Please excuse my delay in joining the May 18 discussion of expectations of
grafting results ("Grafting Question" in archives). But I hadn't even
finished mine yet.
I did a few apple & pear. Cut own scion, and purchased some. My own was
harvested on the first day over 32F of a winter warm spell. I worried about
the purchased scion being harvested too late, or getting warm in shipping,
or otherwise breaking dormancy. All scion held well til grafting. Stored
in a little-used home refrig; the only fruit stored with it was cartons of
orange juice. (Re previous discussions on this topic, I understand ROTTING
fruits & vegetables can break dormancy of stored scionwood. Many home
refrigs contain rotting vegetation.)
Rootstocks are various 3/4 standards, planted early '03 or before.
Rain/irrigation has been generous. All pear and apple scion varieties
showed swollen buds w/in 2 weeks, but a few took 17 days to convince me.
The pears have grown so fast the tissue is pale and very tender. I didn't
expect any growth. Using the method I described in "grafting basics" (March
21 archives), I had trouble making clean cuts on the purchased scions, which
were very healthy, thick, and tough. I thought the faces of scion-- and the
rootstock cuts!-- would be too rough to have good cambial match, and that
the wood was too stout to pull together with the rubber electricians
splicing tape. But 90% of these grafts have grown. (FYI, most of these
grafts were technically "topwork" rather than grafts onto young rootstocks.)
Most of the purchased apple scion likewise was thicker than I like, but
mostly grafted onto young 'stocks. Thick scion has grown slower than thin,
but 100% have grown. Main concern is brown toasting of leaf edges on
faster-growing scions. I'm assuming scab, but haven't carefully studied.
I'll report on it later in summer; also will tell how many scions were
running on fumes.
Sometime ago there was discussion of how much time a graft procedure
requires. I managed 12 per hour for thin scions, half that for thick
scions.
To scion suppliers: if this is a testimonial, please feel free to use it! If
you want me to post your name, please let me know. Thanks again!