skip the knife .. and buy a hundred pack of razorblades ... sharper then you could ever make a knife ... disposable ... and cheap ... ken

RE: If I'm grafting conifers, are the basic tools a grafting knife and grafting tape?

Yes. But aftercare for conifers includes maintaining a high humidity environment. WIthout a greenhouse I guess they means an improvised wet tent or something similar. Poly bags maybe?
RE: I've seen the grafting kits you can buy that have a knife,tape and wax ....sounds like a waste of wax if I'm only going to try conifers.

Yes. And even for deciduous plants the wax is a nasty mess. PArts of my kitchen are still sticky from when I last used it months ago. Better stuff is available.

re: Where do you grafters do your shopping for tools and other grafting items like rootstock? AM leonard has grafting stuff. OBC northwest. Any nursery supply place for that matter. As for understock, guess that depends on what plant you're looking for. Some are hard to buy in small quantities because the growers want you to spend a few hundred dollars.

Are you the one who found the P. Rigida broom? My advice, go ahead and try some, but send some material to someone with some expereince and who is set up to do this. Maybe You can work out a deal with them whereby they send you a few finished grafts in exchange for the scions.

I'm thinking of Dax whose screen name is "Conifers" Who is really passionate about this stuff and is generally a swell guy in my opinion.

Also, even an experienced grafter may not be successful because some withches brooms are not heritable i.e., won't pass on traits. Good Luck.

Todd

One more thing. Time is of the essence for your project. These are grafted now, while plants are dormant. Wait much longer and graft union will be flooded with sap because plants will be coming out of dormancy.

Try to get in touch with Dax.

Hi all, thats my basic grafting tool, very cheap, no wasting time with sharpening, only changing blade...
Jan wbgarden
{{gwi:649091}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Dwarf conifers

Doug : Learn how to touch up a Razor Knife with a fine stone. It don't make sense to keep changing blades ,if you can hone it in a few seconds. It will be sharper than the
Factory blade. Change it when neccessary. I worked with many kinds of cutting tools all my life. Never threw a carving tool away, because it got dull. Ever see a butcher
throw his knife it the trash can ??? All he does is run it a few times on the steel (sharpener).
Hey guys : Does any of this make sense ?????
LOU

if you have a rare specimen ... contact gee tree farm .... i think its about 3 dollars per graft ... plus shipping them back to you of course .... and see what you can work out with them ... or any other grafter you can track down ....

then mess around with trying it yourself ...

gary gee or cary gee ... say that grafting is simple ..... but 95% of success is aftercare .... poly tunnel... moisture... light.. etc ... you will be out hundreds or thousands trying to succeed in aftercare ... if you call ask for cary ...

i recommend gee's only because i have been there and know the peeps .... there are a multitude of others who do grafting ....

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: gee's

Doug,

Can you send me a chunk of that rigida broom? I'll get you free grafts of it and if you'd like, we can chat on the phone (or email) until you understand "your climate" and it's needs for successful grafting to occur. Indoor even being a possibility for that matter.

I've got (luckily) at my disposal, several nursery owners who are interested in that broom and I as well.

You can saw off a chunk and leave some for later.

Send me an email if interested. I'll pay for everything.

Thank you,

Dax