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  • From: Joe Hecksel <jhecksel@voyager.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Grafting Black Walnuts
  • Date: Sat, 27 May 2006 16:18:54 -0400

Hello all:

This morning, I was grafting black walnuts. It feels pretty weird to lop off the top of an actively growing tree and graft to the stub.

I bought some scionwood from a fine gentleman in Missouri (some contend that all men in Missouri are fine gentlemen....but that is a different thread). It was all pretty stout stuff compared to what I usually collect in Michigan. I now know the origin of the description of a green-thumb: "Can graft a broomstick to a fence-post and have it grow". Wish me luck.

It is a little early to report success/failure but I remain filled with hope.

Nuts are considered tough to graft. They require relatively high temperatures to callus and heal. Corwin Davis (now deceased) recommended that the prospective grafter watch the weather and hold off until the weatherman predicted three *lows* of 60 degrees F in a row....or higher. Actually pretty smart. It usually means cloudy nights, i.e., high humidity. The daily highs are likely to be in the 80s.

The other gurus I consulted advised parafilm and to use brown paper lunch bags to provide the best environment for callusing and early growth. The bags, supposedly, lower the highs, raise the lows and reduce the drying effects of direct sun. On the advice of Roger Miller, I taped one of the sticks I pruned off to the base of the rootstock, parallel to the scion. Roger has had the wind beat the snot out of the emerging buds when the bag did not have any internal support.

The only reason I am going into this kind of detail is that some people find it difficult to graft "easy" species like apples and pears. I think they live in climates that are more hostile than Eaton Rapids, Michigan. Lower humidity translates into lower night-time temperatures. It may be that they need to wait for tree nights of +50F degree nights before grafting their apples and pears. Aids like brown paper lunch bags (internally supported with additional sticks) may be the difference between +70% success and 0% success.

One thing that I find inspirational about the fruit EXPLORERS is that we push the boundaries. We also share. I know that I would get much support if I were to move to Eastern Montana or Western North Dakota and wanted to grow fruit. The thing is that I know to ask for help. I believe that there are many stoic souls out there in NAFEX land who are bravely trying to graft and grow fruit trees in very hostile environments....and they do not know the deck is stacked against them. They think the failures they experience is due to their ineptitude. NOT! They are not inept. They just need a few more tricks in their tool-box.




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