Grafts - Help!

[Mortenson]

I pulled a dead one from the nursery today. The rootstock was dead. Peeled off the electrical tape I had used, just to inspect. Didn't like how it looked. Went to a nice thriving graft and carefully peeled off the tape. Was horrified to see the rootstock bark peel off right along with it. Loosened the fencing to get busy on them all, and after another one right away, here I am asking for advice. Is there a better way or time to handle this? It's warm and sunny now. Is this the worst probable time for tender bark to slip? Would it get toughened if I hold off longer or not? Should I get through them all and seal up every wound with tree-kote?

 

[greyphase]

A good reason to use parafilm.

 

[Mortenson]

Trust me I won't use it again. That being said, I came across a ton of articles and how-to stuff that said electrical type works just fine.

 

[Mortenson]

Here's a deep convo about the topic I just found:

http://growingfruit.org/t/removing-vinyl-electric-tape-from-grafts/4208/40

It seems maybe the best approach at this point is to leave the tape on for now, but as chickenlittle even told me on a different thread, to make a single splice thru the tape into the wood and let the binding loosen on it's own. That jives with what some of the guys on the growingfruit thread do. The bark won't peel as much in the colder months.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I grafted a tree once years ago and used electrical tape and had the exact same issue. I think your plan to make a slice or two through the tape and let it eventually come off on its own will work well.

 

[144]

Read this somewhere and started using it...

I wrap the electrical tape backwards (sticky side out). Then I put a singular piece of electrical tape sticky side down over the tape, so that nothing sticks to it, like leaves, dust, etc. Still get the benefit of the stretch of electrical tape without it pulling the bark off when removing.

Tried it last year and worked great when removing this year.

Edit: Just to clarify, I use this method on new grafts, won’t really help with ones you have already grafted with electrical tape sticky side down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chickenlittle]

Whenever i have used electrical tape, i put the sticky side outward. Stretched to apply pressure but only sticking to itself.

 

[Prof.Kent]

People on this forum are just stinking geniuses!
...At least the second time around!

 

[cavey]

I use 3m cold weather e tape and only on a few occasions have had the bark peel, it is heart breaking to see it happen though. backwards tapping is a good idea. I would wait till fall... I dont know if on a super hot day the adhesive might slip more? if the tape is constricting the tree - cutting it with a razor (slitting) might be the best opition