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Bud-grafting Revisited

In Memory of Gilbert Becker

R.D. Goldner M.D,

 

Spring Meeting - 2000

Michigan Nut Growlers Association

East Lansing, Michigan

MICHIGAN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION

 

-ORGANIZED IN 1952 -

A Chapter of the Northern Nut Growers Association, Inc.

FOR THE PROMOTION OF INTEREST IN NUT BEARING TREES. THEIR PRODUCTS

AND THEIR CULTURE

 

 

A SIMPLE EASY METHOD TO GRAFT WALNUTS

WITH 95% TO 100% SUCCESS

- SPECIAL EDITION -

MNGA Newsletter        March 1966

MICHIGAN NUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION, Lee Somers, Secretary,

Rl. 1, Green Haven Farm, Perrinton, Michigan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             Re Formatted & Computerized by:  Gordon C. Nofs

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BUD-GRAFTING MADE EASY

AN EXPLANATION WHY NUT GROWERS

"CHANCED" TO GRAFT LATE

Here is a quotation made by Mr. C. A. Reed, USDA, July, 1926, In reference to

Chip-budding, which to done EARLY, when the bark will NOT yet slip, which may be 2 weeks before the buds even start to burst, and such work can be continued to the time the stock buds are bursting into leaf. "Theoretically its field of usefulness should be very large. Actually It has been much limited, and Its extensive use In the future now appears Improbable, not because of any defect In the system but because other methods have chanced to receive more attention at the hands of

Propagators and are therefore better understood."

   In this same article Mr. Reed also tells us, "Early budding in this way provides a long season for growth, and vigorously growing trees so budded usually become of transplanting size by the end of the season."

 

BY ALL MEANS EXPERIMENT!

Those who haven't are in a rut! - They have followed a leader thoughtlessly.

Because of this blind following the whole northern nut growers are in a rut! - They graft LATE, with very variable successes, calling It Luck," all because they have failed to question "WHY?" 95% to 100% success comes by EARLY grafting!

BUD GRAFTING is an early method for high success. Investigate the reasons

For EARLY bud-grafting: - Learn why bleeding is no problem: learn how butter-nut and Japanese walnut stocks-graft readily early; learn how saleable nursery trees can be produced the same season by early bud-grafting. Find out how much you have lost by grafting LATE!

 

ISN'T IT TIME WE FORGET "CHANCE" AND HAVE A THORO

ARTICLE ON EARLY SPRING NUT TREE PROPAGATION? -

SOMETHING THAT IS UP TO DATE!

 

95% TO 100% SUCCESS BUD-GRAFTING WALNUTS

REPORTED OVER 50 YEARS AGO!

 

(NNGA Annual Report, 1913, pages 66 to 68) Mr. J. B. Wiggins, of South Carolina, tells EXACTLY what I am "preaching" today! - become an EARLY grafting advocate.

He said, "What you call 'Chip-budding,' I call 'Bud-Grafting.' I get 95% of chip buds to take in the spring. Remember, not to cut your bud too thin. Go right Into It. If you do it right it will hurt your finger . . . It won't dry out so quickly if you cut it thick (heavy), and it will stand a better chance to live."

"I can get 100% to grow by chip-budding and in no other way."

 

POLYETHYLENE A GOD-SEND TO THE NUT TREE

PROPAGATOR!

 

Grafts wrapped early, much before the regular grafting season, are kept fresh upon the tree under a polyethylene covering and will start into growth just as soon as growing conditions become right. Widely separated areas without

 

 

 

 

 

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cambium con-tact (Note) become connected with callus tissue under polyethylene - and start to grow!

 Trees seriously gnawed by rabbits or by meadow mice (or by accident), and could otherwise only be saved by bridge grafting, when simply wrapped up with a covering of polyethylene often survive.

                          

 

 

 

It is important to recognize bud-graft death so the under stock can be reshaped for next year's efforts. Deliberately select two or three buds to avoid numerous small twigs, none suitable for budding.

