Grafting Questions

[Bottomland]

This weekend I tried my first field grafts on my persimmon orchard. Huge thanks again to dogdoc and Fish for sharing a few scions with me. Most of the grafts were standard cleft grafts because of differing sizes between the original tree and the scions, but I was able to do a whip graft on a couple. I sealed all the grafts with some "Tree Wound Compound" I found, which is basically a caulk substance that dries and seals the graft. It worked nicely and I'll let y'all know how it holds up. Then I wrapped the graft with paraffin wax tape to apply pressure and seal even more. I'm so excited to see how these turn out. I only grafted 6 of my 24 trees this round just to make sure the grafts take. I plan to do some more in a couple of weeks.

I have a few questions for you experienced grafters.

1. How late can I graft? Can I graft into the summertime? I know you should graft when the sap is running but is there a limit on that timeframe?

2. How long can scions be viable? Can I keep them in the fridge until next grafting season if they are wax-sealed and kept slightly damp?

3. If for some reason a graft doesn't take, can I cut off a few inches below the graft and re-graft it?

 

[dogdoc]

1: I have grafted into June with success. Later grafts don't have as high success because of heat we have here in Oklahoma.

2: The scions will more than likely be dead by next year. Use fresh scions every year.

3: when I graft in early spring with persimmons I usually see growth in the scion within 3 weeks. If I don't see any results in 4 weeks I will regraft. So answer to #3 is yes.

 

[Neahawg]

On persimmons look into the flap graft I think Merle uses on his pecan grafts with success

 

[Fish]

I can only echo what doc said. If they fail, you probably have time for another graft this season.
Ive had good success with the whip/tongue on persimmon. Bark grafts are great for larger stocks. Never tried the flap graft with them.
Good luck!

 

[Merle Hawggard]

I'm glad to hear you can w/t them really. I've always waited till I get the bark slipping, like I would a pecan or hickory, the bark or flap graft.
I didn't get any this year, but will probably do so next. Deer candy may just be a clever marketing name, but I'll try it lol!
Good looking grafts btw!

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[DLH]

Has anyone collected persimmons too late for grafting? I thought I was good to go but climbed 30 ft in a persimmon to collect scions then realized the buds were starting to green up. Should I attempt to use these this year? I think I'm going to give it a shot because the persimmon I'm grafting is 14" or bigger and it may be too big to graft this year anyways. Might have to let it send up a sucker this year and graft next. I was wanting to try it and put 30-40 scions on it to hopefully keep it from sending all its energy into one. Hope you don't mind this thread seems like the best one to ask this of everyone.

 

[Fish]

Has anyone collected persimmons too late for grafting? I thought I was good to go but climbed 30 ft in a persimmon to collect scions then realized the buds were starting to green up. Should I attempt to use these this year? I think I'm going to give it a shot because the persimmon I'm grafting is 14" or bigger and it may be too big to graft this year anyways. Might have to let it send up a sucker this year and graft next. I was wanting to try it and put 30-40 scions on it to hopefully keep it from sending all its energy into one. Hope you don't mind this thread seems like the best one to ask this of everyone.

If you cut the scions and immediately graft, youve got a shot at getting some to take. 30ft? Sounds too dangerous for me, but wow id like to see pics.

 

[DLH]

I was using a climbing stand with a harness so it's not as high as it sounds. I also had no way of measuring how high just know that a fall from that height wouldn't be healthy. Guess next year I will have to collect earlier hopefully it puts some new growth on where I cut these off.

 

[Rickey]

I was using a climbing stand with a harness so it's not as high as it sounds. I also had no way of measuring how high just know that a fall from that height wouldn't be healthy. Guess next year I will have to collect earlier hopefully it puts some new growth on where I cut these off.

DLH,
To know how high you are in the climber you could do what I did. I tied a knot at 15', 20', and 25', on my pull rope.

 

[DLH]

Good point I think I will do that this deer season. The deer I shot this year I climbed higher than my pull rope could reach so I ended up laying my gun across the seat because it caused me to lose my balance with the gun suspended from the climber. I think I prefer that because I don't have to pull it up through any limbs that make it catch.

 

[THE LLC]

Has anyone collected persimmons too late for grafting? I thought I was good to go but climbed 30 ft in a persimmon to collect scions then realized the buds were starting to green up.

When I was a little kid my great uncle told me one time that they were so poor he broke his arm eating breakfast when he was a kid. I asked him what being poor had to do with that and he said "I fell out of the persimmon tree". LOLOLOL You made me think of that.

 

[Bottomland]

Just an update on my persimmon grafts. I checked this past weekend and only 2 of the 6 grafts took. I'm not sure why the success rate wasn't higher. I had airtight seals on the grafts, I kept the scions on ice until I grafted them. Not sure what the issue was. I plan to regraft the unsuccessful ones again next weekend. How late would yall say I can graft?

 

[Bottomland]

P.S. Luckily I have a whole mess of OHxF97 pear and B111.8 apple in pots at my house with plenty of scions to graft at home. I'll be able to keep a better eye on these since they aren't field grafts at my farm 4 hours away...

 

[dogdoc]

Just an update on my persimmon grafts. I checked this past weekend and only 2 of the 6 grafts took. I'm not sure why the success rate wasn't higher. I had airtight seals on the grafts, I kept the scions on ice until I grafted them. Not sure what the issue was. I plan to regraft the unsuccessful ones again next weekend. How late would yall say I can graft?

still plenty of time to graft. Once June hits though the success for field grafting (at least for me) goes way down.

 

[dogdoc]

One piece of advise though----use electrical tape for your persimmon grafts. It's a very hard wood so you can add a lot of pressure with the electrical tape compared to the parafilm. That parafilm breaks down too fast with direct sunlight. I use it to wrap the scion to prevent moisture loss but not for sealing the graft union.

 

[Bottomland]

One piece of advise though----use electrical tape for your persimmon grafts. It's a very hard wood so you can add a lot of pressure with the electrical tape compared to the parafilm. That parafilm breaks down too fast with direct sunlight. I use it to wrap the scion to prevent moisture loss but not for sealing the graft union.

Ok, will definitely try it out. Thanks!

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Still plenty of time for a redo! My pecans were 50 percent, though I did them a little early. I cut the failed grafts off and remade them last week.
I wished I'd gotten scions from the walnut tree I t-bud last fall. The looked so good I knew I'd have a few takes, but all failed. Oh well, next year I'll be ready.

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