Thanks L+M!

We had a cold snap earlier this month. I wonder how it will affect the graft unions.
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Picea engelmannii, fall grafted (doesn't look viable)
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Picea engelmannii, fall grafted (still looks OK)
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Monthly update!
Picea engelmannii scion, on Picea pungens understock
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Looking good! I shine a torch from behind the needles and buds to see if there's a good glow when they're lit up like looking at the vessels in your fingers. The needles on yours look absolutely alive and well. August is a long long time back. To be alive and needle good after 5 months - though I know it's academic in the final spring test - is one massive hump crossed.

This post was edited by severnside on Tue, Jan 14, 14 at 16:03

Thanks for the update, Nate. How many scions still look viable?

tj

Thanks Severnside and TJ!
TJ, I'm postponing the accounting until spring (following the old adage - don't count your buds until they develop into shoots!)

At 10 weeks. Still healthy colour in the buds and cone showing no signs of desiccation. But yes Nate, that adage is the one to obey. I calculate it will be around week #22 that I'll know.

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This post was edited by severnside on Tue, Jan 28, 14 at 10:19

Looks good Severnside!

Still in hibernation here, on Groundhog Day.
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Certainly blanketed. No snow here Nate, just high winds and heavy rain.

I'm going to graft 5 more scions of a second good mugo find tonight. 4 onto P.sylvestris and 1 onto P.nigra.

Mugo rootstock isnt easy to find and I like the vigour of full sized species trees, it can't hurt.

Nate, thats a great looking tree. I wish you all the success! I just keep learing here and thanks for that.

Rob

Severnside, good luck with the new mugo find!

Rob, thanks for your interest!

Here's another monthly update, Picea engelmannii scion
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I'd be very happy with that Nate, the way the sun shines through the needles and the bud looks chubby. I certainly hope your narrow engelmannii is soon to be realised.

Being the pre push-time now, I'm looking for the slightest extension or anything daily now.

Here's a side by side of week 7 (top) vs week 13 as I'm at exactly the three month mark today.

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The six grafts of the other mugo will have a shorter time to unionise so I'll simply wait on any pushes rather than get too fussed like with the longer term one.

This post was edited by severnside on Tue, Feb 18, 14 at 11:14

G-luck Nate!

Dax

Looks good Severnside, and thanks Dax!

Here's another monthly update.

Picea engelmannii
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April update

Many of the other spruce buds in the garden are starting to show signs of waking up, these grafts seem to be lagging.

Picea engelmannii
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This bud is starting to show signs of life.
April 6 -> April 19
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This is absolutely thrilling! Here, at the other corner of world i (along with others) keep my fingers crossed for that little graft of wonderful engelmannii form! It seems to have strong will to survive and gain eternal life through your hands, maby someday (i hope) as a global cultivar.

Bud extension! So good for you Sluice!

My fall graft died, it never took at all.

I have four spring grafted ones that are still 'alive' but haven't pushed. The only reason I haven't given up is that they still run sap when I pluck a needle and the weather has been hot for a ten day run - should be stone dried out.

Allow me my pathetic hope just yet.

Jarpe, yes I hope to get a stock plant established within a few years.

Severnside, sorry to hear about the fall grafts - hopefully the spring grafts will be coming along soon.

Here is another Engelmann scion, the bud appears to be waking up after a long winter dormancy. How sweet it is!
April 6 -> April 20
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Fantastic Nate!

Thanks Severnside!

I'm starting to pencil in some numbers on the ledger.

Of 100 scions grafted last fall, 13 still retain live needles.
Of those 13 scions, I'm seeing early signs of shoot development on 3.
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If only the three that are pushing make it then you'll have all you need.

Fingers still crossed for their success.

Mine are still in the game though no discernable push still. No decline though at week 11.

If they're still viable after 11 weeks, that seems like a good sign.

The bud cap on this one is starting to break loose.
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You're there! Congrats. Time to name them? Not sure if you have yet.

Thanks Severnside!

Provisionally, Picea engelmannii 'Sweetwater'
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Named after the Sweetwater area, located near Dotsero CO (see link)

Here is a link that might be useful: Sweetwater

Now four scions with shoots developing.
Two on Brooks Tree Farm understock.
Two on University of Idaho Seedling Nursery understock.
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Awesome, hope the other nine develop for you.

Frank

Thanks Frank!

From my first visit to the Flat Tops plateau.
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Wow, are all those conifers in the foreground? You could search for brooms almost indefinitely.

Congrats on the pushing buds!

