Successful Grafting

Essential Tips for Grafting
1.	The stock and scion must be compatible. Otherwise they cannot unite. Graft only closely related plants such as two camellia varieties, not a live oak and citrus. Use a sharp knife. A dull knife will almost guarantee failure at grafting. Because it will destroy the cambium of both the scion and rootstock. You can use nearly any style of knife.
2.	Cambial regions of scions and stock must be in intimate contact. Cut surfaces should be held tightly for proper healing and flow of water and nutrients.
3.	Grafting must be done when the stock and scion are in the proper physiological stage. Scions for all grafting operations except budding must be dormant. Scions for budding can be either dormant or actively growing, depending on the budding method. Rootstocks can be growing or dormant, depending on the grafting method. Budwood should immediately have all the leaves removed, to avoid wilting. Wilted budwood usually won't make a successful graft union. Place the sticks in a plastic bag with a few drops of water, a damp paper towel, or a bit of moist peat moss, and seal the bag. If left in the sun, the wood may die within minutes, but in a shady, cool spot, it should last several days. Budsticks of many plant species can survive for several months in the refrigerator, if kept moist.
4.	Cut surfaces should not come in contact with the soil, which contains rotting organisms. Unless scions are in scarce supply, it is usually wise to discard any that are dropped on the ground.
5.	After grafting is completed, all cut surfaces must be protected from desiccation or drying out. This can be done by covering the graft with wax or tape or some moist material such as sphagnum moss.
6.	Unprotected cut surfaces may dry out in a matter of seconds, preventing a good graft union from forming. So, it is important to make your cuts, match them together, and wrap the graft as quickly as possible. I like to wrap a graft within 5 to 10 seconds of the time I start to cut the wood. Beginning grafters tend to hurry, ending up with a splintered, bumpy cut, or they take far too much time making smooth cuts. But they find it difficult to make perfect cuts quickly. The only remedy for this problem is practice. you can prevent the cut surfaces of your scion from drying by making those cuts first, then storing the scion cut-side-down on a piece of damp clean paper.
7.	Wrap grafts with 1/2-inch, use clear polyethylene budding tape (not gummed). The wrap should be quite firm, stretching the tape almost to the point of breaking. Another wrapping material which has gained popularity in the last few years is parafilm, which is a very stretchy, waxy material, originally developed for sealing laboratory glassware. It has the advantage of not having to be unwrapped later, as does tape, since the growing scion will eventually stretch and split the parafilm. Also, if you stretch it correctly, parafilm sticks to itself, making it unnecessary to tie off the end of the wrap. Plastic tape must be tied securely.
8.	In warm weather, I usually leave a graft wrapped 3-6 weeks, depending on the species being grafted. If callus tissue has developed on all the cut surfaces, the graft is probably ready to be unwrapped. (Callus is the wound-healing tissue of the plant, and looks like a small blob of white or pale tan spongy material.) In cold weather, grafts should be left wrapped longer. Fall-grafted plants may be left wrapped until spring, in colder climates.
9.	Proper care must be given to the graft until it unites. Shoots from the stock must be removed because they can choke out the scion. In addition, shoots from the scion can grow so vigorously that they break the scion off unless staked or tied. Rootstock plants can be grown from seeds, or may be rooted from cuttings in some cases. Rrootstock for roses is virtually always produced from cuttings. They should be well-watered for several weeks before and after grafting. As with wilted scions, wilted rootstocks often result in failed grafts. Back to top