Quick grafting question

[David]

Instead of collecting the scion wood and storing in fridge can I go into the field and simply collect it on the same day I am planning on grafting?

It's a native female persimmon that I know of grafted to we'll positioned root stock currently growing. The root stock is between 1-2 inches.

It would be my first attempt so failure isnt going to be too terrible. Just looking to get my feet wet.

 

[dogdoc]

Can that work-yes but expect a very high failure rate.
Here is the reason why. First off you want the scion dormant and the mother tree actively growing (leafed out) with sap flowing up. If both the scion and the mother tree are dormant then the scion has to sit on the mother tree until it comes out of dormancy before any "union" will occur. Most of the time the scion ends up dying before this takes place. When the scion is harvested in dormancy and placed in the fridge all the energy remains stored in the scion and then when grafted to an actively growing mother tree the energy stored in the scion keeps the scion alive until until a graft union can form with the mother tree.
If you collect an actively growing scion and graft it immediately to an actively growing mother tree majority of the time the scion will run out of nutrients/energy before it has time to form an union.

set yourself up for success. I have grafted hundreds of persimmon trees in the field, It fun, it's easy, and very gratifying.

good luck
todd

 

[David]

Perfect. Thanks.