My 2018 grafting results so far,,,,

[cavey]

3 rd year grafting and first year doing GRIN scion wood.
2018 Grafting results

100 rootstock ordered – standard antonovka (5 I just kept for the rootstock variety)

95 trees grafted

14 failed but root stock is still alive – next year

81 successful grafts - roughly 85% of grafts attempted

Of which

Grafted unknown (lost the labels oops) 4, Braeburn 2, Smokehouse 3, Hawaii 2, Stoke Red 4, Browns 2, Esopus Spitzenburg 2, Empire 3, Foxwhelp 4, Golden Hornet 3, Brown Snout 4, Caville Blanc 3, Bramley’s seedling 2, Black Ben Davis 2, Gold Rush 2, Arkansaw Black 1, Michelin 2, Golden Russet 1, Kerr 2, Grimes Golden 4, court pendu plat 3, Roxberry Russet 3, Medaille d’Or 1, Harry Masters Jersey 2,….

And four varieties I’m really excited about -- wild finds, very late dropping trees: two Apple trees out of a pasture : Wellstien Hill apple 6, Wellstien Road apple 6;

And two crabs: a Kuester Crab 4, and a Casper Crab 3.

Wild finds are named after land owners or historical land owners – thought it was the right thing to do.

 

[Prof.Kent]

Very nice! Congratulations. You sir saved yourself a boatload of money!

 

[Jhoss]

Nice looking setup!

 

[Barndog56]

What are the dimensions on those pots you're using? And can you remember to show a pic of the root development when you transplant them? I'd like to see how they compare with those in my nursery planted with 1 foot spacings.

 

[Natureboy]

Wow! looks great, well done

 

[cavey]

What are the dimensions on those pots you're using? And can you remember to show a pic of the root development when you transplant them? I'd like to see how they compare with those in my nursery planted with 1 foot spacings.

Stuewe & Sons Inc web site has the nursery pots,,, you can order direct from them but shipping was expensive to wisconsin,, i found them online out of another company I believe out of Ill with cheaper shipping. They are 6"x6"x 15 or 16" and have a slight taper to them. I wanted something that would have some room for the roots but would be able to be space efficient. I did the typical round nursery pots in the past and they just take up to much space. So far this set up has worked very well.

When I start planting them I will take some pics - Im also curious how well the roots are doing in them.... Im going to direct plant some this fall... and will heel in the rest in a trench for over wintering and planting in the spring, The nice thing about the set up is that I can take care of the trees a little better out back of the house in the garden. I have a shaded area they are in... but if I had to I could easily make a frame for some overhead shade out of wood or pvc pipe and some kind of cover.

 

[Mortenson]

You had some great results. I think I'm 15/46.

 

[cavey]

I can only give credit to some of the older posters here that shared info and generously gave tips... for some reason I can whip graft - not so much luck bud grafting... Im a 100% failure at that - absolute zero success.

I am super anal about keeping my root stock cool, and damp... I dont necessarily baby them but I take my time; do one at a time and dont leave the root stock out on the grafting table to have the roots dry (when I plant bare rooted trees you'll never see the plants roots out in the open air for more then a handful of seconds) I always have a hand pump spray bottle of water around to spray roots, and both my gathered scion and grafted scion get the tips dipped in wax, and are properly stored till I graft. I wrap the grafts as tight as I can... I only use 3m cold weather electrical tape on the grafts (rarely do I have the bark peal when removing tape from healed grafts) this is only my third year grafting and I have done roughly 100 per year and have had around the same success %. Im getting better at labeling them as I do them... and use better and better tags each year other than that I have been lucky.

and grafting is only a quarter of the battle to keep them alive till the are large and productive -