North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Dan Nave <nave1@comcast.net>]

I mentioned earlier that I had had 2 apricots  (Westcot and Hargrand) on K1 which both failed 
miserably.  Both were bud grafts from Cummins Nursery and the graft union was huge (2 to 3 times) 
compared to the diameters of the rootstock and scion.  The Westcot broke off at the graft and the 
Hargrand just died with the rootstock.  However, the K1 rootstock that had been on the Westcot 
continued to grow and sent up some shoots, so this spring I grafted some more apricot scions on to 
it.  I did a whip and tongue graft of Harogem and Harglow (which is what I had in the fridge, 
salvaged from two trees which were ringed by rabbits last winter) on two of the shoots, which were 
about 3/16" in diameter.  Both of these grafts took beautifully and grew well.  The graft area is 
barely swollen, not at all like the original bud grafts.

So, I am wondering if the original incompatibility is from the two varieties that were originally 
grafted on these rootstocks, or if the problem was due to the bud graft as compared to the whip and 
tongue graft.

Any thoughts?

Dan