Author Topic: Mango grafting  (Read 11846 times)

PltdWorld

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Mango grafting
« on: August 31, 2013, 01:30:48 PM »
I'm looking for some advice on mango grafting... I got a few seedlings going now, basically looking for best practices on:

1) When to graft (at what age/trunk diameter, etc)
2) Where on the trunk to graft (below first node, above first node, as close to soil line as possible, etc)



This seedling is in a 1-gal pot, and is approx. 1' tall



Thanks,

JeffDM

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2013, 01:53:47 PM »
Good topic.
I've got a few mango seedlings that seem ready for grafting and I've got a Manilla Mango ready to be the donor plant.
I'm looking for info too.

Tropicdude

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2013, 04:05:00 PM »
Personally I learn things visually better than  from written text.   with grafting, practice makes perfect,  so whip out that grafting knife and start practicing the cuts, even if you are not going to use the pieces.

there are many techniques with threads in the forum, like epoctyl, and approach grafts, multi root grafts,  etc.


Cleft Grafting

Veneer Grafting

http://youtu.be/RQElZsp0-9Q

William
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PltdWorld

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2013, 04:34:37 PM »
Thanks for the videos!  I just did some veneer grafts on an established tree based on reviews of different grafting methods... looks like that's the call for small seedlings as well.

Thanks!

JeffDM

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2013, 09:38:32 PM »
I guess the thing that worries me the most about grafting is the selection of the scion.
I need to find a good video that shows how to find and prepare it for grafting.
My Manilla mango is sprouting new shoots, but I just don't know how to pick one and prepare it.

bangkok

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2013, 10:27:18 PM »
Guys just use the search function on this website, we placed loads of video's about mango grafting on this site.


PltdWorld

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2013, 10:39:06 PM »
I guess the thing that worries me the most about grafting is the selection of the scion.
I need to find a good video that shows how to find and prepare it for grafting.
My Manilla mango is sprouting new shoots, but I just don't know how to pick one and prepare it.

Jeff, I believe you want to avoid taking scions from areas that have just flushed new growth.  At least that's my interpretation.

I'm going to try with Haden, since I have four rootstock ready and the same number of scions available from my little Haden tree.

Tropicdude

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2013, 06:34:35 PM »
To prepare a scion, before cutting,  use growth that is around 3-5 months old.  clip off the leaves all the way down about, 10-12 inches from the tip.  do not cut off the scion yet.  in about 7-14 days the tip will begin to swell. now is when you can cut it off.

Another benefit from this method, is that the leaves you cut off have time to heal over before you remove the scion, so you will lose less moisture.
William
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mangoprofessor

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #8 on: September 01, 2013, 11:01:06 PM »
There have been a number of discussions about grafting.  I have done a lot of it and have taught classes for friends, neighbors and garden groups on the different grafting techniques.  That is why we are going to post video as soon as Tony has the time to film it.  Tropicdude hit on one of the most important points.  Roughly 50 percent of the success comes from the condition of the budwood.  No matter how good your grafting skills are, bad budwood means bad results.  Budwood conditioning is the first thing on the list.  I am attaching some pictures to illustrate the tools you need and the process.  I figure I can help a few people this way who don't want to wait for the video. 


Picking good budwood is easy.  First choice for me is always those blossom panacle branches that failed to set fruit.  They are big and have a good swirl of leaves at the end.  A hardened off new growth swirl is my second choice.  First step is just like Tropicdude said.  Clip off the leave back about 10 or 12 inches from the end.  Make sure you leave a little leaf stump though. 


The little leaf stumps will drop off in 4 or 5 days with this heat and then the bud will start to swell.  They will turn bright green and get fat.  That is your signal to get your grafting stuff together.


Along with the obvious grafting supplies like tape and clippers that you will need.  There are a few more things in the tools picture.  The reason for the bow saw is if you want to top work a tree.  That is another class though. Note the leather glove.  If you are right handed use a leather glove on your left hand.  If you are a lefty, do the opposite.  That tool is to keep you out of the emergency room.  One slip with a sharp grafting knife or in my case, a razor blade, will really mess up your day if you don't use that little extra protection. 


 I have also included a picture of my home made grafting table.  When you graft 40 or 50 Seedlings at a setting, your back will kill you unless you  work at a comfortable height.  None of this bending down grafting at my age.  The use of my grafting bench also allows me to graft very young seedlings with out breaking the tops off.  Note the one in the picture.  It is less than half the size of a pencil.  I like that  size.  For this size seedling I use a unique graft.  It is a combination of cleft, veneer and butt graft.  I don't worry about matching budwood and seedling stem sizes with this graft.  I just pay attention to one side and the take rate is nearly 100 percent.  I have attached a sketch of the graft, sorry for the artistry.  I am saving the little root stock tree for the video.  I hope this will help some of you new grafters.   




