Grafting 101

[markyscott]

Finally, insert the scion into the cut you made in the understock.

Bend the stem away from the slit, and then gently positioning the scion to the very bottom of the cut. When you are getting the cuts right, the scion will fit right into the slit and the rounded tops of the two cuts will come together evenly. The scion should be held tightly to the understock by the force of the cut closing on the understock when you release it. After inserting the scion, examine the graft for flatness. Ideally, you'll have a perfectly mated surfaces without touching the graft.

 

[markyscott]

Here's the whole sequence (I think these pictures may have come from Bonsai Tonight - be sure to give Jonas some traffic):

 

[markyscott]

In terms of aftercare, I've been taught the following.

• Place the tree back in the sun (you want it to grow well), but protect the new scion (you don't want it to dry out). A dry graft is a dead graft
• Periodically moisten the sphagnum moss by squirting water on it through the bag with a syringe.
• Don't let rain or irrigation water get into the graft union. Seal upward facing grafts with cut paste to prevent this.
• Don’t open the bags too quickly; open a little bit at a time. Once you see growth inside of the bag, cut a small opening at the top of the bag to allow in some fresh air. Why not the bottom? Well, creating an opening along the base of the bags lets additional moisture escape and can lead to desiccated scions. In most cases, that's all that happens the first year.

• Unless the tape is severely cutting in, leave it in place for the first year.

 

[markyscott]

That's all I know about detached scion grafting. Later I'll post something about approach grafting.

 

[0soyoung]

How long should one wait before beginning to open the bag?

 

[markyscott]

How long should one wait before beginning to open the bag?

Hi Oso - I wait until I see some growth and then open the corner of the bag. If no growth and the shoot is still green, I open the corner in late summer/early fall the year I grafted. If I get strong growth the year I graft, I open the end of the bag as the shoot extends so it can grow out unimpeded. If I don't get strong growth, I open the end of the bag after the growing season ends. If everything is still green, I cut the rest of the bag off the following spring but leave the tape on until after the second growing season after grafting.

 

[0soyoung]

Thanks.
Good show

 

[justBonsai]

Good info. I am looking to experiment a lot more with grafting myself. Looking forward to the approach grafting article--that's the one that help me the most.

 

[sorce]

Good stuff Scott.

I hope you don't mind I drop this here.

Some info about the types of scion to use....
Same prep, but different wrap and reveal.

Thanks for always taking your time to put these informational posts together.

You are one of the greatest assets to this community.

Sorce

 

[markyscott]

Good stuff Scott.

I hope you don't mind I drop this here.

Some info about the types of scion to use....
Same prep, but different wrap and reveal.

Thanks for always taking your time to put these informational posts together.

You are one of the greatest assets to this community.

Sorce

Not at all. I'll also offer this one with Brent Watson - a visual reference is so important when trying this for the first time. He doesn't bag the grafts as I illustrated here, but he does thousands of these every season and their all on seedlings.

And I appreciate the complement, but there are a lot of folks who post here who I have a great deal of respect for.

 

[markyscott]

Just one more thought about cutting the scion - it's the hardest cut to get right in my experience. Done improperly you can get a curved surface on the long cut. That's no good and will likely result in a grafting failure. It's easy to make a cut that's not flat. Hold the scion up and look at it edge on like in the picture I posted - it should be perfectly flat.

Watch those videos and practice this cut a lot - it will help your grafting.

 

[markyscott]

Here are some pictures of successful side cleft grafts on a black pine. Those pictues were taken in November 2015. I'll try and take some updated ones as well.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Scott, you have a healthy sense of humor! Thanks for the great thread, and you're a blessing. Any tips on how to minimize graft swelling? With thread grafting in a past post you advised me I should avoid going perpendicular as much as possible. I would guess it's the same with approach grafts. But what about scion grafting? I think it's obvious not to force the split too big with a large scion, and don't graft scion that grows faster than what you're grafting to. I'm not so sure about how natural say for example 'Mino Yatsubusa', a slow growing dwarf Trident would work grafted to regular Trident maple. What other things to consider might I be ignorant of, buddy? I see you're going in a certain order of explaining. I'll await your reply.

