jimlau
Shohin
How do you know when a trident maple's branch is mature enough to use for a thread graft?
Thanks.
Thanks.
This is what I do when grafting. I understand for thread grafting it can be left out, but is most often done on the side which you press against the side of the hole.So, does a thread graft actually require bark stripping? …precisely where the two cambium layers are to meet?
All in for making bonsai great !@leatherback @erich_raudebaugh @Shibui Thanks for clarifying the thread graft process. I appreciate the time you set aside to further explain this to me.
Buds on trident always seem to be able to grow, does not seem to matter how old or mature. If I defoliate a shoot, buds will pop at all nodes rather than only at older nodes.A reason I asked when can u thread graft is the next generation buds have to be developed enough to be able to grow out without any leaves in front of them. Sounds like with tridents that is pretty early on in the branch growing?
What do you use to press the branch against 1 side of the drilled hole? Something that will become a permanent part of the graft?Some growers prefer to take a strip of bark off the scion where it exits the hole in the tree. This causes both the tree and the scion to callus as they heal. It is callus that unites to join a graft so placing both pieces close together encourages the developing callus to grow together quicker. We usually scrape some bark off the under side of the scion and then press it down against the bottom of the hole so the developing callus will be close together. Initial graft union can be as quick as a just a few weeks but we generally leave the graft together for up to a year to ensure better graft union before chopping.
The wounds do not need to be in intimate contact like other grafts because both parts are independently supplied with sap so they stay alive as long as it takes for the callus to heal to the point where they both come into contact and a union is formed. The closer we can align them the quicker it happens but the process of thread graft allows for error in placement and technique.
Thread grafts will still unite without wounding the scion. This relies on the scion growing thicker inside the hole and the hole forming callus at both sides. Eventually the scion is constricted as it thickens and the hole you drilled gets smaller. Eventually the restriction forces the scion to produce callus at the entry and exit points and, hopefully, the callus from the constricted scion and healing hole will join. This process will take longer but still works most of the time.
toothpick or the like.What do you use to press the branch against 1 side of the drilled hole? Something that will become a permanent part of the graft?
How is it not part of the graft? If not pushed out, the hole it is in will fill up against it, right? Does that mean that part of the hole will not graft the shoot to the trunk?Or a small piece of branch selected for correct thickness. Sometimes the bark grows over the extra piece, sometimes it gets pushed out of the hole as it heals. In any case that piece does not form part of the graft.
That’s a good question. I hope you, and now me, get an answer.How is it not part of the graft? If not pushed out, the hole it is in will fill up against it, right? Does that mean that part of the hole will not graft the shoot to the trunk?
Thanks.
THe hole never heals. It is just that the donor expands, and fills it. The only grafting (merging of tissue) happens at the cambium level, so n the outside. Over time, the bark will grow over all the messiness below, but it will still be there.How is it not part of the graft? If not pushed out, the hole it is in will fill up against it, right? Does that mean that part of the hole will not graft the shoot to the trunk?
Thanks.
Only living pieces can become part of a graft. The wedge has no connection to the tree or the scion so it will die. It may still be inside the tree, just as a forgotten piece of wire might be swallowed by the bark but won't be a living part of the tree.How is it not part of the graft? If not pushed out, the hole it is in will fill up against it, right? Does that mean that part of the hole will not graft the shoot to the trunk?
Yikes! That would destroy a saw blade. I’ve mostly just seen barbed wire swallowed up by a tree.Only living pieces can become part of a graft. The wedge has no connection to the tree or the scion so it will die. It may still be inside the tree, just as a forgotten piece of wire might be swallowed by the bark but won't be a living part of the tree.
Trees can grow over all sorts of stuff without it becoming part of the tree.
Here's a photo of stuff inside a redwood we were milling this week. Old electricity lines, a steel bolt and insulators were completely swallowed by the growing tree. Fortunately the wires were showing through the trunk so we did not damage the saw.
View attachment 487503
View attachment 487502
Would you call any of that part of a graft?