Grafting onto fruit trees

I started this subject on Florida Gardening two months ago, but couldn't get much help. The thread started here:

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So here is the problem.

I take "statins" (a cholesterol lowering drug).

I have a beautiful pink grapefruit tree.

Statins and grapefruit are a no-no.

My neighbor has a couple of fantastic orange trees on our common property line. One is a Mineola -- with fruits as big as a softball. The other is a Navel with extra-thin skin and, also, softball sized fruit. Both are delicious -- trust me.

They do not eat the fruit -- most drop to the ground and get swept up by the gardener.

So -- being an ex-Eagle Scout with a Merit Badge in gardening -- what should I do? Besides finding neighbors and friends to eat my grapefruit, that is.

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So I made the grafts, according to everything I could Google, That was two months ago. I checked them today -- and this is the result:

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Help !!!

I checked the grafted scions -- and I don't know if I have been successful..

The cambium layers on all seem to have disappeared -- no green showing. (A terrible thing to happen on St. Patrick's Day.)

Has anyone succeeded in doing grafting? Does the cambium layer on the new scion stay green during the process? Do I have to start over again?

Help !!!

(o_O)

What kind of graft did you do?
Was it a bud, wedge or tongue and whip?
Sometimes bud grafts can take a whole season before they pop out. If you grafted a whole stem on the other plant, you should know by now if the rest of the tree is sending out new leaves.

They were wedge grafts.

I think that I did them well. I split the mother stem Then I inserted a wedged scion into the split end and wrapped it with that magic grafting tape.

Here is a photo

Scratch the bark of the scion wood and see if it is green underneath the bark.
If so, it is still alive.
If not, it is dead.

Usually, you take the scion wood during winter when the trees are dormant and store them in the refrigerator. In summer, around July or so, when the bark is easily separated from the cambium layer, you graft the scion wood to the host tree. You may have damaged the cambium layer and it died in that area.

I guess I'll have to start over.

How soon does the graft take?

(o_O)

He lives in Florida so I doubt they ever go dormant there. Now is an excellent time to graft so try again if the scion wood is dead. Find a limb is just about to send out new leaves but has not yet. I have better luck wrapping the entire limb in the parafilm tape stretching it very thin, then wrapping a small rubberband around the graft to make it extra tight and then wrap the graft spot with more parafilm tape. The buds will grow thru the tape if you wrap it very tight and stretch it good.

Here is a link to an excellent grafting technique.

http://citrus.forumup.org/viewtopic.php?t=500

You can also do lots of bud grafts without sacrificing limbs. I am sure you can find lots of videos or instructions on that too. It is similar to the technique above but you only use a bud and not a branch and you dont cut the branch off on the host tree.

flyboy-
I will be watching your progress as I'm trying to get a small house around Ft. Myers and who knows what I could graft down there. My B-17G #1 fig tree is putting out figs again so I will have something to show, I hope. I have been shining up my old silver 50 cent piece to show the size.

Paul

I grafted my Kumquat on to my Washington Seedless Navel right after my last post in March and they have already taken. So I guess it was a good time to graft.

jujubetexas,
was this graft just to see if you could? I love navel oranges so would try a navel onto a kumquat or calamondim (sorry, I forgot the correct sp).

I am enjoying your comments and information about grafting - please keep it up.

Paul

juju~

How long did it take?

Did the cambium layer on the new piece stay green all the time ?

and pb~

Nice to hear. Mine is showing figs, also.

Be well

I knew that the two citrus were graft compatable but I just wanted to try it.
I always wrap the scion in Parafilm tape so it doesnt dry out. Eventually, the leaves just burst through the stretchy tape. I pulled back some of the tape yesterday and the two pieces of wood had already fused together. It has only been about 3 1/2 weeks.

Thanks

I'll try that.

Be well

(o_O)

My dad did a lot of grafting as a hobby after her retired. He said it was by the numbers - do enough grafts and one of them will take. However, here we do grafts just as the tree is breaking dormancy - I don't know when the best time would be in your climate.

I'll keep trying

Be well

(o_O)