Grafting

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callmefence

callmefence

Keyboard cowboy
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Mar 7, 2016
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Fencemans place...central Texas
My only damage from hurricane Harvey was our amazing plum tree.
Planted by red it's provided buckets of plums four generations.
The wind broke it over about a foot off the ground . It's still attached partially to the stump . Yesterday I noticed new growth. Some up on the limbs and some new shoots from the trunk. Oddly
Their flowering like spring. I'm wanting to attempt to graft this tree on to some store bought root stock. Anyone have any experience with this.?
 
storebought is usually budded pretty low to the ground isn’t it. Might you be able find some wild plum on some of your fencing jobs to pilfer?
 
It is probably a goner and the growth is from stored food in the tree, but you never know. How many mesquite trees have you seen split and continue to grow even with all the exposed raw wood.
Pull it back up straight and stake it off. Prune it back some. If the cambium layer is still mostly intact, it might recover. If not, nothing is lost by trying.
 
1982vett":1vm40xtu said:
storebought is usually budded pretty low to the ground isn’t it. Might you be able find some wild plum on some of your fencing jobs to pilfer?
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea.
I've got wild plum on the property but all large mature trees and in the brush.
I could graft the shoots on the wild plum??
But is there way to get it back into my orchard. ??

bird dog":1vm40xtu said:
It is probably a goner and the growth is from stored food in the tree, but you never know. How many mesquite trees have you seen split and continue to grow even with all the exposed raw wood.


Pull it back up straight and stake it off. Prune it back some. If the cambium layer is still mostly intact, it might recover. If not, nothing is lost by trying.
Click to expand...

We were already fighting bores. Which is I suspect the real reason the tree gave. With a little push from Harvey.
I don't think the main trunk can be saved. But maybe nurture a upshoot from the main trunk. ??
 
Biggest problem I see is not knowing if broke at a graft.... anything below will be something else. Won’t know till it fruits up. Wrong time of year to be grafting also but it might be a last ditch effort to save what you have. If it’s blooming now it’s definitly shifted to survival mode.

I think grafting on the wild plum where it is now would be the thing to do then bring some back to your orchard at a later date. Hard to say, I imagine trees in your area aren’t far from dormancy on top of it. Your store bought stock idea may be a good plan especially if you can provide it with greenhouse nursery conditions.
 
vett,
Your best bet at this time is probably to try 'parking some buds' on any plum you can find.
Bark or cleft grafting... you could try, but this late in the season, I wouldn't be surprised by total failure - but... nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Google up a youtube video on T-budding. It's easy to do. You can place the buds now and hopefully they'll callus in...and you can force them next spring by pruning the rootstock off just above them.
 

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