Tentatively - very - I may have my own first show of new growth on one of my four grafts. White proto needles emerging from the sap-weeping partition in the side? Not a full candle push but maybe a beginning?

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The new graft looks very good!

Yep, along that slope in the foreground there are P. edulis, J. monosperma, and a few P. menziesii.

Here is our camping spot at higher elevation, amongst the P. engelmannii and A. lasiocarpa.
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Well done! It's will grow! It will be interesting plant!

L+M S

Thanks L+M S !

I cut away some of the foliage on the understock to give the scion some room.
Picea engelmannii
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Brilliant Nate. Picea engelmannii 'Sweetwater' is now part of the conifer cannon. Congrats, looking forward to seeing a specimen a couple of seasons down the line here in the galleries.

My own success story, all four grafts are very much alive, two are concentrating on putting out pollen balls and this one is just now showing the needle array. Just visible in the best shot I can shake out the camera are next year's budlets - amazing to go from will-it-won't-it to seeing two years worth of growth being layed down.

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This is the same candle as I showed a couple of posts above. Back then it was horizontal, now it's become upright in obeyance of negative geotropism/gravitropism.

This post was edited by severnside on Fri, May 9, 14 at 19:07

Sweet, Nate.

Good, severn.

Dax

I had 20 of my Freshman college students graft last fall. For anybody who didn't want their final product, I took their tree home with me and immediately planted. Two of the four I brought home have taken successfully and are pushing new growth, including a 'Pusch'! Not too shabby for first time grafters.

Severnside, it's fantastic to see that scion waking up!

Thanks Dax.

Unprofessional, that's a great result.

Here another update from today. Picea engelmannii 'Sweetwater'
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I guess Nate, many of your understocks are survived. This year it would be interesting to graft any other engelmann scions a bit later, late September or October. It would be interesting to know, how it goes?
Zsolt

Any new pics Nate?

My #2 graft showing the pollen flowers.
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Severnside, the #2 graft looks great!

No new pics to report. Of 12 surviving scions of about 100 grafted, 4 showed new growth this spring. Will see what happens next year!

Jeeping at the Flat Top plateau, amongst the Artemisia tridentata.
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What is your experience of non-pushers waiting a year? Didn't you have an Abies procera 'Bizarro' that did that?

Jeep & Colorado Wilderness = bliss. Know your luck.

Severnside, I did have a P. pungens like that, and am planning to put together a time lapse post.

Riding along in the jeep.
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Great foreground juxtaposition against the (very) background rain virga and overarching clouds. Brilliant pic.

Hello all,

Reviving an old thread here, but have a summer/fall grafting question. What are the possibilities for my doing some Abies grafting in August?

The situation is that I'll be heading to the PNW in late July, and am hoping to take some scions at that time. I'd preserve them in a humid, cold bag until I get back to Indiana a week later, and then graft immediately.

I understand that I might need to keep the grafts from freezing over the winter. Aside from that, does anyone think this plan has possibility?

Thanks,

JC

I’m interested in this topic as well. I’m a rookie so I cant say much from experience, but this link has some useful info: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/wanted-guide-to-summer-conifer-grafting-dsvw-vd~1840808

at top of page , when you search summer grafting ,,,, ( in conifers ) 951 results come up

Perhaps, but that tells us nothing about what I'm asking about. All it says it that there are 951 posts that have "summer" and "grafting". Perhaps I've missed a post, but I haven't found anything that really gives a guide to this process or answers my question.

Wow , josh , there is an awful lot of info in the first few threads ,,, I didn't have time to read

seems there must be something :>)

ron

No, afraid not. The first page of hits doesn't even relate to conifer grafting in particular. There are one or two posts I've found, but they're mostly people asking for information about fall grafting, as I'm doing here.

So, again, I'm looking for someone who has experience with it and can comment on my specific situation.

Best to make new post for help

see some stuff in these

[tips[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/resin-i-need-advice-dsvw-vd~3183893?n=11)

[intresting[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/high-altitude-grafting-in-late-summer-dsvw-vd~1868056?n=27)

[links in links[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/wanted-guide-to-summer-conifer-grafting-dsvw-vd~1840808?n=8)

etc , ron

Thanks, yes, there's a sentence or two that's relevant, but what I'm looking for is someone who *has done* summer and fall grafting, and had success at it. I find lots of posts of people saying they've never done it, are suspicious, etc. But since there are also reports of it working well, I'm looking for info on how.

Perhaps a new post would be best, though.