Fruit Tree Grafting: Winter Field Notes

checking on sweet cherry grafted onto pin cherry, has anyone else tried this? I'll be amazed if the grafts survive, we've had quite a few nights below -35.. but a quick scratch test looks alive, though I guess cold damage might not appear until spring? the premise I'm testing is this european cultivar was reported to survive zone 4 winters and flower, and here I have it on a super cold hardy rootstock which could possibly provide some cold hardiness. The most likely outcome is that I'll regraft it lower where the snow will cover the branches, but just maybe these will pull through. #cherry #cherrygrafting #grafting

plum scion wood bundles that were cut early, just checking in on the moisture. looks good. Most people cut scions in spring, but there are good reasons to do some earlier. You can cut dormant scion wood any time after the leaves drop, and it can be easier in late november here before the snow gets deep. Another reason is growing borderline or out of zone varieties, early scions before the coldest months won't have any winter die back, like a backup in case it needs to get regrafted. For long term storage, nov - april I wax the ends and throw a handful of damp peat moss in the bag to buffer moisture and condensation. then store them in a fridge. or fridges. #scionwood

root grafted apples. an old school technique that used to be the most common way to propagate them. I found the trees take an extra year to grow, these were grafted spring 2023. Inspired to research this in old gardening and nursery books after reading an article by @elizapples #grafting #rootgraft #applegrafting

someone else noticed you can graft toka (prunus simonii hybrid) to chokecherry… in 1887 in this update from the michigan horticultural society. google books search https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Annual_Report_of_the_Secretary_of_the_St/wHU5AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=prunus+virginiana+grafted&pg=PA100&printsec=frontcover

bench grafting apples last spring, the conventional and a few root grafts. I so look forward to doing it again this year, I didn’t count but there were at least a few hundred and I’ll do more this year. So far I’ve preferred parafilm and then a rubber on top. maybe I don’t need both, but parafilm quickly holds a whip and tongue together and keeps it clean and dry inside, and the rubber feel like it holds everything tight.

softwood propagation and fall budding around our Manitoba nursery last summer. #propagation

a few field grafts from last season in early summer. I spend all winter dreaming about grafting.. and stock piling scion wood. #graftingfruittrees

root grafting, excited to try some if these when I’m bench grafting in April #grafting

I’ve been thinking about this double whip graft, seem like it would heal over better than modified cleft. has anyone tried it? #grafting

Toka plum on wild chokecherry grafts. This one hybrid variety had the best compatibility and put on 3-4ft of growth last year. I’ve left them to overwinter with budding tape in place to add a little insulation from sun scald, hoping these make it through the winter. later this spring I’ll be trialing Toka and a few others as an interstem on many more prunus varieties with the goal of finding compatible combinations for zone 3 hardy prunus to graft onto the prolific choke cherry around most of Canada. #grafting