T bud cleft in place!

Where I split the bark in two for the cleft grafting

Cleft in place atleast I think so :/

Jan, make sure you keep those pictures. As you go along things will get more smoother. You can keep on practicing on the same tree all summer long, it wouldn’t hurt the tree.

You go go girl, no stopping now.

Bob thanks so much for the words of encouragement :) I took your advice and did two more t bud grafts! So now there’s a total of 3 and you’re right By the third time I felt much more comfortable with it And it took half the time. Hope one of them takes. I guess I open them in three weeks and if they’re still green I’m good to go And just need to cut off the top branches? Can’t wait :) I’ll update you in three weeks! I might do more tomorrow oh boy I might be addicted bob No stopping indeed!

For the cleft graft scions, make sure you wrap them with Buddy tape or parafilm, or cover them over with a baggie to keep them hydrated. Otherwise they'll dry out quickly. I would either radically reduce leaf surface area on the cleft scions or remove leaves and petioles completely. Can't really see what you've done.

Is your bark slipping for the T-bud grafts?

Keep up the good work!

Jan my friend. I am very proud of you for taking the plunge. I have yet to even try but way to go. Please save this thread and post to it every time you have something to report. Much love

Hi Dave! For the cleft graft I kept the leaves on while I was working on it it just seemed easier to grab onto and hold it by the leaves but I eventually cut all petioles off there’s anout an inch and a half of bud wood stick left and I wrapped the whole thing up in tape and covered it with foil! Hope thats ok? And for the t bud grafts bark it wasn’t an easy slip but with the tip of a knife it did come loose in one piece so I could tuck the bud wood under still not sure if I did it right or if the right layers came loose. am I right in that if they’re still green in three weeks they all made it?

thanks mike! I certainly will update you all. Mike it’s so addicting lol it’s all I can think about doing now more practice!

Jan, here is my assortment of grafting tools and stuff to work with.Real small sionwood I use that allunium handle knife, like for W/T grafting, 3/16 or 1/8 sticks.

For small grafting, the aluminum handle uses Shick blades, last forever, just need sharpening every so often. 50 years, 500 tree’s? Possible.

Jan! Congratulations your first grafts! I only tried cleft graft and the easiest variety has been shiranui.

Wow bob 500 trees!!!! and what a collection you have of tools I only had a sharp knife and some tape! You must be a pro at it now so much so that you can do it in your sleep!

amy thank you!! I think the worst part is waiting! hows your graft doing now? well I hope and hope you and your family are still A ok!! Stay safe my twin from the east! :)

Yay Jan!!! Congratulations on your first grafts! All good advice here - remember to sterilize your tools. I had some great looking grafts fail after slacking on the bleach lol. Keep us updated and good luck!

Your turn, Mike! ;)

Thank you kelly! I will definitely keep bleach Bottle close by every time I do it :)

ok it’s been two weeks now! And I just checked to see the t bud graft it is still green!!!! Yahooooo!!!! I wrapped it back up though because I’m supposed to wait another week to make sure it doesn’t dry out? It does look healed though. Should I put it out in the sun and see if it’ll grow?

Here is the other one not the neatest job in the world but it’s still looking green!

I have not taken a look at the cleft graft I’ll leave that one another week before I peek!

Congrats Jan!! Good news. Now you see a clear picture in your new endeavor, great news for all of us.

Thank you bob! I can’t wait to take it out into the sunshine and give it some sunlight and seeing the first buds swell and grow :)

I would not put it in direct sunlight, maybe just early morning light for a few days. If it grows than give it a little stronger light.

Jan, when you place your tree to a different location, you have to make sure that there is not to big of temperature difference. Better from cold to warm than warm to cold!!!!

Thank you bob! Ok ill put it in a shady spot in the greenhouse it’s been in my house the last two weeks! I wrapped it but exposed the bud so I could see when it grows. Here goes nothing down the rabbit hole I go into the world of grafting! :)

Hi guys I have moved it into full sun now and taken the tape out it’s still fully green except the top looks a little bit browned and it’s not growing should I go ahead and do the cut? I’m scared that it didnt take somehow and I’ll have bent over the top by cutting into it and it’ll just be a stump!

or Maybe I should give it a few more days? Does it matter that it’s still cool at night time And therefore maybe it won’t have healed as fast?

