If you wish to graft /bud/ you start with a plant of the same species..... then you follow the techniques shown in the book.... after the graft "takes" & shows growth (a new /fresh) branch you revove (above the graft) the top of the root stock you then have a root system of one plant & a top of the desired plant. this may then be transplanted where you wish them to grow.

New to this as well... So, if I buy a "grafted" tree and later I want to take a cutting for propagation purposes, is there a problem? Or is it like any other tree cutting?

Cosmo66_OK, who is kinda confused about this grafting stuff.

Whatever you take your scion wood from is the plant/tree you will end up with. I take cuttings from good, named varieties of black walnut and graft them onto wild rootstocks that are already growing on my property and end up with a better walnut tree that makes nuts with larger nutmeats. Same for persimmon and mulberry. The nurseries use certain kinds of apple rootstock to "make" a dwarf or semi-dwarf tree. In some cases there are two grafts made...one for rootstock and one short section of the trunk will be something to make it dwarf, although I believe they have a dwarfing rootstock these days.

Grafting is done with the scion wood in a dormant state and the rootstock in leaf...flowing sap for walnuts. Apples can be done with both dormant. In fact, apples can be done with the bare-root rootstock...called bench grafting.

Check with local Extension Agent to see if they ever give the classes in your area. There is a good chance they do if fruit or nuts are part of your States Agriculture income.

Another way to find classes is through the Fruit and Nut Growers Association. I don't have a link at hand or I would post it.

You would have to do some research to see if there is anything out there to graft paw paw onto. Peaches are usually budded in summer, onto seedling rootstock for full sized trees.

Check out North American Fruit Exchange Association. They are amateur growers for the most part, but very knowledgable and give grafting lessons every so often.

Here is a link that might be useful: NAFEX

Ok, let's try again... Maybe I didn't word my question well.

If I purchase a tree that has been grafted, and then the following year or two I wish to take a cutting from that tree to create my own "clone" will I get a cloned tree? Or will I get something else due to that fact that the original tree was grafted? I want a Japanese Maple tree, but I find most of then have been grafted. So, I don't want t o buy one and later not be able to "create" another by taking a cutting from it and rooting it on my own. Hope this is clearer. Thanks for you r help!!!
Cosmo66_OK

Grafting involves two separate plants, joined together by grafting. The "bottom" is the rootstock, which practically speaking is relatively invisible. The "top", which is grafted onto the rootstock, is the plant you're after for your garden.

The reason I explain what may seem obvious is that your question is answered by where you get that future cutting from off your grafted plant. If you use sucker growth from below the graft union, your resulting plant will be a clone of the rootstock variety. If your cutting is from above the union, you'll get a clone of the plant you want.

You may be asking yourself (little Talking Heads reference there), "Why bother to graft a Japanese Maple top onto the same species rootstock? Why not just grow the plant on its own roots?" Often the pretty, garden-worthy "top" variety doesn't naturally have a vigorous root system, so a different, stronger-rooted variety is used for the "bottom". Different rootstocks can affect the ultimate size of the plant, too. Dwarf and semidwarf apple trees are produced by grafting normal tops onto dwarfing rootstocks.

So you can see from this that cuttings you take from the top (which in grafting is called the scion, pronounced sigh-on) will be true to the variety you have, but may be somewhat unpredictable in its growth patterns when growing on its own roots.

Hope this helps.

Soeur