Dealing with graft on variegated ginkgo

[chlorine-queen]

Just got myself a variegated ginkgo “Snow Cloud.” I picked one with the graft point as low on the tree as I could find out of the bunch, but I’m wondering how to plan an approach going forward with this thing. Obviously it’s very much a stick in a pot right now- I chose it for it’s foliage more than anything else.
It seems far too small to be able to safely air layer right now, and while I could maybe just remove the grafted portion as a cutting, I’m hesitant to take the chance of it not surviving. I have a grafted ginkgo “Autumn’s Gold” that I left on the root stock as I felt the scar was blending with the rest of the tree just fine, but with this variegated cultivar I’d be worried about the non-variegated rootstock becoming more vigorous and the suckers it would possibly produce overtaking the rest of the tree.
On the other hand with variegated plants not being as vigorous, I’m wondering if it would be capable of surviving without a root stock at all. I haven’t been able to find out much about that, although I do know this cultivar is a particularly slow grower. I would imagine that would be even more so the case if it were removed from its root stock.
Anyway, I’d love to hear any opinions on this project.

 

[BrightsideB]

You could just grow it out in the ground for a while until you learn more to be on the safe side. Maybe air layer some branches in three years.

 

[chlorine-queen]

You could just grow it out in the ground for a while until you learn more to be on the safe side. Maybe air layer some branches in three years.

That’s certainly the safest option…and makes the most sense actually, once it grows enough material to see how cuttings/air layers fare without the root stock while also observing whether or not the root stock seems liable to overtake the scion. Seems like a case of me overthinking it now!

 

[Potawatomi13]

Hmm, what graft? One of most un obvious grafts ever seen here. Not to worry as graft of Ginkgo onto Ginkgo likely to become invisible in fairly short time.

 

[Shibui]

although I do know this cultivar is a particularly slow grower.

Standard ginkgos are slow growing. If it is a slower grower your new variety could take a couple of lifetimes to develop.

My 2c is that it is far too early to be making definite plans. Let it grow as much as it can. You can then try some cuttings with excess growth. You can also monitor the graft to see if its getting better or worse to see whether layering will be required but I'd bet the graft union will gradually disappear.

 

[penumbra]

A lot of good info here on ginkgo.
I have a grafted variegated ginkgo I have had for a long time, maybe 20 years. It is very slow growing. Two years ago I performed an air layer and it took rapidly. Due to this success, I now have 6 or 7 other cultivars to try the same action upon. Unfortunately, my ginkgo got hit with a late freeze this year. They were damaged beyond any of the damage suffered by my Japanese maple collection. Most just need to recover their health but a few will be layered this year when weather stabilizes.

 

[chlorine-queen]

Standard ginkgos are slow growing. If it is a slower grower your new variety could take a couple of lifetimes to develop.

My 2c is that it is far too early to be making definite plans. Let it grow as much as it can. You can then try some cuttings with excess growth. You can also monitor the graft to see if its getting better or worse to see whether layering will be required but I'd bet the graft union will gradually disappear.

Yeah, I’m prepared to never see it develop an amazing structure or anything. I still enjoy looking at it and definitely want it to be as vigorous as it can, so I wasn’t planning on touching anything on it for a long while anyway. If it’s likely to do fine with the graft left on then all the better.

A lot of good info here on ginkgo.
I have a grafted variegated ginkgo I have had for a long time, maybe 20 years. It is very slow growing. Two years ago I performed an air layer and it took rapidly. Due to this success, I now have 6 or 7 other cultivars to try the same action upon. Unfortunately, my ginkgo got hit with a late freeze this year. They were damaged beyond any of the damage suffered by my Japanese maple collection. Most just need to recover their health but a few will be layered this year when weather stabilizes.

I’m sorry to hear about the damage to your trees! If you’ve posted any photos of the variegated ginkgo before it got frozen I’d love to check them out. Sounds like those 20-ish years were spent just getting it to a size to be able to remove material from?