Grafting Techniques: What You Need To Know.

 THE GOOD EARTH

Grafting Techniques part 1 & 2

If you’ve ever grown a tree from it’s seed, such as an orange lemon or avocado, you probably were disappointed by the result. 

I daresay, that firstly, it took a long time for it to fruit, and when it did, it was nothing like the fruit that the seed came from. 

After all apart from the novelty factor of  being able to grow a tree from a tiny seed, the time involved isn't really worth the effort. So what to do instead?

Lemon tree

• Switch to grafting methods.

Grafting is a method that would vastly improve the result all round but the word itself sounds terrifying if not complicated! 

There is after all the possibility that you'll end up slicing of the tip of your finger with the super sharp budding knife, or at the very least drawn blood from the deep wound that resulted from a slip of the wrist. 

I confess to having done that.

Practice makes perfect and I would recommend wearing gloves before attempting to do any type of grafting.

So What is Grafting?

Grafting is a swag of techniques that involves having a root stock that is happily growing in the ground or in a pot, whose upper part you will cut off completely.

Next, you attach a scion, a piece of plant whose features you really like, such as fruit size and flavour.

• The scion has to be a particular size and be related botanically speaking to the rootstock. That means you can't graft an apple onto citrus rootstock, because apples are in the family 'rosaceae' and citrus are in the plant family 'rutaceae.'

There are of course plenty of other reasons why you want to try your hand at grafting.

Some of these are to improve disease resistance such as for roses or fruit trees or dwarfing.

Dwarf  trees are the result of grafting a scion from a tree of full size fruit onto dwarfing root stock.

• Margaret describes cleft grafting where the scion's base is cut as a 'V' and inserted into the same length slit into the rootstock. The cambium (green wood) of each must be aligned.
  

TIP:If you’ve never tried grafting, make sure you get the right tools before you start.

You’ll also need the correct root stock.

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast. I'm talking with Margaret Mossakowska of www.mosshouse.com.au

GRAFTING TECHNIQUES Part 2

Approach grafting is an alternative method for citrus.

In part 1 of grafting techniques Margaret Mossakowska and I talked about how growing from a tree such as an orange or lemon from seed isn’t all that successful unless you graft it onto hardy rootstock.

In this segment, we refresh some of those points and take you onto more grafting techniques.

There are many types of grafting that are available to be used, some more complex or more exacting than others.

My Take On Grafting

Cleft grafting I find is quite straight forward and easy to get right. 

I've tried grafting Camellia reticulata scions onto Camellia sasanqua rootstock with a 100% success rate.  Camellia reticulata has huge flowers, a feature I wanted growing in my garden.

Camellia 'Red Crystal' is a cross between C. reticulata ‘Crimson Robe’ and C. japonica ‘Wildfire,’ however, both are slow growing. and don't grow so fast in temperate Sydney.

I find this is a faster alternative, plus Camellia sasanquas are very hardy and less prone to root rot.

Camellia 'Red Crystal'

• Grafting citrus is essential in Australia because the table citrus that we love to eat are not native to Australia, and so are prone to many diseases.  

The grafted union in most cases needs to be above the ground. There is one exception and that is with lilacs(Syringia vulgaris.). Lilacs tend to sucker if grown on their own rootstock so they are grafted onto privet rootstocks.

Things to Watch Out For.

Once you've successfully grafted your desired planted, whether it's a citrus or camellia or some other favourite, there's still room for failure.

• At first the graft union may seem all fine and dandy, but  if you see shoots from below the graft union, you may have a problem Houston.
• Shoots from below the graft union could signal failure of the graft and the rootstock is trying to take over.
• Keep on rubbing off these shoots and hopefully it's only a minor abberration.
• If this persists, you may find the top part or scion is slowly dying, so time to start all over.

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast. I'm talking with Margaret Mossakowska of www.mosshouse.com.au

NB:If you’ve never tried grafting, make sure you get the right tools before you start.
You’ll also need the correct root stock.

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675