Keys to Grafting Success?

[DELFIG]

Hi All;

As I've just begun trying my hand at grafting I was wondering what are your best recommendations for grafting success? I have watched a lot of good online videos (especially JSacadura). Typically I have been using a nondormant rootstock with a dormant cutting, using the cleft graft method. My success rate so far has been about 50% which seems low to me. This is what I've learned so far;

1) Don't over water.....the rootstock will drown your cutting......it's really hard to do when the soil looks bone dry.

2) A heat matt helps

3) Thicker cuttings do better than thin ones...(thin meaning less than a pencil diameter)

One question I have is; Do you do recommend a long thin wedge or a more of a thick blunt wedge on the cutting, assuming both make good cambium contact?...

 

[GIV]

We have different microclimates. All my grafts are outside. Success is near 90% in February into early March when rootstcock is waking up, and the scions are very fresh. Later in the year success rate drops precipitously.

I prefer longer thin shape. When too blunt, tends to produce an air gap at the bottom of the root stock slice since it doesn't like to bend that quickly. For that reason I tend to switch to whip and tongue grafts for larger scions.
Good Luck

 

[ktrain]

Use my method for the best success, never start. lol