Grafting

[TimV]

I'm sure several of you already know how to graft, but since this is grafting season for many types of fruit trees and flowers, I thought I'd start a thread on do it yourself grafting. I'm doing it on facebook as well since some friends asked me last night at a Bible study get together, and it may take a few days to finish, so stay tuned if you want to learn how to graft, hopefully complete with step by step pictures.

The short course will be based on Romans chapter 11

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root [3] of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

I've done close to 500,000 grafts, and at one time had 20 people working full time doing it, so if I don't cover a kind of plant you are interested in, mention it and I'll probably be able to help with it.

Boring history section:
Grafting is not mentioned in the Old Testament. Rather, seeds and cuttings were used to propagate plants.

Eze 17:4 He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants.
Eze 17:5 Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig,

But there are several drawbacks to using seeds and cuttings. With seeds, you don't know what you'll get!! You can plant 100 seeds of olives, apples and roses and some will look and taste nice, and some won't. Some won't even bear fruit or flowers. With cuttings, you do get a clone (and perfect copy of the parent) of the plant you want, but some plants really don't make cuttings easily, and even if they do, the roots may be weak.

In the middle of the 19th century France lost almost half of her vineyards. A kind of aphid that lived on the roots was killing everything. Then someone noticed that native north American vines were resistant to the aphid, and European vineyards were saved by grafting say Cabernet vines on American root stocks. American grapes don't usually taste as good as European (although they make great juice!! That purple Concord juice is an American variety) but they are resistant to that bug. So now those Thompson seedless grapes we use for raisins, eating, and the Chardonnay we use for drinking are grafted on to American roots.

There are several other benefits to grafting. Faster (or slower, which is quite often an advantage) growing, disease resistance...even frost resistance. Many oranges are grafted on to a kind of wild citrus that looses it's leaves in the winter and stops growing, so "scion" i.e. the top part is harder less likely to be killed by a light frost than it would be otherwise. There are others, but I think the point is made.

By New Testament times, grafting was done all over the Roman Empire, and we've never gone back.

Stay tuned.

 

[Mushroom]

I remember the walnut trees out there in CA were all English Walnut tops grafted to Black Walnut trunks. Rough, dark bark on the bottom, then a smoother, lighter bark above.

 

[TimV]

That's a dual purpose graft. English walnuts are better eating, but north American walnuts are better and stronger roots, so you plant north American, or Black walnut seeds, and graft English walnuts to them.. BUT..... you graft the English walnut scion (remember terms, now) HIGHER UP FROM THE GROUND than the few inches normal, because the English walnut is not a long lived tree, and after 20-25 years when it dies, you have a six or eight foot high straight trunk of very valuable Black walnut that you can sell to furniture makers. Some of that wood actually looks green, and is so pretty it hurts to look at it. In the past, a walnut farmer could get a thousand bucks for the trunk after the scion died off.

Here is the trunk and roots of a Black walnut tree we got a contract to take out (it was messing up a guy's rental) earlier this year. I gave it to a furniture maker.

 

[LawrenceU]

And those grafting junctures on walnut trees make some amazing gunstocks!

 

[TimV]

I figured one of you would bring that up. Nice and solid, as like when you run out of bullets you can still inflict serious damage with the gun stock.

-----Added 12/13/2009 at 09:03:14 EST-----

Here's a rare cactus. It takes about 10 years to get to the size of a quarter, and doesn't make cuttings easily, so I grafted some shoots onto faster growing cactus to propagate them faster.

 

[LawrenceU]

Tim, what is that delightful cactus you have grafted? I'v recently begun to grow cacti again. It is rather hard in our humid climate. . .

And, about those grafted walnut stocks, not only are they incredible strong, they can have some amazing patterns. Look at the grain in these slabs:

 

[TimV]

Laurence, it's Mamilaria leuthii, although you'd never guess it's genus by just looking.

So, let the first example be an apple seedling. A good project for kids. Plant any old apple seed you want, and when it's one year old it will be ready.

We well do a "t" bud graft, a very easy kind. First, I make a cut in the stem in the shape of a t. Practice a bit on a twig you don't need. Only cut to the depth of the bark. You will know, since when it's deep enough, you can peel the bark back. I'm holding the cut open with a leaf so it's easier to see.

then select your "scion" i.e. a twig from an apple tree you like. This one is from a Fuji apple, which does well around here.

You will be sure the age of the scion is right if the leaves have fallen off, or are just ready to. The bud, which will be the new tree, is the little white furry bump just above the middle leaf. You need to look and make sure you have a bud which hasn't started to grow yet.

Then you cut the bud off, leaving a bit of the leaf. Cut about a fourth of the thickness of the stem off.

 

[lynnie]

I read a true story recently in a "Medical detectives" book. Some farmer decided to graft tomatos like his friend did, to have fresh tomatos into November. The friend used the rootstock of Jimson weed, and took off all the leaves so the tomato got everything from the roots.

Problem was, the farmer left on the Jimson leaves, which produce quite a bit of the toxin and hallucinogen. He and another couple that were there for lunch went crazy. The hospital MDs finally figured it out when the farmer was briefly lucid long enough to say what he had for lunch, and that the tomato was a jimson graft.

The MD said it was actually pretty neat to see this big bushy jimson weed in November with tomatos growing on it!

Thanks for the nice thread.

 

[TimV]

There have been some crazy things done with tomatoes. We had an old guy graft tomatoes to tobacco, and the ag commissioner found out about it and had him destroy the field. Just the thought of that nicotine going down someones throat makes me sick.

So, we take the little sliver of scion wood, and gently put it into the cut, with the bud on top. The new graft has to be pressed firmly up against the wet, white wood just underneath the bark, and we wrap it with something to keep it from drying out.

And within a few weeks, all things equal, the bud will start to grow, and that's your new tree.

There's a fun way one can get cucumber several feet long, and in spring we can do one of those, but grafting a regular green cucumber to a squash.

 

[smhbbag]

There have been some crazy things done with tomatoes. We had an old guy graft tomatoes to tobacco, and the ag commissioner found out about it and had him destroy the field. Just the thought of that nicotine going down someones throat makes me sick.

I'm kind of ashamed this even came to mind, but Homer sure loved his Tomacco.

These are all really cool pics, Tim. Now I'm beginning to see why my Ag. Studies roommate in college loved it so much.

 

[TimV]

Tomatoes, tobacco, Jimson Weed, peppers, deadly nightshade, etc.. are from the family Solanaceae, which is a crazy family when it comes to chemicals. Jimson weed is a corruption of Jamestown weed, and early American settlers used it as a recreational drug. Yes, to get high. And the common nightshade is "deadly" not because of it being poison. It's genus is Belladonna, or pretty lady. You can use an extract in eye drops to make your pupils dilate, and I read a double blind study once which showed men are more attracted to women with big pupils. That's why it's deadly! To us men!!