Ive had a lot of tbuds that were green and healthy looking after 3 weeks suddenly turn brown and die. Im guessing they should stay wrapped longer?

Thank you jaydub! I will leave it wrapped until a few more weeks then might not be the warmest for healing!

So to update anyone interested out of five t bud grafts one actually took! I’ve unwrapped it for a couple weeks now and put it slowly into full sun and it’s still green! I’m hoping that it might grow for me under full sun conditions without having to cut the top yet as I’m a bit hesitant to do it. I’m also worried it might be a little low on the rootstock and a little too close to the soil.

Your graft is fine at that level. I didn't expose mine to direct sunlight untill I had at least an inch of growth. I forced my bud by putting a lamp on it for 5 additional hours after sun set. Light is aimed at lower bud

Steve i will try that method I have a light just like that I will be patient and wait for new growth too 3 months seems so long. what kind of a grafting method did you use Steve yours looks like you didn’t just use a bud but also a little stem attached as well?

So it’s been a little over two weeks now and I put it in full sun and put on a little light on the t bud graft overnight and it’s actually growing!!! Here’s a tiny growth on it. I wonder if I don’t cut off the top if I can also have a friendship tree like bob and graft more types into it in the future! Bob if you see this does it matter where all the grafts are? Do they have to be all at the same height? I’m so excited!!! Now I’m too excited to graft more buds to it!

Whoohoo! Jan!

Thanks dave!! :) but now I’m a grafting addict with no rootstock lol.

Jan, grafting multi varieties on one tree, pretty much the same , just pick a spot with a nice clean area.

Great bob! I guess mine will be more like a bush since the graft site is so low to the ground! I’m going to try grafting another cara cara to that same trunk I have a branch that’s variegated on my cara cara tree I wonder if it will produce a variegated fruit!

Hooray! I haven’t cut off the top because it’s actually doing really well And I thought it was a goner for sure it was a kaffir lime tree at the top so I guess it’ll just have a be a cocktail tree :)

Looking great Jan. I would not dl a combo tree. You can break the tree over so it continues to produce food while the graft grows.

Steve

Steve, it’s called practice,practice, practice. It doesn’t kill the tree.

Steve will it not grow well as a combo tree?

bob I will keep practicing :) I hope to get my success rate up to 4 out of 5 instead of 1 out of 5!

1 trunk always grows much faster than the other and causes a problem. Now that you can graft get a Seville sour orange for seeds so you can graft to sour and have the best fruit in the united states

Steve

Poncirusguy is 100 percent correct about Sour Orange. It is a wonderful root stock if you live in an area that is not bothered by Tristeza.

za

I’m going to give this tree a shot since I love the top as well lol it’ll just have to compete to the death I suppose! :) Steve is that rootstock compatible with everything?

Sour Orange has no common incompatibility except with kumquat and perhaps Eureka lemon. An excellent rootstock with broad soil adaptation.. It is well adapted to a broad range of soil types, from sand all the way to clay. Sour Orange produces fruit of high internal quality., and has fairly good freeze tolerance.

a

Silica that’s great to know!! a local nursery around here is selling a Seville sour orange tree perhaps I can get one and just start cuttings is it easy to root?

All my Seville cuttings died. I am running at better than 75% success rate rooting trifoliate cuttings.

Steve

I picked up a sour orange at the grocery -- it was full of seeds. Starting up some seedlings for future root stock.

Jan, pushing graft looks so good! I am tending to prefer veneer grafts now days onto at least 2 to 3 year rootstock. For some reason they just seem to take. I can't always get the bark to peel back for a bud graft. I end up making a total mess of it.

My sour orange had 49 seeds in it.

My bud grafts are usually a mess.

Steve

If you don’t have a lot of room, don’t go there, collecting whatever. Grafting is only for the ones that wants more tree’s the cheap way and make things more interesting.For me I am not interested in more trees. My “want more“ has come to an end a couple years ago. The only thing left for me is , multi varieties per tree to further reduce my collection. The only reason for me is just staying busy, if my trees produces a lot I am happy, if they produces a fair amount I am happy to. If they don’t produce at all, I am p.....off big time!

When it comes to best tasting fruits, it’s the tree ripened peach, the way I use to grow them. I collected the best varieties, like what I am doing now with citrus. Don’t do a lot of chemicals anymore. For me , waiting another year is big no.

I never grafted citrus before so my first few times might fail