I was really afraid you were going to post pics of waxing your legs.

~Chills

>>I was really afraid you were going to post pics of waxing your legs.Let's not go there, OK? But I can see that the wax-warmer could be very useful. Thanks for the idea.

I did my first w&t today with a Nanking Cherry rootstock and the prune for a scion. I'm a little doubtful, as the bark was thin and delicate and I'm afraid I might not have kept all the layers in the right place, but what the hey, we're on the way, and I'll let you know how it all works out. (I tried to back it up with a chip graft, but had trouble matching the calipers, and then took a small chip out of my thumb ... again, we'll see ... )

Getting ready to add Joe Pezzuti's PA Wonder, Winter Nellis, Anjou, and Clapp's Favorite to my Gold Spice. Wish me luck.

Best to all and thanks again,

M

Let me know how that goes (grafting on Nanking) as I've got a few that I will either be ripping out or grafting upon.

What do I want to add???....

~Chills

Hey here is my very hairy leg that I decided to DE-HAIR by waxing. It's fully explained in the photo below.
Grafting wax does a good job and if your nice I might show you the end results - weather you want to see it or not.
NO WOLF WHISTELS NOW!!!
Lou NE, PA
{{gwi:85346}}

Have tried it many years ago,.. just about anything I have tested until I found Dr. Farwell's seal and heal, it's water soluble, stretches as it grows, ...it's a miracle
paste, so easy to apply, you can add water if it's too thick.

Example on a large branch.
After first season:
{{gwi:85347}}

Second season:
{{gwi:85348}}

Konrad

Konrad,
I bought a bottle of tree wound dressing before I tried my hand at grafting that states on th bottle it's for pruning and grafting. It tree dressing has a black color and comes with an application brush attached to the top. It also states on the bottle that it can be cut with water. Does that sound similar to what you are using. I have not used mine as yet. If I use it on the grafted scions can I cover the entire scion included the buds?
Let me know if okay to use I will give it a try.
Thanks
Lou NE., PA

I have used tree wound dressing before,... not sure if it was the same, it was black also and it was rubbish!

>>can I cover the entire scion included the buds? No, only use it on cut's and wounds....as far as I know.
Dr. Farwell's comes in different colors, ones it came in yellow, green, now I have a bottle that is gray.

Konrad

Yes, do cover the entire scion including buds with Doc Farwells glue. The buds grow right through the glue when they are good and ready.

I routinely do this, I know that the scion will NOT dry out when I do it. When the weather really warms up, such as in July, I can still put apple and pear scions on without them dessicating in the heat. Done without the glue and they do not have a chance.

Some people use the same concept with their parafilm, they wrap the whole scion with this substance after they have grafted it. Either way works.

Re.: Doc Farwell's

Interesting that you have had good success with this and I have seen it recommended elsewhere (One Green World's catalog I believe). However, this noted amateur group discourages the product for grafting. It is hard to understand this difference in opinion or experience.

http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/41/

Gonebananas,

Thanks for the link, I had never noticed it before.

I will disect the relevant portion of it below:

HOS article: Do not wrap the scions because this will pull them out of cambium contact for sure.

Plumfan: Lots of people wrap their grafted scions with parafilm after grafting. If your graft union is very tight, I see no problem with a moderately tight wrapping of the entire scion. As I said, many practice this!

HOS article: Wrapping the entirety of any part in Parafilm is unnecessary and practically guarantees that cambium contact will be destroyed.

Plumfan: His comments about "unnecessary" are totally out of line, as a parafilm wrap WILL prevent dessication in hot, dry climes. I would invite an experienced scion-wrapper to tell us how many cambium contacts he/she has destroyed!
It seems that anyone can write an article, even if he has no experience in the actual technique :)

HOS article: Use a small paint brush to paint the cut surfaces and taped portion of the rootstock with pruning paint - avoid the aerosol type, which has weed killer action. Using delicate strokes, paint only the cut tips and exposed cut surfaces of the scions.

Plumfan: I am not aware of pruning paint that contains weed killer! I never, ever, use a small paint brush. I use a bamboo skewer which slathers on all the glue I need, and it is easily cleaned by wiping it on a clump of grass etc. Brushes are much harder to get fully cleaned.

HOS article: Never paint over the buds, which will prevent their growth.

Plumfan: This is absolutely FALSE!! I have actually run a battery of pear grafts years ago where I did nothing to one batch, painted only the buds from the second batch, and painted the whole scion from the third batch. The third batch grew at least 4 to 6 feet the very first summer, they grew the best. The other groups lagged significantly. This was done late in the grafting season when normally it would be considered too hot. I have never had a bud inhibited from growing by using Doc Farwell's glue on them. Do a test yourself if using nothing other than Elmers glue!

HOS article: Avoid polymer paints, such as Doc Farwell's - they permanently interrupt the "knit" of the wound into continuous wood. Such grafts always fail to form a sound union.

Plumfan: I will have to agree with some of that statement, as you do not want to get the glue into your actual cambium matching area. But if you correctly tape up a graft, I have a hard time visualizing just how it is that glue is going to get into the graft. If the union area is that leaky, it is going to dry out on you anyway.

Plumfan: Somebody who caretakes the HOS's actual orchard, years ago, questioned my use of the glue, stating that they thought/heard it constricted the graft or girdled it. I promptly dispelled that myth, as I have never seen it happen. The glue stretches with the growth of the limb until it eventually flakes off. Within 4 or 5 years, you will find hardly a trace of it.

That article needs to be accurized!

I was breezing through the rest of that article and found another blooper.
-----------------------------------------------------------
HOS article: Grafting onto established trees at a considerable distance above ground level is highly unsuccessful among stone fruits, always so if the entirety of the tree is not top-worked simultaneously.
-----------------------------------------------------------

I am glad I never read that when I started grafting! I have done numerous whip&tongue and bark grafts on all my plum and cherry trees. And all of them qualify as topworking of the tree. And I have never top-worked the entire tree simultaneously as the article admonishes. I think Joe Real has done a fair amount of here-and-there stone fruit grafting as well with minimal failures.

The HOS should be a little embarrassed to have that article on its website.

These skilled amateurs share your favorable experience.

http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/NAFEX/message-archives/old/msg02480.html