How to Topwork with Bark Grafting

[wbpdeer]

Native Hunter,

When I click Reply on the March 25th post, with the pop up screen, it shows your photos. I know so little I am not comfortable replying to your post and messing up a great thread.

Wayne

 

[Native Hunter]

Native Hunter,

When I click Reply on the March 25th post, with the pop up screen, it shows your photos. I know so little I am not comfortable replying to your post and messing up a great thread.

Wayne

Wayne, you have taught me something today. I didn't realize the pictures could be seen when someone hits reply. Let me know if I can help more.

 

[wbpdeer]

Native Hunter,

Thanks for a great thread, full of knowledge and proven advice. I have a goal to get past my grafting train wrecks.

Grateful in Portland. WBP

 

[yoderjac]

Wayne, it is an Imgur problem. As of late all of my photos posted through Imgur have disappeared. This has ruined all of my threads. I am now posting by directly adding the pictures and bypassing Imgur. I will check this week and see if I still have those photos. If I can repair the thread by directly posting them I will do that.

That happened to me years ago with photobucket. They changed their policy and wanted users to pay them and held your pictures hostage. At that point I realized it could happen with any commercial photo server or forum. At that point, I build my own photoserver and have been posting all of my pictures to it.

 

[Native Hunter]

I'm bumping this up for someone who asked about bark grafting.

 

[catscratch]

I'm bumping this up for someone who asked about bark grafting.

It's appreciated!

 

[Native Hunter]

One more pic showing how to tell where the wood changes from the most recent growth to the growth the year before. Always use the most recent growth for scions. See center of thumb where wood changes.

 

[Native Hunter]

I will go ahead and show how I brace the grafts with cane and duct tape. If you don’t do this, you stand a good chance of wind damage.

 

[RGrizzzz]

Are you attaching the graft to the cane? How so? How tightly?

 

[Native Hunter]

Are you attaching the graft to the cane? How so? How tightly?

The graft can touch the cane, the tape or both. It doesn’t matter as long as long as you are keeping wind pressure off of the graft where it connects to the tree. As the graft grows longer I will add more tape up at the top. The tape connects to the cane and the graft lays against the tape and cane. Instead of using tape you could also use wire, but tape is easier.

 

[yoderjac]

Once a graft takes, I actually like to get limited pressure on it. I typically use cable ties and tie the growth to the cane very loosely. Persimmon grafts grow so fast because of the large root system, they will flop over. That first year, I use the cane and cable ties to train them vertical until the wood hardens. I like them to be able to move a few inches in any direction with the wind, but no so far as to have a negative impact on the graft.