Slow grafts or poor success?

[yoderjac]

You guys that suggested patience were right. I'm now up to 8 of 13 showing signs of life and only one that is clearly dead.

 

[yoderjac]

The late takes may be the winners. Most of mine graft leafed out and then we had a late frost. Looks like most are dying. Some that had not yet leafed out and doing so now. Looks like my success rate will be low this year because of that late freeze.

 

[cavey]

Give them some time - their not dead till they are crispy dead ... I’ve had some that didn’t do anything till mid summer ... totally wrote them off and was letting the rootstock take over. Maybe pull the leaves on all the growth on the root stock but one bud just in case ... but give them some more time. Apple trees grafts are like horseshoes and handgrenades as long as you are close they are pretty forgiving might just take some time and tlc

 

[cavey]

Give them some time - their not dead till they are crispy dead ... I’ve had some that didn’t do anything till mid summer ... totally wrote them off and was letting the rootstock take over. Maybe pull the leaves on all the growth on the root stock but one bud just in case ... but give them some more time. Apple trees grafts are like horseshoes and handgrenades as long as you are close they are pretty forgiving might just take some time and tlc

Never mind - I m way behind on my reply ... lol I’m an idiot.... Glad they pulled through ... they usually are tougher than you think ... wrote off many only to be surprises later

 

[yoderjac]

It is no work to keep them going since I have to care for the ones that are still alive. My hope is that, if nothing else, the root stock will grow and I'll regraft next year.

 

[cavey]

You now know they want to be survivors ... I have done side grafts with small dia scion that was just a punt in the dark - they took forever to do anything, then mid/late summer there was new growth. I had to cut back the new growth on the root stock that was 10" or better beyond that little scion section. Let some of the root stock leaf out on those that you think are frost damaged and see how those scion take threw the summer you might be surprised on those as well.

The root stock will be there as a back up next year - that is an almost certainty. You get a free redo with every root stock purchased but there is time penalty warranty clause built into the fine print.

I have some varieties (last years grafts) that did not make the winter and I will take them as grafting root stock next spring. I even have some, in the nursery, that have a root stock base, grafted mid section of a variety I lost track of and have top worked those with something known. A true mutt of a tree.

One other thought is with the failed grafts you can use them as stooling material for future root stock so you do not have to buy RS in the future. I had left overs or failed grafts - the rootstock. Let them go in my nursery with the intent of cutting them back later and trying to get them to shoot up and then to stool them out. It was just easier to buy a 100 RS at a crack. But it is an option I may still try as those are now small trees with good root systems that would likely send a lot of shoots up if I cut them back. Just an other option that might be fun.

The late frosts are one of the reasons I have gone to potting my grafts out. I can pull them from the raised bed rack and bring them in with ease and vise versa. Any new racks I make will be smaller and be built like a pallet so i can lift and move them with the forks on my skid steer.

 

[yoderjac]

Yes, I've been potting mine as well. They took really fast when I did them indoors under lights but this year, I did them outside. I guess I presumed they would adapt to the weather and I was out of town when we got that late freeze. I noticed a lot of dead leaves on wild seedlings of many species of trees in the field this spring as well. Guess I should have brought them in.