I estimate 20% take with variation from 0-90% this season. What happened? Most of my scions were cut within two days after a -5 F sudden December cold snap, a real no-no from our ancient annual reports. Waxed scions were kept in a large plastic bag in the refrigerator with newspaper that was entirely too wet. Smaller diameter

Scions were less viable than the larger.

I placed a date and identifying tag on the first under stock and worked consistently to the north. If I had only two takes, they would tend to be at the start of the row indicating that the more viable buds were at the base of the scion. A "Y" crotch with a take on each was not rare. The shoots criss-crossed and resisted blowout; one could be used later for scions, the other for the grafted tree. A string of takes, 6 in a row, indicated that the condition of the scion wood and timing were right. I have 3 takes out of 15 tries on the Johnson butternut, a

Cultivars that have resisted grafting for many years. Todd black performed far better than average. Both were provided by Dr.L. H.MacDaniels; a ~ inch scion of Scringer black from Ernie Grimo provided all the takes I had. My own smaller scions from last year's bud-graft failed; butternut provided by C. F. Beckwith was excellent.

A Chamberlin scion from Fred Ashworth's tree did well. None of these scions had been initially waxed. Knowing when to cut scion wood and how to take care of it is without question most important.

My bud-plates tended to be thinner at the top and many times I noted that healing did not occur there, but further below. Thicker wood at the top of a bud-plate is obtained by a cut from above downward lo meet a similar cut from below, and this is just what Gilbert Becker recommended. Scions used up to the terminal bud required variable plates. You must .try several methods before you can come to any conclusions. I have not obtained the 95% take that Gilbert did, but I told you he was a tough act to follow. In my opinion, this technique is well suited for northern areas where a short season requires good growth for winter hardiness. If it works in the South, prepare for 6-8 ft. scion growth.

Bud-graft preparation permits a moderate amount of sloppiness that would be heresy for a true grafter. Gaps of 1/4 inch will fill in beneath the plastic as long as it is intact, but this is undesirable at the top of the plate. I use a knife with replaceable blades, which may be an even greater heresy among you.

I want to list a series of trees that I have bud-grafted in increasing order of difficulty: apple, pear, mulberry, plum, honey locust, persimmon, black walnut, heartnut, butternut, chestnut, shagbark hickory. Rapidly grown scions in good condition could alter this sequence considerably. It is possible to buy l 1/2 to 2 ft. nursery under stocks of apple, mulberry and honey locust, plant them in the early spring, and bud-graft them a month later. Leaves are out, but sap flow is not such an issue. Scion growth will be shorter, but adequate.

 

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Honey locust is mentioned because Fred Ashworth found one with edible pulp, now in care of Bill McKentley.

The condition of the scions and of the under stock, the timing of the procedure, and the variability of the weather, makes bud grafting one of the most fascinating means of woody plant propagation for the amateur and semi-pro, if not professionals themselves.

How can this method work with maximal diurnal temperatures of 50-60 F if 82 F is required to activate walnut cambium? Radiant heat with plastic enclosure produces a "greenhouse or hot-car" effect, thus we get the necessary heat early in the season this way.

We have assumed that bud-grafting with dormant scion wood stopped with the sap-flow as noted previously, but if we have evidence early in the season that the scion wood is good and appears to remain sound, June budding is worth a try even on under stocks that already have lost their plates. With use of the H-type cut on the under stock and removal of the central portion for exposure of the plate buds, the plate is prepared as illustrated by Shreve (1975), although a somewhat longer, tapered cut may be placed on each end of the bud-plate. After insertion under the flaps, the tie is completed with the same plastic wrap used in spring budding, covering cuts with the plastic and leaving the waxed bud exposed, an advantage of the waxing process. I had only one take with a Booth butternut applied 7/4/78, but it might be far more successful in June if you can keep your bud-wood viable. This method will result in smaller growth, but possibly still larger than greenwood budding. Gilbert urged us to experiment, and it is truly a joy to find that every action is a new exploration.

