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[Louis Pittman <lpittman@murraystate.edu>]

Sherwin,
Parafilm M is used in laboratory applications to diminish moisture loss; it
does have some gas permeability...however, I'm unaware of it ever being
used in a medical setting as a wound dressing...and I am a scientist and
medical professional(BS in Microbiology, DVM, residency in Pathology).

Are there other grafting tapes that work as well? Perhaps.
In my experience, as others have attested, apples & pears probably require
little, but wrapping the union and scion, in its entirety, is a great boon
for slow-callusing species like pecan, persimmon, oak, etc., which,
additionally, are often grafted later in the season, when temperatures and
sunlight levels are more likely to cause desiccation of the scion.
Parafilm is certainly less troublesome than having to maintain a pot of
melted grafting wax, particularly when grafting in the field, and less
messy than a wax toilet ring.
Buds will push right through well-stretched Parafilm M (it stretches to
200% of its original length), and there's no need to cut or remove anything
later in the season.

But...again, Parafilm M has virtually NO structural strength...graft unions
must be bound/supported with something...be it masking tape,  rubber bands,
electrical tape or other grafting/budding tape...some of which may require
cutting or removal to prevent subsequent girdling.

My minimal experience with the Parafilm Grafting Tape product was that it
did not stretch as thinly, nor did it self-adhere, as does Parafilm M.  I
just did not like it, and saw no reason to switch away from what I'd
learned to use from the outset of my experience as a grafter.

Lucky Pittman



On Thu, Apr 23, 2020, 11:04 PM sherwin <sherwindu@att.net> wrote:

> On 4/22/2020 4:44 AM, Alan Haigh wrote:
> > As mentioned, the use of parafilm is to hold in moisture, I doubt it lets
> > any oxygen in.  I use electric tape to hold my splice grafts together and
> > then wrap my scion with the parafilm. Pears and apples don't really need
> it
> > and a dab of some kind of sealant at the tip is generally adequate.
> >
> > Vinyl electric tape can eventually girdle apple grafts but peach growth
> is
> > strong enough to force it to stretch. A longitudinal cut with a razor
> knife
> > after the tissue is merged and strong is sometimes needed, but if you
> > unwrap it when the bark isn't slipping you can usually get away with that
> > without peeling off any bark.  Alternatively, you can use rubber electric
> > tape which stretches much more than vinyl.
> >
> > Where the parafilm seems useful and even necessary is with stonefruit,
> > persimmon and paw paw grafts.
> >
> > I exclusively use splice grafts because they are the quickest and require
> > the least skill, especially if you use a double bladed Italian pruning
> > shear to cut the scion and annual shoot (or 2nd year) you are grafting
> > together. If you match diameters any idiot can do it without ever cutting
> > their fingers.  The trick is to make long diagonal cuts of scion and
> mother
> > wood as close to the same as you can. This creates a lot of matching
> > cambium.
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>     Alan,
>
>     There are many kinds of grafting tapes that can retain the moisture
> of a graft union.  People have been known to use masking tape and other
> such products that should moisture seal the graft. Parafilm will also
> breath as it does in its usage in the medical world where wounds do
> better with exposure to air.  Question is, does the Parafilm have any
> advantage over other grafting tapes because it allows air to reach the
> graft union?
>
>                    Sherwin
>
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