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  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] grafting success
  • Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:24:39 -0400


On Apr 28, 2009, at 7:23 PM, Alan Haigh wrote:

I was at a site today where I'm converting huge seedling apple trees into something more desirable by grafting them over. What I notice here and when I think about it is the case at other sites is that my success rates are near 100% when I do the grafting just before bud- break. Not just more takes but much more growth.

Micheal Phillips mentioned much better results from very early grafting in a post recently confirming something I already had observed. I am a careless grafter who doesn't disinfect anything and I do all my cuts with a pruning shear at a rate of a graft per 5 minutes. None of this matters nearly as much as getting the grafting done early as far as I can see.

This is in zone 5 to 6 in southeastern NY so it may be only pertainable to relatively short growing seasons but I think it's interesting that I've never heard of this as being an important factor in grafting. Am I making too much of limited evidence?
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The guy who taught me to graft (in eastern MA, zone 6) talked a fair amount about the best time of year to do it. He recommended field grafting apples when the buds on the stock have swollen but before they show green, I think. He talked about weather and temperature all sorts of things, and the take-away I got was that Patriot's Day (a local holiday in early April) was generally a good time to graft apples. This is consistent with your experience.

Ginda




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