PltdWorld

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2013, 12:18:16 PM »
For this size seedling I use a unique graft.  It is a combination of cleft, veneer and butt graft.  I don't worry about matching budwood and seedling stem sizes with this graft.  I just pay attention to one side and the take rate is nearly 100 percent.  I have attached a sketch of the graft, sorry for the artistry.  I am saving the little root stock tree for the video.  I hope this will help some of you new grafters.   


Thanks for sharing, but I don't fully understand the graft technique.  Can you describe in more detail?   ie. what do #1, #2 and #3 represent?

mangoprofessor

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #10 on: September 03, 2013, 02:26:48 PM »
Hello Pltdworld,  Thanks for the number question.  When I posted it I was tired and forgot to mention that little item.  The numbers referr to the type of graft that I am using for that portion of the graft.  As I said, I use three type of grafts in doing one small rootstock graft. 

#1 is where I but the budwood tightly against the rootstock.  In this part, I make a square cut into the root stock, cutting off the veneer piece and also make a square cut across the bottom of the budwood.  I am careful to have the thickness the same in both cuts for a good cambium layer match. 
 
#2 is a modified cleft graft.  This part is tricky because the veneer cut is already half way through the rootstock plant.  You make a second small downward cut into the rootstock.  Now, carefully measure by holding the budwood parallel to the rootstock and make an upward cut into the budwood to creat a little sliver that will be inserted into the rootstock cleft cut as you push the two squared ends together.  The little cleft cuts help hold the grafted parts together and in proper alignment. 

#3 is the length of the veneer grafted surface from the top to the bottom.  With this graft you can use different size budwood and rootstock because of how much surface you have for cambium contact.  Just align carefully one side of the graft.   Since the root stocks I am normally grafting are small I like larger budwood because it will have more stored plant energy in it.   With this graft I get almost 100 percent takes.  I hope this extra detail helps but Tony and are going to try and do another video as soon as our budwood is in proper condition to be grafted to demonstrate the actual gaft being done so you guys can see it being done.

Tim Thompson   

BKaus

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2013, 10:28:50 AM »
Tim,

Thanks for the instructions on grafting, last night one of my mango seeds went under the grafting knife. The bud wood was prepared the way your video said.  It went well the pieces fit together like a glove. It might be a little late in the year to do this but we are still have 90 for the highs and 60s for the low in Phoenix. The plant will get moved into the green house that is under construction in a month or two. There are ~10 more little seedling in line for this procedure but not sure if I should wait for spring to graft them or do it now?

Thanks again,
Bruce
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gaberec

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #12 on: October 01, 2013, 01:07:41 PM »
hello,
I bought a mango in a supermarket and I put seed in a pot and now the plant grows but there are more than one why ?

obviously this plant needs to be grafted but when ?

Tim

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #13 on: October 01, 2013, 02:17:14 PM »
It's because it's a polyembryonic type mango.

hello,
I bought a mango in a supermarket and I put seed in a pot and now the plant grows but there are more than one why ?

obviously this plant needs to be grafted but when ?
Tim

Tim

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #14 on: October 01, 2013, 06:17:13 PM »
Tim - Do you have pictures of healed grafts?
Tim

gaberec

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #15 on: October 04, 2013, 07:04:35 AM »
I will do tomorrow a photo of my seedling

but I would have some info about the process of mango graft (and I think it will be the same for any other plant of fruit)

I think that my seed is of tommy atkins (however a commercial variety) ...I will do a grafted plant with a scion of some other varieties (keitt or nam doc mai for example which have a reduced growth)

But we know that tommy atkins is among mango is with a big growth .... now what's happened after the graft?
If I graft a mango with reduced growth the next plant will be with a reduced or big growth ?
Therefore the next plant will assume the growth of the seed or of the scion ?

mangoprofessor

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #16 on: October 04, 2013, 03:05:34 PM »
There were a couple of good questions about grafting that I would like to contribute to.  The first is from the to BKaus in Phoenix AZ.  I am grafting mangoes in California outdoors right now and we only reach about 80 degree level during the day.   Most of what I am doing now is "Top-working" to produce budwood.  There is one trick that I use when grafting that I will share with our forum friends.  I always give the seedling or top worked trees a generous feeding with dilute liquid fish emulsion fertilizer for several weeks after grafting.  I also fertilize them before grafting but you can't turn back the clock so start now.  It gives the plant a good kick start.  In my area, it will stay warm enough for grafting outdoors for several more weeks.

To Tim about pix of healed grafts.  The only grafting that I did earlier this year was for grafting demonstrations including the video we did.  Most were for other people on their trees or seedlings.  Of the ones that I have, none of those have healed sufficiently to unwrap them yet.  I will take a good close-up pix in a couple of weeks so I can post it here in the grafting section.  I am attaching a pix of a healed graft scar of a "Nurse Graft" that I did on a macadamia nut tree. 

