Grafting pines for bonsai - Arkefthos Bonsai

Grafting specific pine cultivars, with preferable characteristics, for bonsai cultivation.
#bonsai #grafting #pine
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[@nightcoder5k]

Great video. Thank you. I'm going to do some grafting in the spring. Winter has just begun in California. Love the mountains in the background.

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Thank you! But be careful! Grafting can be addicting! On a serious note, put your rootstock in a greenhouse for two weeks just before grafting, to wake it up while the scions are dormant. If you manage to match the diameter of the rootstock to the scions and just maintain basic microclimate of low temperatures and high humidity, you'll probably get a rewarding success rate! I've already put my rootstock in the greenhouse on the 21st so that I'll graft by the end of the first week of January. Good luck!

[@nightcoder5k]

@@ArkefthosBonsai Great tips. Thank you!!!

[@tattoofun2003]

I will use this video for practice.

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Please do so, thank you!

[@duzzd]

Hello, thank you for sharing everything. I have a question. Can I graft more than one shoot on one branch, no more that 2 or 3?

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

You're welcome Milos! Yes, definitely. Last year I grafted 7 scions onto a single rootstock. 6 of them were successful. You can build a whole tree, change the foliage, with grafting. I do that in the video, with the mugo pine where I graft yellow winter foliage on it, or with the huge Pinus nigra where I graft multiple thunbergii on it. Good luck!

[@duzzd]

@@ArkefthosBonsai Yes, that is exactly what am I planing to do. Thanks

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

@duzzd check out my latest video from last year on grafting. Early January 2023. The one I'm referring too. Has more detail on the matter. Cheers!

[@bonsaiguy65]

Hi and thanks for making this video. There's a long and a short side to the scion I believe, once cut. Are you lining up the long side to the outside or the inside? It appears to the outside I think. For the Parviflora, what is the best time to graft to rootstock?

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Thank you! I make two equally long cuts on either side of the scion. One rests on the inside of the rootstock cut and one has contact with the flap. That ensures more contact area and higher chances to get adequate cambium contact and fuse. As for time, as with all species, the best scenario is to have the rootstock active and the scion dormant. If you have a heated greenhouse, you put the rootstock in for 2-3 weeks, to get it going and then graft with freshly cut, still dormant scions. If you don't have heated space, the next best thing is both rootstock and scion are dormant but close to spring. You have to protect them from frost though. Another possibility, which I use for field grafting, is late September to late October grafting, as soon as the summer tempratures drop, but at least a month before the first frost. Cheers!

[@pietropieroni5685]

@@ArkefthosBonsai hello i am interested in pine and juniper grafts. i read your answer of the periods. i read that you are greek i am in the mountains tuscany italy, i think the same climate as you. I would like to try to graft this winter by putting the rootstock in the house. instead I wanted to ask if I do the graft in September that is now. in October you advise me to put it indoors, however, sheltered from frost. Then how can I tell if the graft took off in October? can I see if the scion dries me? thank you

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Only way to know if it took is that it stays green colored, vibrant green, not olive green and starts to grow in spring. So, if you decide to graft in September, keep it humid, keep it in the shade but outside as long as you can. When the temperatures drop below 5 deg Celsius, take it in, but keep it cold, not 20 deg Celsius. You need at least a month of dormancy before you let it grow again. And it is important that the rootstock is healthy and strong. Cheers!

[@Chris-oq6kn]

Very nice! Can i ask a question is there a reason that u didnt skin the sides of the pine grafts u did in the other video when u inserted it into the thick trunk? It was on the approach graft video. If u did would it be better ?

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

In the old days, graters used to do it as you described. But nowadays it is definitely certain not to be useful. It might even be bad since in approach grafting, it takes months to fuse, exposing the cambium on the scion without immediate contact, might kill it. As I told you Chris, contact of cambium and fusing is inevitable if you do it right. No need to introduce parameters that can impede your success. Cheers!

[@Chris-oq6kn]

@@ArkefthosBonsai well explained. I had no idea thats how it used to be done and makes sense while opening up more wounds on the scion could introduce anything into it. I only mentioned it cause i see some people still doing it that way. Thanks alot!

[@rikdah]

Hi, what is the after care of the newly graft tree? Do you put it into the greenhouse, until the weather warms? Thanks

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Nice question! Yes indeed, back in the greenhouse at 14 - 15 Dec Celsius and high humidity (85 - 95%). The ones that grow vigorously, I set them under a tree for shade and mist them regularly at mid April.

[@pietropieroni5685]

@@ArkefthosBonsai to create the humidity I can pack it in a plastic bag

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Yes, definatly and keep them under complete shade. You don't want the sun to hit the bag at all, temperature inside the back will rise instantly, a lot. You have to know that with the bag method success will be a bit limited though. Harder to keep perfect conditions than a graft tent - greenhouse.

[@aliosmanozen196]

Which healing pasta do you use

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Not a specific - bonsai one. It's a generic healing paste with nice viscosity and color. Name is fitobalsam and made by Zapi in Italy. Cheers Ali!

[@aliosmanozen196]

@@ArkefthosBonsai thanks for the quick reply. I salute you from other side of the Aegean see.

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Thank you Ali! Cheers my friend!

[@pietropieroni5685]

Hello , I wanted to ask for advice . In mid - September I grafted white pine on four 3 - year - old black pine plants . The grafts for now are beautiful green and fresh. I ask you for shelter from the cold, now I am in cold greenhouse not heated. And the outdoor temperature fluctuates between 3/6 degrees at night and 20/24 degrees at day. At what degrees I recommend repairing . I wanted them to put them in a room that will have an average temperature of 15 degrees in a closed bag sheltered from the sun thanks . And at what temperatures I can put them out in the open in spring thanks

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Hello Pietro. If the color of the scions now is vibrant, you are probably already successful. I've done some in the last days of August. Only one of them didnt take and it has been brown for 3 weeks now. So, what I would do, is keep them still under humid condition (around 80% is great) in a greenhouse, or a room with temperatures not more than 20 C. If that's impossible, I would keep them out, under bright shade but no direct sunlight yet and mist them as many times as I can throughout the day. If you can mist twice every hour, that would be great. 3 deg C is OK, while parviflora would be fine even at - 5 C now, thunbergii probably would not like it, so if you get a forecast for 0 C or less get them inside, at a unheated room, or garage or even a basement near a window, or if you have grow lights use them. Whatever you can to keep them from freezing. Keep in mind that in a month you will need to let them go to hybernation but still don't let them freeze too much. In a month I would let them stay at -2 C but not lower. If you have any question, just let me know! Cheers!

[@pietropieroni5685]

@@ArkefthosBonsai thanks

[@pietropieroni5685]

Hello I am always from Italy . I wanted to ask you , if I have luck and in the spring the Pines grafted left . When you advise me to cut the mother branch

[@ArkefthosBonsai]

Hello Pietro! If you are grafting for just propagation you can remove the rootstock foliage in November (as long as you had good growth on your scion). But if you are grafting for bonsai, I suggest you leave the rootstock as is and use it as a sacrificial trunk for a few years. In a few days I'm making a video about my grafts and what I am going to do with them. So have patience and in a few days you will see that in a video! Cheers!

[@pietropieroni5685]

@@ArkefthosBonsai yes i’m do for bonsai