Budding and Grafting

Budding and grafting is often discussed at our meetings. These are familiar terms to some people but to others they may sound a little, shall we say, less familiar. Here is a simple explanation of a few terms used in budding and grafting:

• Budding -- is the transfer of one bud of one plant onto another plant.
• Grafting -- is the transfer of a branch with more than one bud of one plant onto another plant.
• Double grafting -- takes place when two varieties are grafted onto the same rootstock e.g. Anna and Dorset Gold apple. Where more than two varieties are grafted on the same rootstock, it is called multiple graft.
• Scion -- is the material from the plant you want to increase, also called bud wood. All plants grown from this will be an exact copy of the donor plant.
• Rootstock -- is the plant onto which you put your scion. The plants growing on the rootstock will be copies of the scion plant and not of the rootstock. The rootstock does however, have a major effect on the resultant plant, i.e. when using dwarfing rootstock. When you graft (or bud) your chosen scion material onto dwarfing rootstock, the plant will not grow the same size as the original. Examples of this are: Pinkabelle apples, which are dwarf pink lady apples - same fruit, but the tree is dwarfed by the rootstock.
• Cambium -- is the layer of cells between the central wood and bark. These are the cells that grow and form callus.
• Callus -- A group of undifferentiated cells. They integrate the scion and rootstock.

Note the clean separation of bark and wood.

If the sap is not flowing, the bark will not lift and the cut will have ragged edges.

One of the main reasons for budding and grafting is to increase the number of plants of a certain specimen. For instance, all the plants of the peach Elberta are clones of the original tree.

The best time for budding and grafting is when the bark separates easily from the wood. To do this, make a T- cut in the bark and ease it away from the wood. This is a sign that the sap has started to flow and the graft will take.

It may sound difficult, but let me show you how easy it is.

You will need:

• A sharp knife. It has to be sharp enough to cut the branch and not shred the bark. A smooth cut on both will ensure close contact between the cells of the cambium layer of both scion and rootstock.
• Some budding/grafting tape to bind the two together. I bought some from the green shed.
• A plastic bag to protect the new graft from losing too much moisture.
• A brown paper bag or similar to prevent the sun from cooking your precious graft.
• A label or two. You want to know which rootstock you used and the varieties you have grafted onto it.
• A plant you have chosen as rootstock.
• A branch from the plant you want to propagate.

Ok, let's get started.

1. Cut a piece of about 30 cm of tape. Keep it handy
2. Cut a branch from your selected tree, about pencil thickness. This is your scion.Trim it to about 5 or 6 buds.
3. Select your rootstock from a healthy, strongly growing tree, usually of the same genus. Stone fruit can be grafted onto another stone fruit, citrus onto citrus and pome fruit onto pome fruit.

Now comes the fun.
Select a branch on the rootstock of the same thickness as your scion and cut it off at an angle. Make a long cut exposing more cambium cells which will ensure a successful union between the rootstock and scion.

Cut the bottom end of the scion to match the angle of the cut on the rootstock.

Put the scion onto the rootstock. Ensure that the cambium layers are in contact (remember they are the ones that make the magic happen).
Wind the tape tightly around the joined branch. The plant will not suffer if the join is too tight. The graft will fail if the tape is tied too loosely.

Loosely fit the plastic bag over the graft.

Protect the graft from the sun by covering it with the paper bag.

Check on it every few days. The buds will start to swell and then new leaves will appear. Keep it protected against the sun, but harden it off by slowly exposing it more sunlight.

When it is growing, cut the tape off and discard it.

Zechy Zacharias Coyte-King