Am I Taking Good Care Of My Newly Grafted Plants?

Are you rechecking that the wax is maintaining a good seal on the graft every three to five days?

Are you trying to keep high humidity?

Are you trying to control temperature?

Are you suppressing rootstock growth?

Are you watching over the scion growth?

Are you preventing girdling?

The seal is the first line of defense against humidity loss. Your graft is a living, growing thing. Expansion and temperature changes over time may crack your graft’s wax seal or make improper tying apparent. Check your grafts regularly, especially after a major temperature or humidity change event. Reseal them as necessary.

Dry air will draw water out of the graft and kill the scion. If you’re caring for grafts outdoors, there’s not a lot you can do except try to provide shade. Indoors, a water tray under your grafting area, or mist spraying nearby are ways to go.

Direct summer sun can heat-kill cells of your tender graft tissue. It is a good idea to keep your grafts under a leafy canopy of a nearby tree to provide shade on the graft. If there are no trees, consider building a temporary tent of shade cloth purchasable from nurseries. Even a white bedsheet hung from laundry lines may work.

The rootstock is a plant with roots, stems, and leaves or buds capable of producing leaves. To keep the stock from sending all its energy to its own parts and not to the scion, you should prune off (or thumb out) rootstock growth below the graft union, including ground suckers. Do this quickly. Rootstock growth is wasted growth.

Healthy growth from the scion means the graft union has taken. Be careful of a weak union that could break in the wind, and you need to keep directing as much stock energy as possible to the scion, via pruning.

Good job! You are taking good care of your grafts.

Girdling happens when the growing scion expands and gets choked by the tight wrapping holding it in place. To prevent this, gently cut off the tape or string you tied with once your scion grows healthily. Do this once you see your scion leaf out.