Wow Kelly - you got your carload of rootstock and didn't waste any time!!! LOL :-D

Good luck with your new babies! Which types did you graft?

Thanks, Jenny! I actually received some budwood prior to getting the rootstock, so I wanted to act quickly lol. They are Italian lemon varieties - femminello siracusano, Zagara Bianca, and carrubarro lemon.

Wow Kelley! I wish that they will all take! The waiting is the most difficult part right?

What does the tin foil do?

You aren’t kidding, Amy! Patience is definitely NOT my strong suit lol

Denise, I believe it is supposed to reflect the sunlight and possibly help with retaining moisture? I’m not 100% sure, but Fruit Mentor told me to do it, so..LOL

Interesting... I remember seeing some pics years ago where some folks used foil as part of their air-layering technique. I.e., they would prep the branch for rooting (cambium removal, etc), surround the section with moist sphagnum moss wrapped in plastic wrap, and then finally enclose the wad with foil.

Good luck to you. Hope all survive.

Between you and Laura and more really going big with grafting that sure makes my day. We got Al now to set me straight and a few others, afraid to mention any names or should i, nah! Don't like to go into another pissy-s string of garbage!!

Kelly, if you have a lot of perlite floating to the surface you can cover it with pine needles or mulch.

Thank you, Vlad! Bob, you and Sunshine have me hooked! My first graft last night took me 30 mins, I was so nervous! My last graft literally only took me 5 minutes. The less you think about it, the easier, and less daunting, it becomes :)

Way to go, Kelley :) I like your last statement, that is the big secret :))

Thanks, Sunshine :). Quick question: do you think this budwood is no longer good to graft?

Thanks for your time!

It is not green, seems yellowish, don't graft them.

I snuck a peek at the 3 cleft grafts under the tinfoil and all 3 look dead lol. Hope the buds will take.

Kelly, were your rootstocks actively growing? That usely is the one thing that you have to worry about. The better your rootstock is the quicker your sion respond.

Hi Bob, they were growing, however I dug them up and potted them not even a week before I grafted them. I think that may have been part of the problem - too much adjustment going on maybe.

On Cleft grafts - do you wrap over the buds or leave them exposed?

Thanks, Bob! I trimmed the tops of the scions so that there are only 2-3 buds. The scion didn’t look all that dead, so I’m going to leave them for another two weeks and see what happens. I should be getting more budwood in the near future, so I know what to correct next time :)

Kelly, did you ever try to barkgraft? It,s just as easy or even easier.

I have not! I may try that next.

Google a arrowhead barkgraft, than there is a Texas barkgraft and more. It is fun just to see what others are doing. A lot of grafting methods are done by agriculture department of a bunch of universities.