North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Thomas Olenio" <tolenio@sentex.net>]

Hello,

===
Cleft-Grafting
West Virginia Universtiy - Extension service

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/treeshru/clftgrft.htm
===

You can replace the cleft grafting tool with;

        machette

        axe

        strong knife

        wide wood chisel

        wood splitter's maul

        sharpened piece of steel

My first graft was a cleft graft and was accomplised with a sharp axe that  
I gently split the parent tree with, tapping the axe gently with a hammer.

Use wax or yak butter or similar (tar if desperate) to seal off the air.

Coat the scion with wax too.  Moisture loss from the scion is the primary  
cause for graft failure.  The only moisture the scion has, until the graft  
union heals, is the water it retains inside it.  Sealing the scion traps  
that moisture inside the scion.  Also keeps bugs and disease out.

Buds on the scion will easily push through the wax.

Later,
Tom


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