North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[tanis cuff <tanistanis@hotmail.com>]

Four words: rubber electrician's splicing tape.
It will change your life.  If you know to give a pre-stretch before doing the 
wrap, it is the best.  I've tried parafilm, but parafilm is harder to find in 
small amounts for the hobbiest, and parafilm also does not stretch & bind as 
well as the rubber tape.

Rubber tape does not need to be split nor removed later.  It is WAY easier to 
use than any of the flowable coatings.  The only disadvantage-- it would be 
awkward for grafts of stock & scion of greatly different diameters.  Also, it 
barely works in damp conditions, but I for one take along paper & pencil for 
notes, and I prefer dry conditions for that too.


> From: Lucky.PIttman
> To: nafex
> Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 07:22:28 -0600
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] grafting wax
>
> One word. Parafilm.
> No muss, no fuss, no need for coating your hands with
> oil(what would that do to impede callusing?), no need
> for any sort of heater or messy brush.
> I've not used Doc Farwells, and while it's probably
> not a significant concern for anyone grafting fruit
> trees, I have a friend who's a propagator for a large
> west-coast nursery that turns out thousands of
> Japanese maple graftlings every year, and she told me
> they used Doc Farwell's ONCE and would never, ever do
> that again - you could still see that god-awful
> yellow splotch at the graft union 5 or 6 years later.
> Not aesthetically pleasing.
>
> Fresh, steaming-hot cow manure was used with great
> success, 'back in the day'. I still mean to give it
> a try.
>
> Lucky
>
>
>
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