Tim Thompson   


JF

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #17 on: October 04, 2013, 09:42:41 PM »
Mangoprofessor

Normally October 18 is the last day of summer (100F -90F high)in Orange Countybut our night temp are in the low 60's are you saying it's still OK to graft mangos with our cold mornings???

mangoprofessor

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #18 on: October 14, 2013, 08:36:13 PM »
Hello JF and yes to the grafting date question.  I am still grafting trees with budwood from our new varieties using "Top-working" techniques because we need more budwood to fill all the orders we are getting for our new varieties.  We will be doing Top-working grafts at least till the first of November if the current weather holds. Our night time temperature is now in the 50's which is still ok when the day time temp reaches the mid 70 to 80 degree range.  We normally get hot east winds this time of year which will keep the temperature up enough to get good results.  I have attached a pix of one of my most recent grafts to illustrate what I am saying. You can see the new sprout pushing out.  I also ALWAYS give the trees that I graft a dilute dose of Liquid Fish Emulsion fertilizer once a week after grafting. Again, I always condition all my budwood before grafting and of the last 20 or so grafts that I did, I have had two that seem to be failing.  After the first of November, grafting will need the help of a hot house or greenhouse to get them to take.  Solar heating will be good enough until the night time temperature falls below 40 degrees.  I hope this helps.

Tim Thompson


JF

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #19 on: October 14, 2013, 11:35:55 PM »
Hello JF and yes to the grafting date question.  I am still grafting trees with budwood from our new varieties using "Top-working" techniques because we need more budwood to fill all the orders we are getting for our new varieties.  We will be doing Top-working grafts at least till the first of November if the current weather holds. Our night time temperature is now in the 50's which is still ok when the day time temp reaches the mid 70 to 80 degree range.  We normally get hot east winds this time of year which will keep the temperature up enough to get good results.  I have attached a pix of one of my most recent grafts to illustrate what I am saying. You can see the new sprout pushing out.  I also ALWAYS give the trees that I graft a dilute dose of Liquid Fish Emulsion fertilizer once a week after grafting. Again, I always condition all my budwood before grafting and of the last 20 or so grafts that I did, I have had two that seem to be failing.  After the first of November, grafting will need the help of a hot house or greenhouse to get them to take.  Solar heating will be good enough until the night time temperature falls below 40 degrees.  I hope this helps.

Tim Thompson


Professor

I would like to ask for your help next July when I top work my Ataulfo seedling. Those are unbelievable results this late in the season!

I also want to thank you for your instructional mango grafting videos and detail replies. Your help goes above and beyond those who have many years of experience grafting mangos in this forum...thanks for sharing your knowledge!



mangoprofessor

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #20 on: November 11, 2013, 12:02:19 PM »
Hello JF,  I will be glad to help you with top-working your seeding next July.  In answer to the how late to continue grafting question.  I am still grafting but I am doing it in the greenhouse now.  For a back yard gardener, I suggest they can make a simple small greenhouse in a corner of their yard that can accommodate a couple of their young mango plants.  When I first started my research with mangoes, I made a simple structure that was 10 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high.  I ran an extension cord to it and put one of these little electric hearers in my mini greenhouse with a thermostat.  It worked just fine and it didn't cost much to build or operate.  After all you don't have to build a big green house unless that is what you want.

Tim Thompson 

joaave

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what is the best way to graft a mango?
« Reply #21 on: October 09, 2014, 01:02:17 PM »
Hi friends Ive got mangoes from seed (8 monts). i wanna know haow grafting sucessfull, I did budd grafting but turn black and lost all grafts. Any iformation or pictures i will thank,.

Raulglezruiz

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Re: what is the best way to graft a mango?
« Reply #22 on: October 09, 2014, 05:36:01 PM »
Hi I think one of the most popular with mango at least here in Mexico is the side veneer , it's been working for me , also you can wrapped the scion with parafilm after the graft is done to keep humedity, and prevent dehidratation, keep the parafilm until you see the new buds are coming out! Use green young mature branch tips as scions
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behlgarden

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Re: what is the best way to graft a mango?
« Reply #23 on: October 09, 2014, 05:49:13 PM »
I get a lot of success from side veneer, although during summer months, I prefer green soft wood on green soft rootstock branch cleft. I get great takes that way when sap is very actively flowing.

DurianLover

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Re: Mango grafting
« Reply #24 on: January 24, 2016, 12:06:29 PM »
Generally what is recommended time period to keep tying strip right at graft union? Is there enough growth on this scion to remove all tapes? It's 5 weeks after grafting on a field established tree.