and the results are pretty good but they're more likely to get bumped or injured.

kansasapple, I'd like more info on the parafin wax. It seems it would get too hot and cook the scion. I do have one of those wax heaters for dipping your hands in. Will this do?