 

 

Literature Cited

BECKER, GILBERT.  March 1966.  A Simple, Easy Method to Graft Walnuts with

95% to 100% Success. MNGA Newsletter. Special Edition.

BECKER, GILBERT.  May 1966.  A Simple, Easy Method lo Graft Walnuts With 95%

to 100% Success. MNGA Newsletter. Special Edition.

SHBEVE, LOY W.  1975. Black Walnut Propagation Techniques Used in the Tree

Improvement Program at Kansas State University, 66th Ann. Report NNGA p. 152.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CHIP BUDDING BLACK WALNUT SUCCESSFULLY

Archie Sparks

We plant black walnut seeds two inches' deep with or without hulls four inches apart in rows thirty. Inches apart. A two-inch mulch is then applied.   This mulch is either  ‘turkey brooder house litter, wood chips or walnut hulls.

In the spring if weeds are a problem, we spray with Roundup before the walnut seedlings emerge.  The seedlings are cared for by ordinary garden practice. A very high percentage grows to thirty inches in height with a caliper of. three-eighths to one-half inch.  These seedlings are then ready for budding the following year.

Here in central Iowa we cut scions in mid to late March before the buds begin to swell.  We prefer to store scions no longer-than necessary. Vigorously growing wood of last year's growth three-eighths to one-half inch diameter is preferred, At the start of the growing season: soon after bud break, we start chip budding- Stocks must be in a vigorous growing condition.  If the spring has been dry adequate watering should have been done to assure vigorous growth. Buds are applied two to three inches above ground.                                

Start the cut. On the stock from the top, cutting through the cambium, but removing little, or no wood. The chips should be about, one and one-quarter- inches long. At the bottom cut-in a downward diagonal: and remove the chip.  Take the scion and starting one-half inch above, the bud and cut a matching chip. This chip should be a near duplicate- of the chip removed from the stock. The length, of this chip will vary with the chip buds method. In illustration: number- two the lower part of the: chip extends under the bark at the lower end. In illustration number three an additional, flap is, cut in the-upper end of the stock, and the chip is slipped under this flap also. 

Starting below the bottom of the chip using one-half inch masking tape, wrap diagonally just missing the bud and continue to above the top cut repeat this operation wrapping in the opposite direction. If any cut portions are missed cover, with a small piece-of tape. The tape wrapping, should be done firmly.

Next, using waxed string starting below the cut area, making at least three turns below the bud, and cross, over behind the bud, and make at least three turns above the bud, then continuing this operation back to the starting point. Wrap tightly. Do not cut stocks back at this time.                     

Cut the' stocks off about twelve inches above the buds ten days to two weeks after budding.   The: purpose of this stub is to tie the new growth to a vertical position. Later in the season a stake may be required.

When a good portion of the buds have grown to about two inches make a vertical, cut on the stock opposite the bud to cut through the string and the masking tape.

Every few days, it will be necessary to rub off growing buds from the stocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mainly Detroit housewives rated the varieties in order of first to fifth choice. Point summations indicate that the varieties may be grouped in three general classes as follows:

Highest ratings-Fickes, I E 15, Metcaife, N Ci, Greenhaven and Gratiot.

Medium ratings-McDermid, Lake, IvicKinster, Somers, Colby, Merkel and N.H- K #1. Lowest ratings- Hansen, Broadview, I E 15 and Neyer No. 4.

The reasons for placement were not requested from the panel judges.

It appears however, that fairly large size shells and light colored kernels were favored. Unfortunately it was not possible to repeat the preference test with another group of judges.

Conclusions drawn from evaluation tests increase in validity with large numbers of samples from various localities and over long periods of time. It is suggested that these tests be continued, not only in Michigan, but also in other areas where Carpathian walnuts are grown. Superior clones may then be selected for each section, which may be expected to produce desirable type walnuts more effectively.

