Here is my final follow up on my feijoa grafting. It wasn't a full success, but I learned quite a few things.
We have had a terrible wet and cold spring, and then a pretty hot and dry summer. My plants are in pots and for a long time after I grafted them they remained dormant, because it was too cold. So I wasn't really taking notice of the fact that when it started to heat up they were in full sun and that they needed a bit more water then I gave them. Most grafts showed good signs of growth. In June I left for two weeks and all the small grafts dried out, because it was too hot and sunny. I think if I would have protected them with a bag, or if I would have put the plants in a shady spot, they would have had a better chance.
In any case, 13 of my 45 grafts survived, and those were all of the largest size - pencil size wood. Some were cleft grafted, the others whip and tongue and one side veneer graft took. The whip and tongue graft had a higher rate of success, I think because it increases the area that cambium contact can form.
So for next year I will:
- use pencil size wood,
- wait for the rootstock plants to come out of dormancy,
- use whip and tongue grafts,
- tie the graft tightly,
- protect the grafts that are in full sun and
- water the rootstock plants thoroughly throughout summer.
Here are some pictures of the successful grafts:
Cleft graft
Whip and tongue
Whip and tongue
Whip and tongue on the top and an side veneer graft lower on the lower right side of the same stem
Cleft graft on thicker wood - aligned only on one side - it healed fine
And another cleft on thicker wood
These are the failed grafts, the crazy thing is that on this particular plant underneath all the failed grafts it started to flower like crazy, so even while I didn't get the graft to take, I am still getting a lot of fruit!