Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] wax temperature

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] wax temperature
  • Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 08:17:40 -0800

Title: Re: [NAFEX] wax temperature
   Can someone explain what, if any, advantage there is to using wax grafting compounds that have to be heated?  I've been using Doc Farwell's latex compound for many years and for me it's so much better than anything else, I can't see the point of having to heat wax.  It goes on cold (though the temperature outdoors should be above 40), it dries to a waterproof coating that is highly visible, never cracks, and stretches with the graft so you never have to break it off or renew it.  It needs a half hour of drying time before it can take hard rain, but that's about all.  I can go out and find grafts that are ten years old that still have some of the material on them.  
   A jar of it lasts forever as long as you keep it where it won't freeze and make sure the lid is tight so it doesn't dry out.  And it's a good idea to clean the lip of the jar when you are done each time, so it doesn't glue itself shut.  
   I repeat, what is there about wax that makes all the work of heating it worth the fuss?  I'd really like to know.  
-Lon Rombough

I do 99% of my grafting on-site.  I'd have to string together ten or twelve 100 ft extension cords to get a heated wax pot to my nursery beds or the trees at the far side of the orchard or on the other side of the pond, not to mention the CRP bufferstrip where most of the nut trees are - it's only 100 ft wide, but close to a mile long.  Parafilm is the only viable choice for me, though the Doc Farwell's grafting sealant others use would probably be serviceable.




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page