Literature Cited

1.  Fischer, W. N„ F. L. S. O'Rourke and R. R. Dedolph. 1961. Mich. Aerie. Expt.

Sta.  Qliar.  Bul.  44:245-247.

2.  O'Rourke, F. L. S. 1961. The Michigan 1960 Carpathian Nut Evaluation. Ann.

Rpt. Nor. Nut Gnvs. Ass'n. 52:60-61.

3.  O'Rourke, F. L. S., R. R. Dedolph and  H. E.  Larzelere.  1963. Walnut  Kernel

Characteristics as Inferential Indices in Variety Discrimination.  Proc. Amer.

Soc. Hort. Sci. 83:370-373.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NNGA 1964

Further Experiments Bud-Grafting Walnut Trees

GILBERT BECKER, Climax, Michigan

I am interested in the propagation of nut trees, not as a nut tree nurseryman, but more as a research interest than for any other reason. I have a small planting of seedling black walnuts about seven to nine years old in rows, where I conduct many hundreds of experiments each year. I will freely admit many ideas have been "fool notions"! After some successes and many failures, these trees are again cut low, so they may grow back enough for further attempts bud grafting. I wish to say I feel I know how to graft walnuts quite successfully and have written much on the subject, but the idea of budding walnuts early in the summer is really a challenge, thus why my attention has recently been so directed. You will notice I call my method "bud-grafting". I distinguish bud grafting from regular budding because in my method wood is taken with the buds for this reason it is more like grafting.

When you read the back NNGA Reports you will find many conflicting and confusing articles written on budding nut trees, done early and during the early summer months. Those that say to bud walnuts from about July 15th to August 15, or even early in September, perhaps centering around August 1st, I do not question because they are correct. As a research project I am especially interested in early budding. As many now know, nut trees can be budded with a portion or full green leaf attached. (Mr. Virgin Drake, County

 

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Line Nursery Hartford, Michigan, has improved somewhat on this method and now propagates many of his nut trees by this procedure.)

The following are conclusions drawn from my most recent experiments with bud grafting:

1) Bud-graft early (May 1st to about May 20th in Michigan). This method is similar to "Chip-budding", where the stock is cut into, exposing the sapwood. (Failure-and it is total failure-commences as soon as the leaves of the stock are about i/2 grown.)

2) Bud-grafting is especially valuable to the nut tree nurseryman because it works best upon one-year-old growth. Stocks as small as a lead pencil up to 11/9 inches in diameter work very well. Trees that have failed to take from previous attempts may have the resulting one year-old growth readily bud-grafted the next spring.

3) Young seedlings of walnut and chestnut (probably hickories and pecans, too) can be topped a week or more in advance, and easily bud grafted very early in the season. The season starts before the bark slips in late April and continues to the time the stock buds are bursting, just before they become flabby. It is apparently best to remove the tops from the stocks to be grafted a week or more before placing any buds. Leave one or two buds on the stock, immediately above the location of the split-scion bud-graft. All other buds are removed below the set bud. As soon as the bud-graft shows signs of swelling or bursting, all near buds are removed except one bud above the swelling bud, which is allowed to grow some. As soon as the favored bud has grown three or four leaves, all else can be removed, and a long growing season is assured the new graft. This method gave good success with black walnut and chestnut stocks.

4) With older stocks bud-grafts should be placed in stocks without heading back. Walnuts respond well. Buds can be placed from late April, before the bark slips, without any kind of preparation. Fully dormant scion wood is recommended. Japanese walnut and butternut stocks work best done early. As soon as the set bud starts to swell, the top can be cut back to one-half to two-thirds, even to 6 or 8 inches above the set bud, much depending upon the size of the stock tree, but be sure always to leave some leaves above the favored bud. In ten days or as soon as the new bud has grown at least three or four leaves, the top can be removed entirely. In working seedlings, breaking over the top to force growth and stripping their leaves off was not as effective as gradual top removal. Do this carefully not too fast or death is sure to follow. Remember a graft is not safe until it has grown at least three to four leaves.

