Last August, I grafted Col da dame Blanca-Negra onto my Celeste root stock. it has formed callus and a solid graft. It’s been growing couple nodes. The process is slow but I am sure that the root stock is taking the scion wood.
Today, I tried additional three different types of grafting: Whip-and-tongue graft, cleft graft and chip graft.
With Whip-and-tongue graft, I made a slanting cut the scion wood. I tried to make the cutting surface as long as possible and finish on one cut to form a straight line. This will maximize the contact surface between the scion and the root stock. I then make a second parallel cut, It started from 1/3 way to 2/3 way alone the cut. I do the same to the root stock. Insert to the scion into the root stock with the tongue into the groove. Wrap the graft with parafilm and cover it with aluminum foil.
Cleft graft is a simpler graft. I make a slant cut from one side of the scion wood and make another slant cut on the opposite side. By doing so, the tip is on the at the middle rather than on one side. On the root stock, I clip the the branch so it matches the diameter of the scion (It’s OK if the diameters are slightly different). I make a single cut at the end of the branch of the root stock. The length of the cut matched to the length of the cut surface of the scion wood. Next, insert the scion wood on the the root stock. Parafilm and wrap with the aluminum foil.
Chip graft uses very little wood. Slightly larger than a bud is all I needed, but I usually tried to use longer chip. With larger contact area, it has more chance of success. I first cut the chip out of the scion wood by making a 45 degree cut 1/5 inch below a node then made another shallow cut about 1/3 to 1/2 inch above the node. I carve out wood from the root stock using the same cutting method. The shape of the carve out should match the chip. I inserted the chip on the to cut off on the root stock. Apply parafilm and the aluminum foil.
Grafting a great way to propagate fig trees. Rooting typically requires three to four nodes, grafting only requires one node. Of the three grafting methods, I prefer the whip-and-tongue graft if I have enough wood to make the a long slanted cut. It has the highest chance of success. It is also more visually appealing. Sometimes, I will use the cleft graft if the cutting is very soft and thin which is very difficult to make the second cut and also very difficult to insert the tongue into the groove. Lastly, I use the chip bark graft when I have very little wood to work with. I also use it to carved out the chip from very thick cuttings. It’s very difficult to cut all the way through.