You can bud on to any compatible tree, so generally any apple can be budded on to any other apple for example. The limb you put it on will need to be topped right above the bud the next spring or that bud will not likely sprout. So you need to keep that in mind when placing the buds on the tree.

Scott

Carla:

One of the primary problems when grafting or budding onto a mature tree is getting the bud to grow. In fact getting the bud to grow can be more difficult than getting it to take. I've had T buds fail because I've tried to force them at the wrong time or because the tree was not vigorous enough to push the bud after I cut the limb off above the bud. If you T budded or bark grafted in the next month, you need to wait till spring to force the bud because it won't force now. The normal growth flush in spring is more likely to force your bud to grow.

I have a couple of T buds I tried to force a month ago. They aren't growing. So I'm left with a bud on the end of a branch. The bud may well die before spring.

My point being that the less vigorous the tree you chip bud onto the more trouble you may have getting the buds to grow next spring. Putting the bud on the end of a flat growing, nonvigorous limb may be a waste of time. Putting them on a more vigorous upright limb will make the going easier at forcing time.

At least this is my experience.

The Fruitnut

You can get any bud to grow anywhere on your tree simply by cutting into the bark above the bud. There's no need to cut off any limbs. But of course, let the bud graft heal first. I've budded right into 1-3 inch apple limbs. Granted it's my first year for Summer budding apples since I usually Winter graft them, but all the local apple growers here I have consulted told me I can graft anywhere I want as long as there's room for a branch to grow, and then, to get the bud to grow, you just cut into the bark.

I'm in the middle of about 200 bud grafts, I am half way through. As a rule of thumb, if the tree isn't pushing new growth right now, I avoid budding it altogether. If the bark doesn't slip, then it's a pretty good indicator that the tree isn't pushing enough growth to support pushing out new growth through a bud. But I think it's still ok to bud graft, it will just take until next year to get growth going.

I've run into the bud growing problem too, but mainly on citrus, because we just don't have the right climate conditions for them, the weather is too cool. But apples grow like weeds here because of the cool humid conditions that usually, it would not be a problem here.

Here is a reference which highlights 1) bud grafts done in August should not be forced to grow until the following Spring. and 2) to get a bud to grow without cutting off a branch, you need to girdle the bark above the graft. I specifically use the inverted T-bud technique because the major cut is below the bud, this way the bud doesn't try to grow before it's healed.

More info on getting a bud to grow: See ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/2002/6168.pdf

"Girdling and Notching. Girdling of small branches can be used to force a bud to grow where a new branch
is desired, such as a bud recently grafted into a branch that you did not want to head. A strip of bark about
3/16 in. wide is removed about ½ inch above the bud halfway around the branch. Girdling can be done
anytime from early spring, after the bark begins to "slip," through early summer. The practice is most
successful on current-season or one-year-old wood, but it usually works on older wood as well. A quicker
method is "notching," in which a ? -inch round (rattail) file is pulled in a single stroke across the branch
above the bud, through the bark only. In addition to being quicker, notching can be done in the dormant
season, so that a bud can be forced to grow in early spring."

"Both girdling and notching interrupt the downward movement of the plant hormone, auxin, through the
phloem (inner bark). Auxin is produced in the shoot tips and moves down the phloem, preventing the
growth of lateral buds. This phenomenon is especially characteristic of apically dominant species such as
cherry, pear, and to a lesser extent, plum. The bud or buds immediately below the removed."

Thanks axel,

In the reading I'd done on various grafting techniques I don't recall having read an explanation for when or why one would want to do an inverted T as opposed to the traditional one. Your explanation makes sense.

Thanks for the great info!

What I am mainly interested in trying to bud graft are my peaches and nectarines, since not one of my spring grafts of them took (cleft and stub), and I remember someone saying they had better success with bud grafting peaches. But it sounds like I won't really know if I'm successful with bud grafts until next spring.

Carla in Sac

You will know when your bud graft is successful. Just look at the bud, within three weeks, it should have healed, the bud should have swelled. Just scratch the tissue around the bud, and if it's green, you've succeeded.

Then, you can wait until the following Spring to get it to grow.

For what its worth I have done many non-inverted T's and they have not budded prematurely. In fact I think most commercial budders don't invert the T either.

Scott