5) The second period of success by this method again occurs around August 1st to 15th, when new wood of the season can be used. This is at the time the top is preparing for winter and should be done early enough to get good callusing.

6) "Split-scions" are not actual halves, as might be imagined by their name. They are all shapes and sizes, just as long as they are longer than wide and contain wood attached below the bud. Some may prefer to call them plate buds, but the method of inserting is much different than a plate bud. They are often shaped from the backside of the bud by cutting a deep and long slope, or no slope at all, behind the bud selected. The cut may be to, and parallel with the pith or deeper than the pith. The desired length is usually about 1 1/2 inches long with the bud midway.  Many times the wood is cut on a long slant, as shaping a slip bark scion, then cutting off so the lower bud is all that is left, which is inserted into a "T" opening in a stock. The majority is made from the side of the bud by pressing the grafting knife well into the wood about % inch below and above the selected bud. A long shallow slice is then made; starting about one-half inch above the upper mark so the cut between the two cross cuts will be nearly the same depth for its entire length. When the knife touches the lower cut the bud will fall free, ready for insertion.

 

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These shallow cut split-scions fit nicely into the "barn-door" type of bud opening. Thin, angular, ridged, slender bud pieces can be successfully bud-grafted to very small stocks. It works with Chinese chestnut which is so often claimed to be hard to bud and graft by other means.

7) Always use good dormant scion wood. The best scion wood is cut in late fall or early winter, long before we have zero weather. This is especially true when saving English walnut wood. Mr. Harrington, in describing his Harrington scion box, in 1930, twice cautioned everyone to save their wood the last week in November, and store under ground in the type of scion box he had used successfully for many years. I find cutting wood in late November or 'the first week in December, and burying them over winter in a pile of maple leaves, a simple and excellent method. A piece of tin, better yet, a hood from an old car laid over the pile will keep out excess moisture. However, many buds placed last spring were cut directly from the parent tree and placed upon the stock tree. This can be done freely until parent tree buds swell and become flabby.

8) Buds set on an arching branch, on the upper side, often take easily.

9) Buds seem to take well by this method however placed, without due regard to the cambium being in contact. By taking wood with the bud there seems to be enough nourishment to sustain the bud for sometime. It is wrapped under a polyethylene strip, which encourages callous formation and protects it from drying out. Most buds are soon engulfed in callous work, and are quite sure to take, especially when placed early.

10) Rubber budding strips are used frequently, merely to position and hold the bud-graft in place, and then a narrow strip of polyethylene is wrapped over all leaving only the bud exposed.  In wrapping, I often allow for drainage. The very early placed buds did not have any knife mark for drainage and took well. This can be a knife mark through the bark below a bud-graft, so sap can escape if it collects. Such a mark can extend below the lower swapping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Summer Budding of Carpathian Walnut

VERGIL DRAKE, Hartford, Michigan

The "split-scion" method of budding differs from the ordinary patch bud method in that quite a bit of wood is allowed to remain beneath the bud. The bark, however, is removed from the stock in the same manner as for patch budding. The "split-scion" bud method allows the leaf to be attached until union is complete.

The "split-scion" may be inserted at any time between June 15 and August 15. The bark of the stock should be turning from green to brown and the bud should be at least one-half grown.

The bark must slip well before the bud is inserted. Unless there have been frequent rains it is necessary to irrigate the stocks three weeks or more before budding and again just after budding to assure good growth and callusing. Hot weather at this time encourages callusing.

The bud is placed on the west side so that the shoot will grow into the prevailing wind. Here in the Michigan Snow Belt we bud one to two feet above ground so that the new shoot will not be damaged by snow slides the following winter.

The bud is placed on the cut patch of the under stock and held by as small piece of bark of the stock at both upper and lower ends. It is then wrapped securely to the stock by wide rubber budding strips.

Next spiral wrap both bud and leaf with two-inch strips of polyethylene plastic from well below the bud to beyond the end of the leaf.

