Recently I tried my hand at grafting for the first time. I ordered apple scions from two online companies, and collected some myself from four unknown heirloom varieties. I also received some by mail from someone I contacted by email. I kept the scions wrapped in the refrigerator in zip-lock bags while I waited for the rootstocks to arrive in late March.
Originally I had planned to take pictures step by step and post the entire process here on the web page. It quickly became apparent that although I had done my homework I was definitely still on the learning curve. I tipped over the paraffin wax mixing it with the crock water. The cutting board I was using was to wide and made clean cuts hard to obtain. My first few whip grafts were marginal until I found my groove. Refer to my links page for a grafting how-to.
It was a fun learning experience regardless of the issues. It will be a few weeks before I know how successful I am. I think I have caught the bug and can't wait to graft more varieties next year.
Note the picture to the right. "Red Devil" is a fairly new red fleshed variety from Europe. Even the wood on this tree is red as most red fleshed varieties are. However, the other red fleshed variety that I grafted "Hidden Rose" did not have red wood.
Update June 2007
It appears that of the 20 trees I grafted 17 or 18 are off and running. Apparently 80% is the normal success rate for experienced grafters so I am very happy with the results.
