Good work Gene,

Keep us updated on this project!

Best regards
Cecil

Very exciting piece of work Gene. Please keep us posted.

Paully

Congratulations Gene! Those grafts look nice, it appears that they have taken (99% sure).

Do you have any bud above the graft? I would keep only one bud above the graft, no more.

If you keep several buds above the graft, it will keep dormant. If you remove all the buds above the graft it probably will sprouts but it is a bit risky. Sometimes the sap "forgets" the graft and it retires until the next bud below the graft, if that occurs, the graft dries and dies.

The best scenario for sprouting is one bud above the graft and no leafs, sprouts or figs below the graft, they steal sap to the graft.

Once the graft sprouts, you can cut 1 inch above the upper zone of the chip bud. The trunk above the graft will dry in the next weeks or months. At this point, you definitively can cut at an angle just above the graft, somewhat like this (you can see the dried zone where the sap doesn't arrive):

If you prefer, you also can put off this operations until the next spring.

Good luck!

One clarification to my previous post, the word "soudure" means "joint" in French. It is because I used this picture in a French forum long time ago. Don't confound this with the "dried zone" I mention.

Thanks for the encouragment Cecil and Paully -- I'll post updated photos as things develop.

Many thanks Axier for additional help. I had left both leaves and figs above and below each new bud, but after work I'll go and remove everything below and leave only one node above. Was the KB graft successful for you?

You know that sprouting is sometimes capricious but this is the right way, at the worst your graft will sprout the next spring but at least you have done the right to stimulate sprouting.
Fortunately my first KB graft sprouted and it is 4 inch long now. It is grafted on the bottom of a vigorous Noire de Caromb branch. If I have time, I will post a picture.

Gene,
here in the Rochester ny.area the type of graft is non done
untill after the third week of July,the reason to give enough time for the eye to mature,in your area maybe you are ok ,only time will tell.Ciao,Giuseppe

Axier -- I'm looking forward to seeing the picture, and if you can make any distinctions between the two varieties.

Giuseppe -- I'm not sure what you mean by giving time for the "eye" to mature? Is this the vegetative bud on the chip being grafted?

Gene ,
if the bud is not fully formed,talking about the chip you inserted in the rootstock,even know the graft has taken ,it will never open.But in your area that is warmer than mine ,your chip bud was already formed.Keep us informed,please

Okay, I understand now. I hadn't considered that aspect. Will post any developments here.

Gene, I hope that I can take the picture soon, I am not near my figs these days.
Giuseppe is right, the very green (inmature) chip buds are easy to take, but sometimes the bud is not well formed yet and sprouting is difficult.
I actually have very good results with chip buds from stored cuttings (past year cuttings). They are slower to take but you have well formed and mature buds, moreover they are harder than green chip buds and more resistant to rot and dryness.
The bigger the bud is, the easier and stronger the sprouting.
Anyway, if the green chip bud has taken well (according to pictures it is so) and the bud doesn't dry, it will sprout sooner or later.

This is all very interesting and I would like to try it next year to save some room for more figs. Thanks to all for sharing the secrets to successful grafting.