North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Charles Paradise <machelp@attglobal.net>]

Mark:
Yes I have tried both techniques during the 1980's.
I was an early adopter of the "Laegerstedt hot callusing pipe", the 2nd 
technique you ask about,
which was designed for hazelnuts.

Especially the first technique makes plants sick by digging them out of the 
ground.
Knowledgeable grafters will tell you the first most important thing is to 
graft healthy plants.
A plant dug out of the ground is by definition an unhealthy plant, because 
you have just subjected
it to a crisis by pulling it out of the ground.

Both techniques work well some of the time.
The Laegerstedt technique can be applied to plants growing in place, but 
awkwardly.

Find a simpler way.
Charlie Paradise
zone 5 / Massachusetts

Mark Lee wrote:

> I was going through some old Pomona recently, and found an article that had
> an interesting grafting technique.  It said it works especially well with
> mulberries and apricots.  It uses a callusing box.  The freshly joined
> rootstock and scion are placed in a box with the temperature held beteen
> 80-85'F.  Humidity is kept high by placing the material in a plastic bag.
> flower buds are removed.  After leaf buds have forced, pot the tree, again
> sealed in a bag.  When growth is well underway, open the bag.  I guess mold
> is a probelm since it is recommended to treat the graft with captan or
> benlate.  I wonder if there is an organic alternative to these chemical
> treatments.
>
> Another article places heat only over the graft union.  Callusing occurs
> localy around the heat, while the rest of the plant stays dormant.  This
> techniques works well with hazelnuts.
>
> Has anyone tried either technique?  If so, with what trees?
>
> -Mark Lee, Seattle, zone 7B/8A