I have a few dozen Tommy Atkins mango seedlings, all started within the last 2 months, each 10-12" tall. Most are fairly thick and growing vigorously, I tried grafting to them using several techniques (t-bud, cleft, veneer, whip) but none took. I'm wondering if they are just too young. Has anyone had success grafting to very young seedlings (any tips for success)? I noticed the more damaging techniques (cleft, whip) seemed to quickly trigger the seeding to produce numerous new growth shoots from the seed. The whip has been especially frustrating, a few perfectly lined-up grafts went no-where. I had read that t-budding seedlings can be very successful, the green bark is very easy to split & peel, but all my buds just turn black after a week or two.
Also, I've seen so many grafting videos with various advice, placing the new graft in the shade, wrapping it in foil, sheathing the graft in a clear plastic bag. None of those seem to ensure any greater success. I am in South Florida, plenty of humidity and sunshine. I have successful grafts, but it seems like I run around a 5-10% success rate. Very often I will get a cleft or veneer graft that seems to take, scion will stay green for months, but either the buds will swell without ever producing a shoot or the terminal shoot will spring almost immediately but each new leaf falls off and the new shoot browns & dies. The scion will remain green and new buds will swell, but they never progress past that. After a few months it seems like the tree gives up and the scion slowly dies away, even if I top the root-stock down to just above the scion and clip any new growth. Anyone have any tips I could try to get the swelling buds to spring?