lakngolf
Well-Known Member
Well I have jumped into the mix with my first ever effort at grafting. A few years back I grew some pear seedlings from seed, with high hopes. Unfortunately, as I have documented on the forum, the seedlings were not true to the Mother tree and produced only small ornamental pears. Not what I was looking for so some weeks back I gathered some scions from a neighbors pear tree, put them in the frig, and this week tried my hand at grafting. Needless to say, I do not have surgeon hands.
The first shock came when I realized that I had to cut these pear trees that were about to be full of blooms.
But cut them I did
I cut scion sections about 6-8 inches and whittled them to fit into the bark that I scored with a sharp box cutter. I had watched videos which included using a hammer to help with the scoring. The scions fit neatly into the bark slots and I quickly wrapped grafting tape around the trunks.
This is how they look now
For a few trees that are only couple years old I tried the Whip and Tongue method.
As I was finishing up I looked over, saw a small persimmon tree and thought "Why Not? I need to add some new knowledge to this subject, good or bad". So I cut the persimmon, scored the bark and inserted two pear scions to see what will happen.
Here's hoping. I soaked the grafts again this morning, and have rain in the forecast. Daytime temps are a little higher than normal but cool nights and mornings.
Questions:
1. The larger pear trees have LOTS of limbs below the graft, as you can see in this picture. How many do I need to prune?
2. One video showed paper bag over grafts. Necessary?
3.. How long should it take to see whether the grafts are working?
The first shock came when I realized that I had to cut these pear trees that were about to be full of blooms.
![41kICID.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F41kICID.jpg&hash=d909cf05e8f0a6e06d36ccfe07effd11)
But cut them I did
![NnKZpuu.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FNnKZpuu.jpg&hash=1b6182970c260d4f325bfcbe303f9db6)
I cut scion sections about 6-8 inches and whittled them to fit into the bark that I scored with a sharp box cutter. I had watched videos which included using a hammer to help with the scoring. The scions fit neatly into the bark slots and I quickly wrapped grafting tape around the trunks.
![jBpPI6n.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FjBpPI6n.jpg&hash=ff9b2ce0118ff761b618cfe275e80a81)
This is how they look now
![lM91XZk.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FlM91XZk.jpg&hash=0e09cbfe0ea5366c7a9b1d044c78a711)
![DTbQSEg.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FDTbQSEg.jpg&hash=91906f9efabdca23b7d18edb3ded4469)
For a few trees that are only couple years old I tried the Whip and Tongue method.
![JRHQ1Zf.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FJRHQ1Zf.jpg&hash=13ed6eabbaeeae305151418a0b81df4b)
As I was finishing up I looked over, saw a small persimmon tree and thought "Why Not? I need to add some new knowledge to this subject, good or bad". So I cut the persimmon, scored the bark and inserted two pear scions to see what will happen.
![DY7F3KQ.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FDY7F3KQ.jpg&hash=4cb0ce934200ccbd36ca866e7da56ec4)
Here's hoping. I soaked the grafts again this morning, and have rain in the forecast. Daytime temps are a little higher than normal but cool nights and mornings.
Questions:
1. The larger pear trees have LOTS of limbs below the graft, as you can see in this picture. How many do I need to prune?
![lM91XZk.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FlM91XZk.jpg&hash=0e09cbfe0ea5366c7a9b1d044c78a711)
2. One video showed paper bag over grafts. Necessary?
3.. How long should it take to see whether the grafts are working?