Some recent apple topworking

[Native Hunter]

I did some big trees and some little trees. I think the small ones have the best chance of healing over and doing the best. All these were grafted recently.

This is a crab changed over to a wild apple a forum member sent to me.



A Frankenstein Tree. Several different varieties on one tree.



A Bradford Type Pear changed over to a Hunter's Choice.



Another wild apple - different variety - grafted to a Red Del.



A useless crab changed to wild apples.



This one is interesting. A cleft graft with 3 scions and all are living. The only bark contact for the one in the middle is with the scions on both sides of it.



These are just a few of them. I have several more with green tips. So far, I only have one scion out of a bunch that isn't showing anything. Someone gave me a Black LT that I tried grafting to another RD and it is not showing anything yet.

 

[dogdoc]

Good job. Look forward to watching the progress.

 

[Chainsaw]

I like that triple one. That's great that multiple ones can take.

 

[Fish]

I love grafting pics. Nice work Native! Seems like cleft grafts give me the most trouble. That triple is cool. If they all end up growing, you could bind them together for a foot above the cleft and let them fuse into one.

 

[Native Hunter]

Thanks Guys.

Fish, I think letting them fuse together would be a good idea. That should also help the wound to heal faster. Then a guy could prune later on to shape it to whatever was needed. A triple cleft graft may be common, but I hadn't seen it done anywhere. I just got the idea when grafting and noticed that 3 scions would close the space really well.

One thing I would like an opinion on is how long to leave the electrical tape. Last year I used that grafting tape that is much more stretchy, and didn't remove it until this spring. That worked real well, and the tape stretched as the scions grew.

The electrical tape doesn't "stretch" much, and I wrapped it extremely tight. I think the tightness is what helped them to take so quickly, but it also has very little "give" to it, especially since I wrapped it multiple times.

I think it could also be left a year, but not sure and would like opinions.

 

[dogdoc]

I wouldn't leave the electrical tape on for a year, especially on seedlings or if you are grafting smaller branches. With my seedlings as soon as I see top growth on the scion I log that date and remove the tape in exactly 2 months. With my bark grafts, like persimmons, where I'm using the tape on the main trunk, I remove the tape at the end of the summer or early fall.

 

[Native Hunter]

I wouldn't leave the electrical tape on for a year, especially on seedlings or if you are grafting smaller branches. With my seedlings as soon as I see top growth on the scion I log that date and remove the tape in exactly 2 months. With my bark grafts, like persimmons, where I'm using the tape on the main trunk, I remove the tape at the end of the summer or early fall.

Thanks Todd.

 

[Shufigo]

Thanks for the reply on the tape removal, Todd. I hadn't even thought that far down the road. Would you think that the 2 month time frame would also be about right for T&G and whip grafts on horizontal branches? I'm concerned about having a heavy bird break it.