Should I replant my JM grafts this spring?

For background on my six babies, this is the original post: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/805546/

I just came across this planting/care instructions page: http://www.davesnursery.com/source/care.htm

The planting/care instructions page directs one to plant the graft union below the soil line. I did not do this with any of my grafts. I emailed the grower I purchased the grafts from and am awaiting response, but it looks like they will be out of the office for awhile. Should I repot my grafts in the spring, so that the graft union is below the soil line? I'll consult my books later on too, but I don't remember seeing that anywhere. I guess I could have glossed over it.

HELP!!!

Thanks so much,
Elizabeth

Dave is a VERY experienced grower and knows his stuff ...he is on this forum so maybe he will pipe in on this rather differnt set of instructions from most I have seen ...If it were me I wouldn't repot... the stress may be more than the benefit if there is a benifit ?? All of mine are planted with graft above soil line ...but there are many ways to skin a cat so to speak and likely several "right" ways to do it ....it may just be he has had good success with this method... I am eagerly awaiting Dave's response since this is a bit differnt than I was taught... David

All my grafts have the union about 1-2" above the crown of the root. I also use a pot that is only 3 1/8" deep. With these facts in mind, you can plant the union below the soil surface approx. 1/2" to 1" of soil over the top of the union. This will allow the callus at the union to form roots thereby making a stronger plant. Another accomplishment is that the root stock is below the soil and the plant will only exhibit 1 color stem where as plants that do not have the union below the surface will exhibit the 2 variations (1 the rootstock and 2 cultivar). Also the union is not visible giving the plant a smoother look.

Now I will not say this is the way for all grafts to be planted. Some growers use the Anderson strap pots which are much deeper, and the grower will then graft approx. 6" above the crown of the root. Given these numbers, it would be in advisable to plant the union below the surface for the whole or pot the graft is placed in would be too deep and could cause suffocation.

If you have any other question you can email me direct and I will try to help.

Dave

In my experience you do have to be careful not to bury them if the graft is high as it can encourage crown rot in many cases. I also graft my trees as low as possible to help hide the graft union.

Makes sense Dave i usually graft low too ...really the only draw back I can see is that it will be impossible to tell whether it is grafted or seed grown .( non true cultivar)..but if you buy from a trusted grower ( like you) and not a distributor that wouldn't be a problem or if the distributor knows his stuff and where he got product from. I personally get both red and green A.P. rootstock and try to match but I have more time and am not as "ambitious as you in reguards the amounts of grafts I do ;>) David

I am the eighth generation of my family doing this and I have probably grafted nearly a million plants myself. Of course this is well over 40 years I have been doing this. Back in the 50's and 60's we use to graft approx. 3-4 hundred thousand BELGIAN AZALEA a year not to mention the deciduous and conifers of approx. 80,000 to 140,000 a year. There were times that I recall at least 800 grafts an hour passing over the grafting bench. Now that I am by myself I have tamed down quite a bit and only produce between 10,000 and 20,000 a year.

Just a passing remark, this was and still is all hand handled, no machines and also remember that this rootstock before, during, and after grafting has probably been handled at least 10 times.

As for the family business there has to be probably nearing 10 million grafts maybe more, and in my short time being with my grandfather and father we had always buried the union.

Yes David the beauty of burring the union, is the fact that it is never seen. I must stress that I am one of a few growers still using a rose pot. These are shallow pots thereby allowing the chance to bury the graft. The whole for which the plant is planted or the pot for transplanting need only be approx. 7" deep. The deeper pots will not allow for the union to be planted below the surface.

I like to if at all possible to grow my rootstock in a pot for at least 1 1/2 years before grafting. This allows me to buy a smaller rootstock so that planting in a shallow pot without cutting roots possible. They can mature from 1/16" to 3/16" which I find Ideal for grafting and the pot ball is solid.


Dave

Dave,

This is very interesting, I actually read about burying the graft union under the soil on your website. I have more than a couple of candidates for this procedure. These are trees that have an ugly graft union or a weak looking graft. I had a couple of questions regarding this practice

1) What is the maximum height of the union graft above the crown after which you do not recommend this?

2) Is this ok to do on older trees too? say 3 -4 year olds.

3) Do you need to do this gradually, adding a little soil at a time over a period of months?

4) I did not understand what you meant by "The deeper pots will not allow for the union to be planted below the surface."

thanks,
xman

Hello Xman

I meant by deeper pots that some growers use are anywhere from 5" to 8" deep if the graft is on one of these plants then I do NOT reccomend burring the union. This would be to deep and cause the plant to die. I have and still do plant plants with unions exposed that are 3 and 4 year olds below the surface. My liners which are older then grafts are potted in a KORD 4" square pot which is approx 3 1/4" deep. I grow these for approx. 3 years in this and then transplant to a 2 gallon container. I do not like planting in larger container do to the fact that I want to root to grow solid and if I place them in larger containers then the watering comes into play where the plant can't absorb the moister fast enough and again the rotting of roots start.

I do not plant any plant union below the surface if it is above 2 1/2" from the crown of the root.

Dave

Great answers, thanks everyone! Of my 6 babies, I know at least one, the 'Emerald Lace' is rather high grafted - about 12" or so? I think a few of the others might be candidates to plant the graft union below the soil when I repot (probably in 2009). Those are really babies, they will only be 3 years old in 2009, so hopefully that is still young enough. I do have two that have really ugly grafts.

Thanks again,
Elizabeth

Be advised that even ugly grafts will likely not be noticable in the long run although it may take a while and that area may be more pronounced for many years...This is most unfortunate on high grafts and then accentuated by differnt color RS as Dave has stated.. Many folks graft dissectums high and until they really get large the bark differnce is not pretty... if differnt RS is used... or even still when old if it is trimmmed up so it is not so Cousin It'ish exposing the trunk.... and either way in winter. I personally graft everything low and stake making both graft and any differnce in RS irrelevant ( although as i said I try to match anyway)... but I can see Dave's point of doing so the graft is covered... it is a good idea but as he says requires a certain size depth pot...it is a nifty idea and makes sense..David

There is one other thing I forgot to mention. I do not wax any of my low graft plant material. I plunge the unions under perlite the same way I would have planted them. When they are taken up approx 10 to 12 weeks later quite a few of them will in fact have roots already coming out of the union.

The Bonsai growers like this method because they can eventually remove what is left of the root stock and use the plant in a bonsai without any evidence of it ever being grafted.

Dave

I can see why it is important to Bonsai growers to not have visible evidence of a graft. That is probably not as much a concern when my maples are several feet tall and wide. I think I would pull all my hair out if I became a Bonsai enthusiast, although I'm sure there is a lot of knowledge there that can be applied to container growing.

Since it appears to make a big difference how the plants were originally grafted, I'll probably just have to order a few from Dave to try it this year! I'll pull up my wish list and cross-reference with his site during my lunch break...

Elizabeth