Donna: Peach and nectarine are kissing cousins. Barely any difference at all. Peach will work fine as a rootstock. Good luck with your grafting. What kind are you going to try? Have you budded peach or nectarine? If your grafts fail, you can bud onto the same stock later in the year. I learned by budding first. It is easier than grafting...in most cases anyway.

The Fruitnut

Peach rootstocks are fine for your use. Nectarines are a form of peach. When a branch of a tree produces a slight variation of the original fruit, such as deeper color or slightly different shape, it is called a "sport".

Nectarines and Peaches occasionally bear sports of each other. Nectarines are a fuzzless peach.

Peach seedling is a more cold resistant rootstock, good for upstate NY. An extra vigorous one is better. You are at the upper limit where peaches can grow. If the nectarine is growing in your area then it has known cold resistance. What variety do you have and how big are the root stocks.

The nectarine is an old tree that is growing in my neighbor's yard..it has been there for at least 15 years, and always gives large ,juicy fruit, but we don't know the variety. The power company is going to cut it next summer, so I would like to try to graft it. As I said..I have never done it, but will give it a shot!
I posted here earlier about 2 peach trees that I had bought this spring, and they never leafed out, but they are growing from the rootstock..that is what I thought I would try to graft onto, the peach rootstocks that I have growing, since they will be fairly young, and small in diameter, and already growing where I want them?? Am I on the right track? Thanks, Donna

I would guess that it is a Mericrest nectarine. The nectarine can be grafted or budded onto those 2 peach root stocks. When did the root stocks begin to grow and what is the diameter and height. Grafting and budding can be done in the spring. It would be good to post a photo.

The rootstocks began to grow right after I planted them, and I was nipping them off hoping to get the top portion to leaf out..it never did, so by the end of July I just gave up and let the rootstocks grow...The height right now is about 18-20"...diameter is different on each growth, but averages about 1/4" ..I'll try to take some pics tomorrow. Thanks for all of the help...Donna

Donna, peaches are hard to graft so don't be too surprised if it doesn't work. Do the grafting when the temps will be high around 80 and low around 60 for the next few days (plus or minus). That is the most important thing to get right. Also graft on every sprout you have to increase the odds that one works. Remove all leaves on the rootstock at grafting time.

Scott

The rootstocks seem a bit weak. The photos will be help us to figure out what approach to take. You want to mulch and cover the rootstock trees with leaves over the winter.

I second Scott--peaches are HARD. I learned to graft a couple of years ago, and I am now at 85-95 percent success for apples and pears, but peaches were at zero for last year, and MAYBE 25 percent this year (I still have to put my permanent labels on my successes for this year, so I need to check on what made it through summer)

So I would say start with pears or apples if you can, and if you can't, graft a LOT of peach grafts, and don't be too depressed if none take.

Carla in Sac

I am so suprised to here so many people say peaches are hard. I havent grafted tons of them before but I have had nearly all takes and I dont consider myself the master of grafting by any means. I used simple whip tongue and cleft grafts. Black electric tape and parafilm. I am probably jinxing myself by posting this.

Scape

Scaper, from what I'm reading it may be that weather is the issue. Seems that the stonefruit scions won't take when grafted in cool weather. I wonder why you couldn't wait until early June during a hot spell. Peaches don't have just a single main rush of growth like apples, Euro plums and pears, so it seems like the cambium keeps pushing out new cells during the duration of spring and summer.

Ace does his at the end of summer, although I don't know what budding technique he uses. What is your method, Ace?

I budded about 35 peach buds late this summer and all healed. I broke some buds off unwrapping and some buds swelled through the parafilm. I find Peaches easier to bud because the same season growth remains soft green and doesn't get too woody. Grafting with second season Peach scion/stock is tough because wood cannot mend and peach skin is so thin. There is greater success grafting 'woody' peach scions when the tree is growing like scott said previously.