Tie at top with a rubber budding strip and shade from the direct rays of the sun.

About two weeks after the bud is set cut a spiral girdle in the bark of the stock three inches above the bud. This encourages the bud into growth. Any bud that starts during the summer and grows into a shoot one inch or more in length will break out into new growth the following spring.

When shoots are six inches long, cut back the stocks to one or two branches and tie the shoots to the stem of the stock with cloth strips in order to secure upright growth. The stocks can be cut back to the bud-shoots the following spring and the trees transplanted to their permanent location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Successful Bud-Grafting

RICHARD D. GOLDNER, M.D., Birch Run, Michigan

The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it - so fine that we often are on the line and do not know it.

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

NNGA 1978

Few comedians care to perform after George Burns. Gilbert Becker is a hard act to follow. He published the basics of "bud-grafting" in special 1966 editions of the Michigan Nut Growers Association Newsletter and recommended this method for especially hard to graft woody plants with emphasis on 95% or better takes on nut trees. Salable trees could be produced in one growing season when all the plant energies were diverted into a single bud. He emphasized that heartnut, butternut, black and Persian walnut, or any hard to graft plant, might respond to this method which could also be used for top working by stubbing limbs late in spring and bud-graft sprouts the next spring.

My primary qualifications for speaking to you are that all my ancestors came from the southern Rhine Valley, and I made a lot of mistakes since I read Gilbert's articles.

To keep dormant scion wood is an art in itself and subject to individual opinions. For optimal diameters, I would suggest that you look at your fingers, but we seldom get this size of new growth.

Diameters down to 1/8 inch and even less might be used, but are harder to keep viable. Persian walnut wood is most subject to winter damage and should be cut before the deep freezing temperatures of December.

I prefer to wax the entire cool scion with a 50-50 mix of Parowax and beeswax melted in a tin can in a boiling water bath and painted rapidly to give thin, uniform coverage after quickly dipping each end of the scion into the mix. Thereafter, scions are kept in plastic bags with some moist agent in a refrigerator at approximately 34 F.

Be just as careful with scions in the field as you have been all winter.

You may cook a bunch of them on a hot day in a plastic bag in a few hours.

Chip budding is begun here around mid-April when the under stock buds begin to swell, the most reliable indicator for all areas.

When forsythia and amelanchier bloom, you are well along in the season. When crabs and redbud bloom, and the mosquitoes start to bite, you are at the end of the budding period that lasts about one month.

This year was particularly favorable with a cool spring and gradually rising temperatures without excessive rain. When buds are placed because of premature heating trends that push the under-stocks too rapidly, subsequent cold snaps will bring losses. I suggest that the first budding be done with heartnut and butternut as they are more hardy, break buds earlier, and will lake lower night temperature variations better than the Persian walnuts. A somewhat thicker bud plate early in the season with extra heavy wrapping may afford protection from more severe weather variations. Waxing, likewise, protects exposed buds.

The ideal black walnut under stock is 4-5 ft. but could be from I to 8 ft. or more. I have had very little luck with I ft. one-year seedlings; you stand on your head lo place the bud and the under stock suckers from the base rapidly and requires close watching. A larger southern I-year under stock might do nicely. Scions are preferably somewhat smaller in diameter than the under

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stock. If the proportion gets to about % of the under stock, results can be hurt because the bud-plate is thinner and the depth of the cut into the under stock is shallow. This results in heavy cambial overgrowth, plus a likely failure of the bud-plate. This problem might be partially overcome by cutting the bud-plate with a boat-shape cross-section with placement into a corresponding trench cut into the under stock (it hasn't worked yet).

Almost every cut with bud grafting is made toward the grafter, yet with care, injuries may be few. Brace your thumb against the wood opposite the knife. Try to remove bud-plates consecutively from the base upward and cut off the used scion to avoid collapse of the scion with resultant bloodletting. Trimming the angled underside of the bud-plate a few hundred times eventually leaves the tip of the thumb tender.

