Thread Graft From Different Plain JM?

[dbonsaiw]

Can I use the shoots of one plain vanilla JM to thread graft onto another plain vanilla JM? Basically want to use one Home Depot maple to graft onto another Home Depot maple. They look almost identical, but surely have different genetics. Is there an increased risk of rejection because it comes from another tree?

Also, is there a limit of how many thread grafts one can perform in one go? Could I drill a dozen holes in a one-foot trunk or will that endanger health of the tree?

 

[penumbra]

Absolutely, go for it. These leaves if indistinguishable from one another now, will probably be so in the future as well. There could be a little difference that may show itself in the fall and in the earliest growth of spring.
As to the number of grafts, do you mean to say that the trunk is a foot across?

 

[dbonsaiw]

Absolutely, go for it. These leaves if indistinguishable from one another now, will probably be so in the future as well. There could be a little difference that may show itself in the fall and in the earliest growth of spring.
As to the number of grafts, do you mean to say that the trunk is a foot across?

Thanks. The tree is about a foot tall now and just shy of 2 inches fat. I probably wouldn't do a dozen, but would poke it full of grafts if able.

 

[penumbra]

Personally I would only do about 3 grafts. Each graft puts demands on the tree. Of course any graft, one or a dozen, has more to do with the health of the tree and its after care.

 

[Shibui]

The 2 trees will definitely graft OK. Very little risk of incompatibility. The real issue is any differences in growth, colour, etc that you can't see now.
I have a fused 3 trunk trident and one trunk comes into leaf a few weeks earlier than the others. It also changes colour and drops leaves a few weeks before the other 2 trunks at the end of the season. Most of the year no-one can tell but for those few weeks the tree looks quite odd.
With JM there can be differences in leaf colour as the new leaves open, leaf size, etc.

 

[bwaynef]

In general, you wouldn't want to thread graft w/ spring shoots as they're leggier than the growth you get at the end of the season.