North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Stefan Brandle <sbrandle@css.tayloru.edu>]

On Aug 17, 2004, at 10:55 PM, Bob Hartman wrote:
. . .

> > > > * I let the buds dry out in transit. Don't think that's a problem. 
> > > > They went straight from cutting to my mouth, and were taken out
> > > > only when ready to be inserted.
> >    
> >
> > Why put them in your mouth?  I never cut the bud until I am ready to 
> > insert it.  From the time I cut it off the bud stick until it is in 
> > place is about 3 to 5 seconds.
>  
>
> I had the same question.  You mouth is full of bacteria, viruses, 
> mammalian growth factors, enzymes that break down plant material, and 
> who knows what else. I would try not to touch the cut surface with 
> either my fingers or my mouth if possible.  But I've never done bud 
> grafting, so maybe that's not an issue.

Good question. It seemed easier to prepare a bunch of buds at once. I read  or heard somewhere that commercial budders put a bunch of buds in their mouths and spit them out as necessary. So saliva, human viruses, etc. didn't count. There was a non-totally scientific report in Pomona a while back about how clean the grafts had to be. As I recall, this guy was answering a question about that from his niece (?) by doing an experiment. Although not exactly conclusive, he reported that the cleanliness wasn't such a big deal. 

However, it makes sense that you might as well have everything involved be as 
clean as possible. So I'll try again -- I know it's late -- and see whether I 
can keep everything properly clean. Wish me luck.  :-)

-- sb  In zone 5b wondering where I left my grafting knives. Last time, my 
knife showed up the day after I had given up hunting, purchased and received 
a new grafting knife! Are you sure these things are truly inanimate?