I cut above the bud of the scion ½ to l inch, coming down near mid thickness of the scion so that the bud is at the deepest part of the plate, and then continue below the bud for approximately 1 inch. A second cut at the base of the plate angled 45° toward the bud releases the plate. The under stock is prepared by a cut from below upward to simulate the shape of-the bud-plate, but leaving it slightly wider and perhaps a bit shorter. The bud-plate width must be exceeded somewhat by the cut into the under stock. If the bud-plate end overlaps, e.g., at the top, a cut is made to exactly approximate the cambium of the bud-plate and under stock. Any overlap of the bud-plate on the under stock cut will result in failure.

The bud-plate is commonly placed 1/4 to 1/2 inch below a bud of the under stock, which Gilbert felt stimulated the take even if this under-stock bud was later rubbed off. He also emphasized that a more horizontal lateral branch favored the bud-take; this permits several bud-plates on a single under stock if you have more scions than under stock.

The polyethylene wrap is ½ inch in width, 12-16 inches in length, cut from a plastic bag of 3-mil thickness. Wrap in the bud-plate from below upwards: The Persian walnut plate has a tendency to widen at the level of the chief bud where it may protrude. This can be trimmed and include just a bit of the under stock so that we have exposure of mutual cambium just before the plastic seal. At the level of the bud, it is important to use the 180-360° turn on the plastic in order to make a vapor-tight seal, yet expose the buds. Also remove any under stock buds that might be wrapped under the plastic and avoid wrapping in the under stock bud just above your bud-plate. Pull the end of the plastic strip through a loop to seal the operation. Take care if you have heavier thickness or glossy polyethylene or are operating in low temperatures. Do not leave a long piece of plastic dangling in the wind to vibrate the wrap loose. Use a bit of masking tape to overlap the tie if necessary.

The bud-plate is commonly placed W-SW against prevailing wind with exposure to the sun. Later in the season the plate might be placed more to the north to prevent excessively rapid bud-break before cambial junction. Once the bud-graft is growing, suppression of the under stock is handled similar to a standard graft; scrape the buds off with the back of the shears.

If a bud appears to be doing little after a month, the wrap may be slit off and direct inspection made. A wet plate may fall off spontaneously or with minimal lateral pressure by the thumb. If the plate is green, especially when nicked by the shears, rewrap the plate and leave as many potential buds as possible exposed, as the vapor-tight seal is no longer necessary. This can be especially true if a portion of the bud plate includes second-year wood, which contains numerous buds and was particularly favored by Gilbert for an optimal chance.

If a shoot is growing strongly with the plastic wrap off, the final cut may be made across the bud-plate flush to the shoot If healing has been imperfect, the plate may be torn out by the shearing action, but this can be avoided, in part, by placing the cutting edge of the shears across the bud plate before the pressure is applied.

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Near the end of the time for this budding procedure before sap flow has begun, but before heavy rain, several methods may be worth a try. Extend a 1-2 inch long, vertical cut through the bark just below the bud patch and you have sap-flow source that I have seen work. Partial removal of under stock limbs may help. A 1/2-inch triangular piece of bark removed below the bud patch and not completely overlapped by the plastic wrap would also give a drainage spot. A slanting cut or two on the trunk of the stock my help, but beware of crown gall. Defoliation of advanced buds above the graft might be worth a try. "Flabby" under stock buds were Gilbert's stop.

While bud-grafting on sandy loam, great care most be used to keep the blade from contamination with the earth or crown gall might be an integral part of a "successful take. I slip my knife into the upper part of my boot while wrapping bud grafts. Alcohol wipes in aluminum foil may be carried to cleanse the knife to prevent transmission of this and other diseases, such as bunch disease.

Gilbert relied on a swelling of the cambium at the top of the bud graft to indicate the start of a take (Figure 1). I have found it easier to watch the buds as they swell and become green. Before the bud fully breaks, 1/2 the top of the stock from the bud-plate may be removed and the buds stripped from the stock down to the bud-plate.

