If you are planning on doing any grafting this spring, now would be a good time to collect scionwood. Following are tips on how to choose good scion wood.
- Scions should be cut from one-year-old wood.
- Buds should be prominent and widely spaced. Water sprouts work well for this. Water sprouts are twigs that grow straight up from a major branch.
- Inner bark should be light green and the wood creamy white.
- Best scions have more wood than pith; small diameter wood often has wide pith.
- Older bearing trees produce poor scions unless pruned heavily. The best scions are toward the top of the tree. You may need a pole pruner even for small trees.
- Cut shoot into 6-8 inch pieces having at least 3 buds per stick.
- The best scion is often the basal piece.
- Always discard the terminal (the end piece).
- Store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with moist paper towels.
If you are unfamiliar with grafting but would like to learn, the University of Missouri has an excellent publication at http://extension.missouri.edu/explorepdf/agguides/hort/g06971.pdf .
Practice your technique on wood you pruned off in March. Try doing about 100 cuts. (Ward Upham)
- Scions should be cut from one-year-old wood.
- Buds should be prominent and widely spaced. Water sprouts work well for this. Water sprouts are twigs that grow straight up from a major branch.
- Inner bark should be light green and the wood creamy white.
- Best scions have more wood than pith; small diameter wood often has wide pith.
- Older bearing trees produce poor scions unless pruned heavily. The best scions are toward the top of the tree. You may need a pole pruner even for small trees.
- Cut shoot into 6-8 inch pieces having at least 3 buds per stick.
- The best scion is often the basal piece.
- Always discard the terminal (the end piece).
- Store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with moist paper towels.
If you are unfamiliar with grafting but would like to learn, the University of Missouri has an excellent publication at http://extension.missouri.edu/explorepdf/agguides/hort/g06971.pdf .
Practice your technique on wood you pruned off in March. Try doing about 100 cuts. (Ward Upham)
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