North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Louis Pittman <lpittman@murraystate.edu>]

Is it 'overkill' to wrap the entire scion with Parafilm,  as opposed to
just sealing the apical end?
I don't know,  but I have no intention of backing away from wrapping graft
union and scion, in its entirety, particularly for nut tree grafts.
It's quick to do...I feel better about longterm protection against scion
dessication, and buds push right through a couple layers of fully stretched
Parafilm.
Some pecan/hickory and walnut grafts I made on 6 March are just now
beginning to open buds, nearly 2 months later.  Would they have dried out
in the interim if not fully wrapped?

Again, maybe not at all necessary for apples/pears,  and I rarely do any
stonefruits - but I wouldn't attempt nuts, oaks, persimmons without it.

It's 'cheap insurance'...I can buy a 2"x250' roll of Parafilm M for less
than $20...enough to do at least 750-1000 typical pecan or pear grafts here.
And, it's not at all messy; strips of Parafilm in my grafting kit don't
spill or stick to stuff.

Lucky Pittman

On Sat, Apr 25, 2020, 8:27 PM sherwin <sherwindu@att.net> wrote:

> On 4/25/2020 7:40 PM, Idell Weydemeyer wrote:
> >
> >
> > Comparison of use or not of Parafilm or buddy tape.
> >
> > In Santa Rosa, rootstocks were grafted for a later plant sale for the
> > redwood California Rare fruit chapter.--probably over 50- maybe up to 80
> > plants. Not sure if the pots were 5 or 10 gallon ones.
> >
> >
> >
> > "In general looking at the prunus grafts from our March  8 event, a
> general
> > observation.
> >
> >
> >
> > The grafts that are looking great and doing quite well, seem to be all
> the
> > scions where the tips were covered with parafilm or buddy tape.
> >
> >
> >
> > The grafts that didn't take or are quite slow were from scions where the
> > tips were not covered with parafilm/ buddy tape."
> >
> >
> >
> > Idell Weydemeyer
> >
> >
> >
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>
>    Idell,
>
>     Not sure what you mean by the 'tips'.  If it is the end opposite to
> the graft end, I usually paint that end with wood sealer.  If there is
> no sealing of the outer tips, like with a sealant wood filler, the
> moisture will escape out that tip and dry out the scion.  Where I make
> use of tapes like Parafilm is around the graft union where the graft
> itself exposes a large part of the cambium to drying out.  I see no need
> to wrap the entire scion, since the bark around it should prevent drying
> out along it's length.  Wrapping the entire scion may not be as
> effective as just closing off the end with a sealant.
>
>                 Sherwin
>
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