If progress continues, 50% of the remainder of top-top may be cut. When good three-leaflet formation has developed at the bud plate the stock may be cut just above the level of the plastic wrapper (Figure 2). The longer a shoot grows before the plastic is slit, the greater the hazard with wind. It is suggested that the slit be made when the shoot grows approx. 3 inches long. The plate may be healed on only one side and if not rewrapped at the bottom and top, will open widely and fill with cambial tissue. This may leave the graft susceptible to winterkill, especially if it is Persian walnut.

This July provided more high winds than rain and the result was at least 20 bud-grafts blown out. If the wind comes from behind the graft the entire plate is often torn out. Usually the bud-plate remains and in the earlier part of the month there is at least a 20% chance that a bud might regenerate; continued suppression of under stock buds for a couple of weeks is worth a try. If a blowout is found fresh enough, its basal buds, without leaves, may be bud-grafted.

Insects cannot be ignored. A round to oval 3-4mm black or mottled black and brown beetle loves early growth of butternut and black walnut and is able to chew a bud out. Johnson's aerosol Raid driven into the wax cover provides some residual protection to buds and small leaves. The roving tent caterpillar climbs to the developing bud-graft and deserves similar treatment. Many luminous green beetles riddle unprotected leaves until their reproductive cycle is completed. The walnut caterpillar can defoliate large bud-grafts that have completed growth in August. Raid does them in nicely. For the first time this season I found two bud-plates with white worms, one filamentous and lively about 3/4 inch long, another about 1/2 inch, fat and sluggish. One had entered the plate by boring a neat, round hole through the plastic wrapper which points up another reason to inspect the wrapped plate that appears troubled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Page 12

BUD-GRAFTING MADE EASY

WHY GRAFT WALNUTS EARLY?

 

1. FOR GREATEST SUCCESS. (Most species of deciduous trees and shrubs bud or graft BEST when their stock buds are swelling, before they become flabby.

2. TO ESCAPE THE UNDULY HEAVY MID-SEASON SAP FLOW. (The bud graft heals in before this unruly sap flow commences, which occurs in the walnut species at the time stock buds are bursting well to the time little leaves are unrolling, about May 10th to May 15th In southwestern Michigan.)

3. FOR A LONGER SEASON OF GROWTH FOR THE NEW GRAFT. (Nursery seedlings bud-grafted early are often of saleable size by the end of the season')

4. THE NUT TREE PROPAGATOR CAN EXTEND HIS SPRING GRAFTING OVER A MUCH LONGER PERIOD-from April 15th to about June 1st In Michigan.

5. NURSERYMEN DOING MUCH GRAFTING CAN START EARLIER AND BETTER KEEP THEIR HELP MORE EVENLY EMPLOYED, thus lessening the load during the summer months when much budding is performed.

6. BUD-GRAFTING INJURES THE TREE VERY LITTLE, and If some failures should occur, they could be stubbed and grafted a few weeks later during the LATE grafting period; thus a "double chance" the same spring!

 

 

 

HOW TO CUT AND PLACE THE BUD-GRAFT

Mark the length of the bud-graft about one-inch below the selected bud on the bud-stick, cutting with a knife a square or a slanting incision, as preferred. Then make the in-cut on a slope about one-inch above the bud well into the wood, thence down and parallel under the bud. Joining the lower cut. Prepare the stock similarly and set the bud into this opening. Wrap up with a strong strip of polyethylene, leaving the main bud exposed. That's all there is to it! Remember, as long as the hole you set your prepared bud into appears larger to the eye than the bud piece you have done it O.K.! Under polyethylene widely disconnected areas are soon enveloped with callus tissue - and the bad commences to swell and grow!

AS YOU BECOME ADEPT CUTTING BUD-GRAFTS YOU MAY WISH TO

IMPROVE UPON THE SYSTEM} (That Is, cut-in BOTH ways, thus making

A heavy plate bud graft)

 

 

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