Author Topic: Scions: Old Growth vs. New, which is better/more successful?  (Read 716 times)

JakeFruit

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Scions: Old Growth vs. New, which is better/more successful?
« on: August 02, 2019, 11:31:38 AM »
(I'm sure this has been covered here, but I couldn't find anything in a quick search)

I've been under the impression (since I started experimenting with grafting 3 years ago) that new growth/green scions were the way to go, but I just watched Walter Zill's video on veneer grafting and he seemed to endorse using older wood. Specifically, he noted the sign of a previous panicle on the scion as being good. Now, he was top-working old trees, so there might be a distinction to be made between grafting to a seedling vs. top-working an older tree. Maybe a new growth scion is more likely to go through several flushes before it tries to flower (which would be preferable when grafting to a seedling)??

Anybody know if there is a big difference between using one over the other?

simon_grow

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Re: Scions: Old Growth vs. New, which is better/more successful?
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2019, 01:52:39 PM »
I much prefer using recently hardened green growth from the last growth flush. I select my scions from the more vigorous growths showing apical dominance at the top of the tree where it is getting full sun.

By doing this, you prune the dominance out of the donor branch which helps to control the shape of the tree and the scion is stronger because it received more energy from the sunlight.

Avoid using fresh new growth that is still hardening or just recently hardened because it likely has not stored enough energy to make for an easy graft.

You can clip the leaves off the scion to prepare it. Leave the scion attached to the tree and wait about 1-2 weeks, or when you see buds forming, before removing the scion.

Simon

JakeFruit

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Re: Scions: Old Growth vs. New, which is better/more successful?
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2019, 02:11:33 PM »
Thanks Simon, I've been doing most of that, but I didn't know about clipping the leaves off the prospective scion in-advance. I saw one video where they advocated leaving one leaf on the scion, so I tried a dozen or so last year with a leaf left on. Not a single one took, the leaf would just shrivel and fall off in 1-2 weeks and then I had an open hole in the parafilm I had to deal with.

simon_grow

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Re: Scions: Old Growth vs. New, which is better/more successful?
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2019, 02:47:47 PM »
For some types of fruit trees, leaving a leaf or several leaves cut in half can be beneficial but for Mangos, it is not necessary.

Even preparing the scion by clipping off the leaves in advance is not necessary as long as you have a good apical bud that is swollen or the scion has swollen buds on it somewhere but prepping the scion will give that much more advantage.

When you graft a tree, there are lots of tricks you can do to increase the odds of a success. If a scaffold branch or secondary branching has three other smaller branches coming off it, you can graft all three branches if you are not limited on the availability of scions.

By doing all three branches at one time, you are removing a lot of apical dominance growth inhibiting hormones that suppress growth. If you only grafted one of the three branches, some of the energy going to that branch can be distributed to the remaining two branches that weren’t grafted. When you graft all three at once, the energy will be distributed to all three grafted scions so you have a good chance of a take.

If you are limited on scions, you can trim off nearby branches to redirect energy towards your grafted branch. In all these cases, you have to remove buds and branches that want to emerge after you remove the apical branch for grafting.

In some cases, you will need to leave some growth behind to keep the branch active but assuming you have an established tree with lots of branches and leaves, you may not need to do this.

Simon