Avocado, Field Grafting.

Tried grafting Avocado trees in the field. I only managed to bud graft successfully. These trial was on above 2 years old tree planted from seeds.

Approximately 2 year old Avocado tree from seed.

 My purpose of field grafting is to convert these trees from seed to grafted trees, so that it can fruit earlier. Did some cleft, splice, whip, side and bud grafting.

I select branch that are good and non water shoot.

I initially prefer non bud grafting as it's growth rate are slow.

Most of the grafting failed. Was lucky on the bud graft. The main advantage of bud graft over the others is lesser prone to damage.

Avocado grafts damaged by me while inspection.

Some of these are damaged by clumsy me.

The initial Avocado bud graft.

Did more bud grafts as it seems that these looks promising.

Subsequent Avocado Bud graft. I simplified it.

Decided to have about 5 (promising) grafts per tree. If 2 were to take, then that should be good to go.

Initially used sealant as thinking that it's field work and exposure to the weather.

I simplified the bud grafting by grafting slightly off top most position.

I then grafted on a about 5 years non fruiting tree.

Advantage of grafting off center top, are water run off and lesser exposure to direct sun light.

Vertical branch are good too.

Seems that the older tree is responding faster. Started to remove the top.

Avocado bud responding.

Avocado tree before topping off.

Decided to top off the trees so as to concentrate on the new buds. Top off the grafted Avocado trees.

Avocado tree after topping off.

Just arrived BioJadi.

Shall check on them regularly and start applying fertilization as soon as it starts growing. Maybe I shall try the recently received BioJadi fertilizer on them.

Buds are growing.

Bud had took.

#Avocado field bud grafting.

In the meantime, I shall find opportunity to try cleft / side / splice grafting on field as I think these should response & grow faster.

Grafting Tool. My Impression.

Was examining the failed grafting and fond that even though the grafting did not 'take' there were minimum damage to the rootstock. Unlike the conventional way of using the knife.

Failed Avocado grafting.

The dying part doesn't really spread very far. I only get a few death rootstock.

Death Avocado scion.

The other advantage of using the grafting tool is that the shape is fixed (when cut correctly) and you do not need to reshape for them to fit. This reduce tremendously the time to practice our cutting skill.

As I am removing the failed Avocado grafting and redoing it, am trying to set up some qualifier so that I can use the tool effectively & successfully. Am sure that the grafting tool was designed to help ease out grafting if all the conditions are met.

The foremost conditions are that the join part should be smooth and of uniform diameter. The diameter of the scion & rootstock should be of the same (closest possible). These should create more contact through out the cut length including the shoulder. 

The 3 blades, I guess shall work well for different occasion. The U is good only for a minimum stem diameter of 8mm. Anything smaller, the parallel wing do not have enough body mass to be strong enough to hold the other side (basing on Avocado). The V & Omega has yet to be determined, but I guess it should be thicker, due to the nature of the shape. I would guess 10mm. Maximum is 15 mm, that is the mouth of the tool.

Cutting should be made perpendicular to the stems and at the center. Should the cut misaligned off center, both should be of the same distant. This need a bit of practice as there is no aiming device. Am still trying to look for a way to 'aim' the cut so as it is perpendicular and dead center.

Joining of the scion & rootstock should align correctly on the upper & lower part of the U. Also take note on the shoulder, which can aid increasing cambium contact.

Wrapping
Using the grafting tool, wrapping have to be modify to suit. Wrapping can not be done too high above the join as the torque / pressure / tension of the wrapping tape shall displace the joint alignment.

After fixing the qualifier at minimum 8mm stem diameter, I couldn't find any opportunity to test the grafting tools. Most of my rootstock are still smaller than 8mm. Guess I have to resort back to using the knife for the time being.

Was doing grafting in the field and took the grafting tool along. Field grafting is really challenging. Need to re-work my grafting procedure to keep things simple and tools to a minimal.

Anyway, task of the day is a trial to graft 4 Borneo Avocado trees, maybe about 2 years old, planted by seeds. I would want a top working  (yet) as I'm yet to graduate till that level, so I'm grafting to the branches.

Borneo Avocado grew by seeds.

Grafting on the branches post lots of challenges. 1 of them is the the branches are almost horizontal. I tried to use the grafting tool whenever it qualifies and reverted to my knife cut when it's not. Tried the V blade as it was still attached, couldn't get the scion to stand into place no matter how I turn it. It keep on dropping. I figure that this is a job more suitable for Omega blade.

Grafted, Avocado tree.

The Omega offer more grip, thus holding the scion in place before wrapping.

The Omega gives a good grip, free our hands to wrap.

Done, grafted the Avocado tree.

I did a couple of graft per tree, and hope that at least 1 takes. I guess the successful rate should be quite low. I also tried other grafting method depending on the circumstances.

The last trees was the most challenging, on a steep gradient.

The last tree was challenging, have to graft sitting on the soil and use a leg to anchor at the trunk. Shall check back in about 2 weeks.

Ran out of candidates. Took the grafting to Soursop.

Just for fun, grafting Sousop.

Now the big question, was the tool useful?
To me it is as it lighten the load when doing mass grafting (when all condition are met). It helps in the cutting & shaping.

Note that this tool only help in a certain part of the grafting process only and does not guarantee grafting success. For successful grafting, kindly refer  back to the basic, that is cambium contact.

Jackfruit Side Veneer Graft.

Side Veneer Grafting On Jackfruit.

Decided to try out Side Veneer grafting on the Jackfruit. Most of the rootstock is from the failed previous cleft grafting.

Reasons that I trying out side veneer is that
1) it may be easier to align the cambium layer.
2) we may extend the joint to a longer graft.
3) it may be easier to graft on different diameter.
4) it may be easier, less laborious to cut the rootstock and scion.

