Thread grafting

defra

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I want to attempt some thread grafts soon since the buds on the victim start to swell.

I got a few questions tough because i want to at least make An effort to do it right !

Ill Just sum up my plan and if its a question il Will add some ???? Behind it

1 Drill from the side were the Graft Will leave the trunk.
2 String the shoot trough the hole
3 Put some Wood stuck between shoot and hole at the side you want to have as new branch
4 wire the Graft for support and to avoid damage
5 do i have to aply anything around the exit wound when doing this Graft? Or is it Just only growth and let the callus and branch fuse together?????
 

thumblessprimate1

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I apply a sealer around the holes and into the gaps. Wiring is not always needed. Wire only if it isn't going where you need it or if you want to add movement. By stringing do you mean simply threading?
 

TomB

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Use a slow speed to drill the hole, the heat generated by fast drilling can damage the trunk's cambium exactly at the point where you'll want it to fuse with the branch.
 

AJL

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Also you could try protecting any young buds by covering stem with a drinking straw or something similar to coat them and reduce abrasion when threading the young twig through the drilled hole- it worked well for me with several Japanese larch and a European Beech.
 

defra

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peterbone

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My question may be dumb, but can you use both ends of a thread graft and get two branches out of one graft? Or will it die when cut?
That's a good question. I would have thought that the sap direction would be wrong for the entry branch and so wouldn't survive. However, I've read about someone doing it, so I'd like to know.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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My question may be dumb, but can you use both ends of a thread graft and get two branches out of one graft? Or will it die when cut?
I’m currently using both ends on my double-trunk Arakawa, but the entry side is not growing very strongly. We’ll see...
F8206DB0-F9E7-4BDA-BBAF-CF7D68E600DE.jpeg
 

WesB

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Drill with a long bit at the very steepest angle possible and you won’t have bar branches.
 

WesB

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Stille then one is pointing up and the other hanging down?
With young whippy branches you can just wire them where you want after fusion. By the time they grow out you won’t even notice. And if you do just crack it into place after wiring.

It may only be a 45° angle for one tree or 60° angle on another. Drilling at angle, it’s just 1 more card up your sleeve for when you need it. No big deal.
 

coh

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I think it depends. If you look at Brian's image, it appears he grafted using a pretty steep downward angle, using one end of the branch as a new side branch to extend
the tree to the right (and down a bit) and the other as the new apex (@Brian Van Fleet is that what you did? Hard to tell for sure).

If you're adding a branch to a main upright trunk you probably do want to avoid having both ends at the same level if you intend to use both. I've generally just
used the exit side of the graft and placed others where I wanted them to avoid this issue.
 

WesB

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I’m currently using both ends on my double-trunk Arakawa, but the entry side is not growing very strongly. We’ll see...
View attachment 227178
Is the entry point so close to the deadwood of the chop that it’s not getting much energy through the cambium right there? Would weakening the foliage growth rate of the stronger areas like trunk #1 help?, kinda like candle balancing on pines to direct more energy to lower weaker branches.
 

0soyoung

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My question may be dumb, but can you use both ends of a thread graft and get two branches out of one graft? Or will it die when cut?
You can try, but it is virtually certain to not work because of strong persistence in the direction of polar auxin transport (PAT).
 
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I have some sort of maple growing in my yard which i'm planning to do thread grafting on come spring.

The tree has a nice thick trunk (maybe 3") but its straight as an arrow, so i'm unsure if its worth the effort to make a bonsai or not, but I think it will be a good practice tree. The tree was burned about 2 years ago, then about 6 months ago it was savaged with an axe (trunk chop by a butcher) as i was just wanting the (assumed dead) tree gone, did a rough chop then forgot to dig the stump. then last spring its bounced back and now has some big shoots, so might still live.

My plan is spring time do some thread grafting to get branches down low and then next spring did a trench around the trunk, fill with spag moss, and hope for surface roots to form, then spring afterwards, dig it up.
 

WesB

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I have some sort of maple growing in my yard which i'm planning to do thread grafting on come spring.

The tree has a nice thick trunk (maybe 3") but its straight as an arrow, so i'm unsure if its worth the effort to make a bonsai or not, but I think it will be a good practice tree. The tree was burned about 2 years ago, then about 6 months ago it was savaged with an axe (trunk chop by a butcher) as i was just wanting the (assumed dead) tree gone, did a rough chop then forgot to dig the stump. then last spring its bounced back and now has some big shoots, so might still live.

My plan is spring time do some thread grafting to get branches down low and then next spring did a trench around the trunk, fill with spag moss, and hope for surface roots to form, then spring afterwards, dig it up.
You could always take some pics of the tree and ask about it, no harm in starting an ID process before you start doing labor ;)
 
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