Bench Grafting Apple Trees with Whip & Tongue and Bark Grafts

Delton Curtis demonstrates bench grafting apple trees with whip & tongue and bark grafts.

[@pittsburghatecore]

I want this guy’s confidence. I approach my grafting like I’m grabbing a venomous snake.

[@dreaminggreennursery]

😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂

[@joshholschuh1847]

Same boat. Been watching videos for years , almost though I had a bud graft take last year, son of a bitch fell off

[@byronnelson7967]

This guy really knows what he is talking about. Thanks for the video.

[@GraftingTactick]

This guy is a grafting master. Thanks for delivering such a wonderful grafting master class ☘🌿🌴🌳🌲🌱

[@ZachBeane]

Thank you Herb for posting this video of Delton's process. I'm in Maine and starting an orchard and this year I successfully grafted 50 or so M111s with local scions and scions from the MOFGA scion exchange. Delton's clear explanation of each of his steps and clear demonstration of technique gave me a very good success rate. If you ever visit Delton again I would be very curious to see his nursery setup.

[@SteveRastaCahillconcertnetwork]

Great stuff, Delton is a rare Gem🎉

[@mikeya9370]

While watching you doing the whip and tongue graft I think I just figured out a secret that makes it almost impossible to fail.Most other grafts you have to line up the cambium on the sides which is not easy to do, but with this method the cambium layers meet at at the top and bottom of scion and root stock.This is demonstrated at the 4:20 time line quite clearly,as long as the cuts are flat you should succeed.

[@rosetvm]

The best tutorial video. Thank you for posting.

[@herbcrosby]

Thanks for your comment. Delton Curtis is a national treasure with a wealth of grafting knowledge. So kind of him to share his expertise with us.

[@mistereearly1141]

This should be standard education in American schools

[@vf5126]

It’s likely mentioned in HS science classes. I gave demonstrations for my children's classes, each student went home with a tree!

[@mistereearly1141]

@@vf5126 I think schools near me are too preoccupied distorting biology in science class nowadays

[@vf5126]

@@mistereearly1141 Schools are hostage to community whims.. My local schools are having a school-based community grafting seminar today! But we’re rural, where folks still have room to plant apple trees ~

[@mistereearly1141]

@@vf5126 God bless your community.

[@milivojesrbin3333]

Lepo pokazao covek 👏

[@rob4263]

You say you have some apple scion grafted onto full size rootstock that haven’t produced apples in 20 years. Do you attribute that to lack of pollination compatibility, lack of pollinators, variety of scion, or the rootstock itself? Which variety of standard rootstock are you saying hasn't produced apples in 20 years? Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@Jay-tk7ib]

Electrical tape will indeed come off on it's own. Time and the sun takes care of it. Of course you wouldn't want to make multiple wraps with it, but it works.

[@vf5126]

In order to bind scion with stock electrical tape must be pulled, even slightly stretched, often using several wraps. If not removed, it’ll girdle the scion. Instead of unwrapping it, make a razorblade slice through the length of it ..and allow it to peel off on it’s own.

[@Jay-tk7ib]

@@vf5126 Yes, I've been using it for many years.

[@andrepretorius235]

Hi whats in the bucket looks brown and hou long do you leeve them in it?

[@farmmanager2140]

We grafted 300 trees on M111 using Deltons method had great success, but not so good with G11 did not cut very easier and most the G11 did not take. Thanks.

[@XXXston3wallXXX]

Thank you

[@runkinggod5595]

我喜歡像這樣的視頻， 如果能夠拍攝到砧木及穗木的細部， 那就更完美了。

[@muddyriverdogz]

thank you. Best video i have seen. How long does it take for the graph to take ?

[@jameskniskern2261]

Delton said in the video, he checks his graft after 2 weeks in 78F to 80F temps to see if they have callused over. If they have, then they are good. Then he moves them into the cool of the garage for a while before planting out in his nursery beds for the year. And then he digs them up for sale/planting out.

[@mrminer071166]

When you do a potato-harvest video, you have do the Norfolk accent; when grafting - - - TALK LIKE A MAINER! Lol, I'm from San Diego.

[@raufjaleel8317]

Thank you for the video. Please tell us about that black stuff used for the protection of scion and bud union.

[@herbcrosby]

This is a tree wound dressing called "Trekote". You can buy this online: www.amazon.com/Clarks-Treekote-Brushtop-Container-16-Ounce/dp/B000OW9UPU/ref=asc_df_B000OW9UPU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=193150648923&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5070462823393646914&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002618&hvtargid=pla-305159996819&psc=1

[@vf5126]

If you want the best, hunt down some Doc Farwell’$ latex based grafting sealer (yellow); good luck finding less than a gallon.. The brown stuff (shown) is crude, doesn’t expand with growth, takes forever to dry, but is relatively cheap.

[@thatguyc5899]

Herb, I am going to be bench grafting apples for the first time this Spring. Is there a reason you don’t use a grafting tool that cuts the “V” in both the root and scion. The tool kind of looks like a hand wire stripper I assumed it would make it easier to line everything up. Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge in this video.

[@herbcrosby]

Thanks for your comments. Delton has been grafting for many years using a simple grafting knife and he achieves nearly perfect success. This method takes more skill but is perhaps more flexible for different size tree stock.