 

[Mr.E]

Scott thanks for the detailed information, at this pont in my bonsai journey (money I'm willing to spend on material) I have a black pine that has somewhat leggy branches. There are some buds forming closer to the trunk but not as close as I would like. When would be the best time to take the scion from the same tree?

 

[markyscott]

Scott, you have a healthy sense of humor! Thanks for the great thread, and you're a blessing. Any tips on how to minimize graft swelling? With thread grafting in a past post you advised me I should avoid going perpendicular as much as possible. I would guess it's the same with approach grafts. But what about scion grafting? I think it's obvious not to force the split too big with a large scion, and don't graft scion that grows faster than what you're grafting to. I'm not so sure about how natural say for example 'Mino Yatsubusa', a slow growing dwarf Trident would work grafted to regular Trident maple. What other things to consider might I be ignorant of, buddy? I see you're going in a certain order of explaining. I'll await your reply.

Hi TP. Good question. When grafting a pine scion onto a different variety understock there are a couple of different things to consider. One is growth rate. If the scion and rootstock grow at different rates you can get swelling. An example is white pine on black pine understock. Another is bark character. Black pine and white pine have very different looking bark - if you choose a variety in which the bark character matches, you'll have a less obvious graft when you're finished. There's s tremendous variety in bark character just in black pine! In the case I illustrated, the scions were cut from the understock. The goal is not to replace the foliage, it's to improve the branches. If that's the case, I always advise to do the same. That way you're sure the colors match, the growth rate matches and the bark matches.

Thanks for the question.

 

[markyscott]

Scott thanks for the detailed information, at this pont in my bonsai journey (money I'm willing to spend on material) I have a black pine that has somewhat leggy branches. There are some buds forming closer to the trunk but not as close as I would like. When would be the best time to take the scion from the same tree?

Hello E

The best shoots are ones that were decandled last year and had healthy summer growth. You cut back to two year old wood. The best time to cut scions is when they're dormant. The best time to carry out the graft is when the rootstock is moving but the scions are still dormant. I've never pulled this off, but, in an International Bonsai article (it was an early issue, but I can't recall the year) Bill suggested storing the scions in the refrigerator until spring. The second best time is in the spring after the freeze danger has passed, but while the tree is still dormant. Hope that helps.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

Hello E

The best shoots are ones that were decandled last year and had healthy summer growth. You cut back to two year old wood. The best time to cut scions is when they're dormant. The best time to carry out the graft is when the rootstock is moving but the scions are still dormant. I've never pulled this off, but, in an International Bonsai article (it was an early issue, but I can't recall the year) Bill suggested storing the scions in the refrigerator until spring. The second best time is in the spring after the freeze danger has passed, but while the tree is still dormant. Hope that helps.

Scott

Found the reference:

Y. Takeshita, K. Gun, 1979, Japanese Black Pine Branch Grafting Techniques: Illustrated Guidelines for Creating Bonsai No. 4, International Bonsai, Winter 1979, pp. 4-11

 

[Drew]

Thanks! I hear different things so it's good to have someone with a practiced eye help out. We'll have to tell the guy eating the white layer that it's not the cambium! Now I don't know what he's eating!

Hey @markyscott, so just want to confirm you need to try and line up white on white or green on green layers?

 

[markyscott]

Hey @markyscott, so just want to confirm you need to try and line up white on white or green on green layers?

Hi Drew -

I'll let Oso chime in - I don't have a background in horticulture, but he seems pretty knowledgeable on the subject. I typically count layers from the outside. You should have the bark or cork, the living phloem which differentiates into bark and cambium and then the vascular cambium. So it's the third layer in from the outside. In my experience it can be white to green in color and is variable in width depending on the species. Black pine tends to have a pretty thick cambium whereas in other species such as boxwood it can be paper thin. Oso might have some more general recognition criteria.

 

[Giga]

Good write up