Help with chestnut graft!

10 years ago

I am playing with grafting hybrid chestnut on to oak rootstock (Northern Pin, just because I have tons of volunteers). I tried bud grafting last year, but that was a total waste of time.

So this year i did a bunch of standard whip and tongue grafts, and maybe about 40% took. Of those, most died after a few weeks of flush and dieback. I have 2 that have survived from spring until now (one hint: always graft one year wood to one year wood - anything older seems to fail).

They look pretty good, except they are yellowing a bit at the growth tips:

I suspect the main issue is that chestnut is way more vigorous of a grower than pin oak:

I read the entry about acorn grafting to oaks in Lebanon, but that information doesn't seem relevant here. There is some information about delayed graft fails up to 7 years

Anyone have any advice or try something similar? Tips?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

corkball (z6 TN)
Original Author
10 years ago
oops i didn't quite finish about the delayed graft issues. So the post said you might lose your grafts up to 7 years after the fact, but didn't go in to WHY that was... anyone know anything about delayed oak/chestnut graft incompatibilities?
gardener365
10 years ago
delayed, indeed.

No tips.

Dax
Related Professionals
Philadelphia Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Worcester Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Amherstburg Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Montréal Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Terre Haute Landscape Contractors · Kankakee Landscape Contractors · Lansing Landscape Contractors · Bennington Landscape Contractors · Montréal Landscape Contractors · Hot Springs Home Additions · Terre Haute Home Additions · Gary Home Additions · Mission Viejo Home Additions · Murrieta Home Additions · Vernal Home Additions
jocelynpei
10 years ago
I'm pretty new at chestnut grafts and sometimes got that same big lump where the graft joins the stock. I've had lots of them die after the second leaf, after leafing out after their first winter. For what it's worth, the not lumpy ones are more likely to survive long term...well, longer than a year or two. It's old advice, but keep them well watered and fertilize if the pH is off and you need acid type fertilizer. Some stock and scion combinations work, others fail after a year or two. Cleaning the site of the union with peroxide, and the scion too, seems to help survival a bit, as does gloving up...but it can also be co incidence, as I've done only a few each year. Chinese genes in a stock with an american scion is often OK, but japanese or european may not be. I tried red oak once, but got only short term survival. it will be interesting to see how yours does, with the pin oak stock. The photo here is an american scion on a probably pure american stock
corkball (z6 TN)
Original Author
10 years ago
so jocelynpei, I am not so concerned about IMMEDIATE survival - grafts will take or not, but longer term.

Point taken about watering, but.... if I graft onto a native pin oak,

1) the pin oak root system should be fairly well established... it grew in place

2) I thought one of the reasons folks grafted chestnut on to oak was because of soil conditions that would support oak but not chestnut (neutral to base soils)? That said, pin oak is not the best choice for that, but probably better than chestnut.

Are most of your grafts chestnut on chestnut? Just wondering if your experiences apply to oak rootstock. Interesting observation about the bump....
jocelynpei
10 years ago
I have soil pretty well suited to chestnut, so only tried red oak stocks for curiosity. On red oak, 2 years was the best they lived. This is with a small sample size and a bad winter with some warm weather followed by quite cold weather. Not a lot to go on.