Collecting scion wood

We are having an unusually warm winter . I even noticed yesterday that the grass here is turning green..

Usually here in my zone I believe the best time to collect scion wood is in February . If the weather here continues on this warm should I go on and collect my wood ?

KJ,
I know it' hard to wait - but I'm pretty sure we'll eventually get some winter weather.
I'd still wait 'til at least Feb.

L

KathyJo, please keep us posted on your new grafting adventures :-)

Yep, it's hard to wait.. But February it will be.

and Karla thanks for your interest .. I'll keep you posted.

OK, I'll confess. I harvested some scionwood in Dec.
I was down home visiting family in south AL - and I didn't know if I'd be back down there before spring - and their spring arrives earlier than ours, anyway. (How's that for an attempt at justification?)
I cut scions from a roadside persimmon with fantastic red fall color, that I'd noticed back in October, and a nice chestnut oak growing in my BIL's woods.

Once again the pot calling the kettle black ... :) I at least love knowing that I am not the only one cruising around with a knife in my pocket..

I did get a new knife for Christmas from my Nephew. His thoughts were that I would be skinning a few deer with it. Little did he know what plans I would make for my new toy!

KathyJo,
A grafting knife is sharpened differently than a hunting or table knife. The grafting knife is beveled on one side only.
It's harder to get the good straight cuts you need for grafting with a dual-beveled blade.

I have a decent, mid-range Victorinox grafting/budding knife, but have made grafting knives out of hacksaw blades(they're actually made of some pretty good metal), when I've misplaced my good knife.
I know some folks who use boxcutters/exacto knife-type implements, with replaceable razor blades. I conducted a grafting workshop for the local Master Gardeners class a month or so back, and the extension agent had obtained a half-dozen or so boxcutters for the MG candidates to use; the blades were too flimsy to allow for a good, straight cut - I don't know if they'd work better with a 'heavy-duty' blade or not, but I'll give that a try before we do that workshop again.

I'll probably have to see how this one works.. and then I'm sure I'll be hunting around for the proper tool to use. This will probably be the year I figure out what I don't know. That's why for some of the more unusual scion wood, that I will probably have to buy, I am going to wait a couple of years to try. First to experiment with pears.

I'll be interested to see what kind of grafting will be demonstarted at our Spring Meeting of the Missouri Nut Grower's Assoiciation Meeting.

I have successfully grafted with a boxcutter type knife, but it was a kind sharpened on one side only. It had these long break-off blades which you slide up to get a fresh blade. I also tried grafting with many non-single-beveled knives, including the standard boxcutters, and wondered how anyone ever had any success with them -- it is impossible to make a flat cut and then the wood isn't hugging tightly.

Scott

I think I finally see what you guys are saying.. I may have to do some knife shopping then.. and I thought I was doing so good.