Bottomland
Active Member
This is my first year of serious grafting, and my technique/process has changed quite a bit over the past few months. While searching the internet for grafting info to improve my technique, I discovered these grafting tools. I found one with good feedback and a cheap price, and it came in today.
I'm not sure if yall have seen these before or not, but it is basically a modified set of hand shears that cuts a notch into the scion or rootstock/grafting base. By cutting the exact same notch, one end becomes male and the other female and the two separate pieces fit together seamlessly. This tool I bought comes with multiple "blades" to cut out different notches, but I used the one that came factory installed. It's basically a teardrop shape, which is really nice because the two grafting pieces kind of "lock" into place.
Tonight I grafted about 30 pears, OHxF97 rootstock with scions collected from my farm; Kieffer, John Ledbetter, and Cousins (a rare deep Mississippi summer pear). The tool worked very well, and after a couple of grafts I got into a rhythm and was able to do them pretty quickly. I used a very strong wax tape (the skinny green kind) to wrap a very tight seal, then went over that seal with electrical tape (at the advice of some forum users here - great advice!). There was no liquid sealant involved so it was a clean process. The grafts fit snugly with perfect surface area contact, so I expect good results!
I'm not sure if yall have seen these before or not, but it is basically a modified set of hand shears that cuts a notch into the scion or rootstock/grafting base. By cutting the exact same notch, one end becomes male and the other female and the two separate pieces fit together seamlessly. This tool I bought comes with multiple "blades" to cut out different notches, but I used the one that came factory installed. It's basically a teardrop shape, which is really nice because the two grafting pieces kind of "lock" into place.
Tonight I grafted about 30 pears, OHxF97 rootstock with scions collected from my farm; Kieffer, John Ledbetter, and Cousins (a rare deep Mississippi summer pear). The tool worked very well, and after a couple of grafts I got into a rhythm and was able to do them pretty quickly. I used a very strong wax tape (the skinny green kind) to wrap a very tight seal, then went over that seal with electrical tape (at the advice of some forum users here - great advice!). There was no liquid sealant involved so it was a clean process. The grafts fit snugly with perfect surface area contact, so I expect good results!
