Here’s a Colossal I did that’s just now showing signs after about four weeks. Bark graft
Here’s a Bouche de Betizac that’s showing signs after about four weeks as well. We had two scions left and only one tree left to graft so we decided to double our chances on this one and it looks like one of them might take. We tried a little different grafting method on this one. The scions were too long for our plastic bags and we didn’t want to cut the scion off so we sealed the ends with a product I got off of Amazon called Zinsser Shellac. It’s all natural non-toxic. Couple of sprays on any cut surfaces of the wood scion and exposed areas on the rootstock and you’re good to go. This seals in the moisture and doesn’t let the scion dry out.
Looking good. Took the bags off mine the other day too. Left the foil on to protect the graft union from the heat during the summer. It’ll stay on until the graft union grows big enough to loosen it and make it fall off. Probably sometime during the fall.
Update.... Graft failed... I suspect it’s something to do with the rootstock as it has never produced a healthy tree. This was its last chance. I am going to completely replace it next year.
Trying my hand at grafting again. This time with correct rootstock and graft stock to hopefully lessen incompatibility issues later on. Here’s a Black Satin graft on mollissima root stock.
Good luck Matt! I've had very poor luck with grafting chestnuts. I'm not sure what it is about chestnuts, but I can't seem to get them to take. Chestnuts tend to respond to injury (cut) by putting up new root shoots and suckers rather than pushing the graft. I hope you have much better success than I did!
Good luck Matt! I've had very poor luck with grafting chestnuts. I'm not sure what it is about chestnuts, but I can't seem to get them to take. Chestnuts tend to respond to injury (cut) by putting up new root shoots and suckers rather than pushing the graft. I hope you have much better success than I did!
I’ve had issues with delayed grafting failure. They look great, even for a few years, then all of a sudden it’ll just die. The one that I’ve had take so far has been a Buck IV on Chinese. It’s only a few years old now so who knows if it’ll survive long term. I’m not gonna give up though and keep trying. Something is bound to take eventually and I have enough trees around to “play.” If I get the Buck IV grafting down and find a compatible rootstock it should speed up the fruiting process by at least a couple of years. At least that’s the idea.