Young Jackfruit scion.

First I cut off the top to about 6 to 10 inches. It's easier to work with.
 Then I prepare the scion. Scion of about 6 to 10 inches is used. I am targeting a joint of 4 to 6 inches. I cut starting from the tip and splice it down. Had started to use new growth scion.

Jackfruit rootstock, side veneer grafting.

 Then I do a side cut by first cutting into the lower section of the rootstock like a side wedge. I go back from the top, do a side cut and stop as soon as I feel the that I've cut off the soft part, before the hard section. Splice this down until the lower cut.

Matching the Jackfruit scion to the Jackfruit rootstock.

 The lower tip of the scion is wedge shaped and inserted into the lower cut of the rootstock. I align the scion slightly for cambium contact.

Wrapping the side veneer Jackfruit graft.

 I start of the wrapping and realign along the way. I try to align as best a I can on one side, but sometimes if it is not straight, I shall cross it to the other side. Am reducing the wrapping pressure due to my previous experience and also in view of the young scion.

Finished Jackdfruit graft.

 Finishing off with a plastic bag and tie up to prevent it from blowing off. Keeping these in a shaded area, 90% Shade screen.

Storing my grafted Jackfruit trees.

 Some of the grafted trees.

My grafting position.

Doing grafting under shade. It's much cooler.

Over grown Jackfruit rootstock.

 The over grown roostock.

Add caption

Top deactivated.

 Cutting off the top.

Jackfruit rootstock.

Note the bud.

Cap the grafted Jackfruit with a plastic bag to prevent humidity lost.

 A not so straight scion.

Matching the length.

Matching up.

My view, under the citrus tree, doing side veneer grafting on Jackfruit.

Mid day now. Sun is getting pretty hot and almost directly over head. Time to move into the shade.

This time I did 8 trees on the scion taken from the Honey Jackfruit. The 4 new plants that I have. Hope they can grow more buds after this. Just for the fun of it I did 2 for the soursop :-)

Had done all I could before I go on leave. Shall be back end of the month. This time hope I can achieve my 30%. Stay tune.

Grafting

Am doing some trial on fruit trees and in order to shorten the incubation time to fruiting, I have to look into grafting. Grafting can shortens the fruiting time to about 3 1/2 years as it takes on the traits of the mother tree (scion) which is already fruiting. Am doing some trials on grafting Avocado and Jack fruit seedling as these are seedling that I have germinated at the moment. I do not have any grafting experience and I started off just with some basic research on the internet.

Bought some tools such as pruning scissors ($18.00), grafting knife ($4.50) and some grafting tapes ($16.00)

Started my first grafting on a Jack fruit seedling back in August. Then tried grafting on rubber and avocado seedlings. These were down just to get some feel on grafting. I was figuring that it should not be too difficult as I see plenty people doing it when I bought my rubber seedlings rom Lembaga Getah nursery. There were lots of doubts especially when I snip off the top of the rootstock. Found it rather difficult as things are always not as ideal like the diagrams / instruction. My hands were also to 'hard' to do this fragile grafting, and my eye sight is also not sharp. Grafting was progressing very slowly. There were also my share of cuts, on my hands skin breaking due to pulling (tension) of the grafting tape. At night I feel muscle pain on my arms & palms.

 Finally manged about 20 grafting. Left these for about 3 weeks as I was away from my farm, on vacation. Come back and none was successful. Was thinking, well it is the first time.

 Did a second batch of about 60 seedlings on September, then went on vacation. Came back and was very happy as the grafted part is still alive. Thinking that it did not dried up after 2 weeks, it must then be growing. Estimated that I had a 65% successful rate, real good as it was only my second attempt.

 

  I released the grafting tape, thinking that it shall grow faster / better without it. It was a big mistake, as once release, lots of the graft come loose and as they started to dry up and wrinkle over a period of just a couple of days. I then tied back some of the grafts, but was already too late.











Ended up with lots of spoiled seedlings. As my grafting position isn't too low, I guess I can still try again on these seedlings.



Did further reading and find that cleft and side/modified veneer grafting should be easier for Avocado. Also since the weather is getting hotter, I read that protecting the graft with a bag, shall increase the humidity and prevent dehydration, allowing the budding to grow fast.

My mobile grafting station is a very simple set up. A stump of wood as a stool, which can swivel (my buttock). Tools, drinking water, hand phone for music entertainment, a pail of water to keep the scion fresh. All of these can be shifted when the sun change direction. A normal day, I shift about 3 times.

This time, I waited and saw buds starting out. Yes, this is definitely a bud and it is growing. I shall not make the same mistake that I did by removing the grafting tape. I watched it for 2 days, and removed the plastic as I was thinking that too high a humidity, it may rot the bud. It was big mistake number 2. All of the buds start to dry off and died.Most probably due to sudden dehydration. Again another case of over anxious.

Again what a waste. Have to re-do again, and hopefully the rootstock can still be used. I cover back some of the Jackfruit graft and hope that it shall grow. Been very busy finishing off those that can be grafted (still not very sure when to graft). Shall be away again, attending MAHA 2012 on the 22nd December.

Looking back from where I started, my confidence and experience had grown. There were a couple of times, I though of giving up, but because of the difference in fruiting time, I force myself to continue. I estimate that I had put in about 150 grafts effort, mostly re-dos, some up to 4 times on a seedling. Also with the next couple of projects on fruits and rubber trees, all these need to be grafted. The next in line shall be Soursop and lime.

Hope that when I come back after MAHA 2012, I can see good results of my effort.

Stay tune for more updates, MAHA 2012.