[@thatguyc5899]

Thank you. I may try both methods. This year I am only grafting about 20 trees, but I want to get the skills down before I try greater numbers.

[@jameskniskern2261]

@@thatguyc5899 I suggest when you are pruning your trees, practice with the prunings. Do a couple hundred practice grafts, and you will hone your skill to the point where you will have great success. Try several different sizes to each other, and *play* with it for a few hours each day, while you have good wood to work on. (I wouldn't paint them with the trekote, but practice wrapping with parafilm is good too. Good luck!

[@thatguyc5899]

I grafted up 20 trees last weekend. Used a few different options, I have the grafts at different heights based on where it best lined up on size floral some of them. They are in the basement in damp sawdust right now. I was going to leave them in the 50-55 degree basement for a few weeks to heal.

[@brianhanrahan7561]

@@thatguyc5899 So, Did they survive?

[@andersondnepr6814]

Дякую за працю

[@olddave4833]

very nice, by the looking at those bib overalls, it looks like you may have slipped with the knife a few times

[@vf5126]

..I was looking for blood stains … the way he was pressing that knife toward his hand..

[@gabeolson-jensen8676]

Bud 9 Geneva 11 and Geneva 210 are the best rootstocks to work with.

[@vf5126]

..try Bud 10, it's new ~

[@gabeolson-jensen8676]

Spring chip buds are most effective and efficient for bench grafting.

[@vf5126]

Actually, late summer T-buds are most efficient, that’s how it’s done commercially. Chip buds are most often used on older root stock, after the bark has slipped, meaning they cannot be mass-produced like dormant bench-grafting, shown here.

[@kashmirorchards4790]

Which u consider the best whip n tongue or bark grafting?

[@herbcrosby]

Delton uses whip & tongue grafts for making new apple trees where the root stock and scion wood have similar diameters. Bark grafts are useful when the diameters are very different.

[@dagobaker]

so u want both the rootstock and scions to wake up for a few weeks before grafting?

[@vf5126]

No, neither need to be ‘awake.’ The scion must remain dormant until attached, and the energy within the rootstock should be maintained for healing/ feeding the union, not pushing it’s own buds..

[@dagobaker]

@@vf5126 ok i did 4 bench grafts with 5 scions and 3 are doing great 1 is alive and the other isnt awake....although it could have been a bad scion......... ill wait another week and regraft

[@vf5126]

@@dagobaker If your scion wood is still dormant, yes, I’d do the one over; maybe save the remaining scions in case that slow one dies too.. As long as scion wood is dormant, you can graft it to leafed out trees if you’d like ~

[@mehmetsarikaya28]

How was it root ?

[@makeylaishram3813]

What is that liquid u apply after making a graft

[@BrianBerriosOne]

Treekote

[@joshholschuh1847]

Thats gotta be why none of my grafts have taken cause i didnt shake it before taping

[@DaleLClay]

He says "What" he does when he has more than one bud - comes back and removes any additional buds above "One". My apprentice view question is "Why"?

[@herbcrosby]

Believe Delton want the tree to grow with a single trunk. Having 2 buds at the start increases the chance of grafting success.

[@mrminer071166]

I've seen how this plays out. With 2-3 buds, and only the bare minimum of nutrition coming in, what typically happens is that the scion allows one bud to dominate, and the other buds, if they grow, are stunted. So, once you have a "take," identify the MAIN bud and remove the rest. This also gives you a single straight trunk.

[@jameskniskern2261]

Most growers want the single trunk. Having 2 buds is insurance for us novice grafters. After the graft takes, identify which bud you want to keep, and let it grow, cutting off all other buds from both the rootstock and the scion. This allows a single whip to grow that first year. We think about branching later, when the whip has some height on it. For shipping, anything longer than 2 feet costs more to ship, so many commercial growers trim their trees down to the 2 foot length for shipping. Having one strong trunk has a better chance of long-term survival after shipping and planting out. Good luck.

[@vf5126]

Previous answers are correct, however, ‘tip-pinch’ additional bud growth, leaving up to three sets of leaves; they shade the trunk/ bark, produce energy for the graft union and the one upright shoot you left.

[@darrengarlough5121]

Where can I get reasonable rootstock, so I can do a few hundred at a time?

[@herbcrosby]

FEDCO in Maine offers a variety of rootstock: www.fedcoseeds.com/trees/rootstock

[@goldrushhomestead]

Cummings Nursery too but it's a bit late to be ordering rootstock for the year.

[@MattyDemello]

I wonder how much he sells them for

[@bobbyjones9017]

could just use parafilm tape

[@denisethorbjornsen7493]

You have to have growing medium.

[@vf5126]

That’s only for holding large amounts. If you’ve only a few grafts, temporarily ‘heel them’ into a garden bed, or best, directly plant where you want the tree (with protection from damage).

[@pemasangja1587]

Hlo sir I am from India and I need rootstock apple plant could you deliver in India is possible sir....

[@herbcrosby]

We get apple rootstock from FEDCO Trees in Maine. Unsure if they can ship to India, www.fedcoseeds.com/trees/rootstock

[@vf5126]

Too bad he hadn’t discovered budding bands.. You use the largest, they break down on their own, are waterproof, and less expensive than ‘parafilm.’