I probably should have left the tops on, but the window of opportunity to graft here is so narrow, if these fail I will have to wait a year anyway so it doesnt really matter. They will bush back out if the grafts fail.
Im pretty confident the grafts will work though so hopefully not too many redos. The failed grafts from last year had multiple smaller brwnches bushing out and for those i did 2-3 cleft grafts which should almost guarantee success.
Im sure most people dont do their plantings this way. Plant a field of seedlings then top work. Most farms use container grafted plants. But for me it seems easier to do this way even if it takes multiple tries, doesnt really matter. The rootstock continues to grow even if a top work attempt is unsuccessful, I can pick up again the following winter. I tried to stress this point to some people. You are not wasting time letting rootstocks grow in ground for many years. It really makes little difference if you top work them in 1, 2, 3 years. The roots continue growing and once you top work them, the above ground portion always comes right back after 1 summer of growth. The size of the rootsystem determines how fast the scion grows.