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What is

Grafting ?Grafting ?

It can be difficult for farmers to earn their livelihoodsfrom growing only grain crops. That’s why it’s good to learnnew methods which increase production to farm our ownland. One method is by making a nursery to grow improvedfruit tree seedlings. This means you can grow tasty and nutri-tious fruit on your own land, and at the same time sell or tradeextra production to earn cash. There are many methods ofjoining local wild fruit tree rootstock to high producing im-proved varieties. One of those methods, which is detailed inthis chapter, is called grafting.

Grafting is a method of joining the cutting (scion) of animproved variety of fruit tree onto the root (rootstock) of alocal compatible variety.

Grafted peach trees ready for planting, Surkhet, Nepal

The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 12 - Grafting

This Chapter's Author:Mr Bhuvan KhadkaHimalayan Permaculture Group,Surkhet, Nepal

Why do Grafting ? to doGrafting ?

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• Grafted trees produce fruit quicker. A tree grown from seedmay take 8-10 years to fruit, but agrafted tree will only take 2-4 years.

• A tree grown from seed may producepoor tasting fruit. Grafting is done toimprove the taste and size of the fruit.

• A tree grown from seed may notproduce fruit the same as the treethe seed came from (mother tree).But a grafted tree will be just asgood as the tree the cutting (scion)came from.

• A grafted tree will continue to givethe same quality fruit for many years.

• Grafted fruit trees can be sold togive an income to the household.

• By producing your own seedlingsand fruit, you save money.

• Seedlings can be produced locally,saving time in searching for theright fruit trees to plant.

Cutting the root-stock in prepara-tion for grafting

Benefits of Grafting

How does grafting work ?All plants have tiny channels which take water and nu-

trients up to the leaves and down again. These channels areinside the bark but outside the woody part of the stem. Theyform a greenish band around the stem called the cambium.

WhyMaterials Needed to do Grafting

plasticcutting (scion)from a good

fruit tree

local, wildrootstock

secateurs

graftingknife or

sharp tool

HowHow

The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 12 - Grafting4 5

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1

To succeedat grafting,

thecambium of

the scionand the

rootstockmust be ex-

actly aligned

Cross section of thewood to be grafted

Scion

Rootstock

wood

bark

cambium(green)

wood

bark

Close upof

cambiumto be

joined

In a successful graft, the channelsin the cambium carrying nutrientsand water from the rootstock to thescion and back are continuous, not

broken.

Grafting Method

Preparing the rootstock for grafting

• A local, wild fruit tree seedling grownin the nursery or naturally in the forestis called the rootstock.

• For grafting, the rootstock is ideally thethickness of a pencil, but it can be alittle thinner or thicker than this (5-10mm).

• Leaves and branches should be pre-vented from growing from the rootstockon the first 4-6 inches from the ground.These can be carefully pinched off fromtime to time.

root-stock


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Selecting the scion for grafting• To graft onto a local, wild rootstock, the branch cutting

from a good fruiting tree is needed.• This branch cutting is called a scion.• The scion sould be from a healthy, disease-free tree that

gives good fruit.• A one year old branch should be used as scion wood.• If the scion is to be brought from far away, a whole branch

should be cut. The cut end should be covered with mossand packed in sacking. Any buds should be unbroken, andthe cutting should not be exposed to the sun.

Cutting the scion

• There should be 3-5 live buds on thescion, which should be cut at a slant,just above the top bud.

Cutting the rootstock andgrafting the scion

• The way to prepare rootstock is described inthe Fruit Nursery chapter.

• On the day before grafting, water the root-stock well and mulch thickly.

• Using a sharp knife or similar tool, make a 1inch long slanting cut through the rootstock1-3 inches from the ground. The face of thecut should be completely flat.

Preparedrootstock

• Trim the scion so it has 3-5 buds. The scion should not bethicker than the rootstock.

• The scion should be the same diameter as the rootstock ifpossible. It can be thinner than the rootstock, but not thicker.

• Make a 1 inch long slanting cut atthe base of the scion, the samelength as the cut on the root-stock. The face of the cutshould be completely flat.

• Half way up the slantingcuts of both rootsock andscion cut a small nick intothe face of the cut edge (see also p.10, photo5 to 8).

• Join rootstock and scion together by insertingthe nicks on opposing faces of the rootstockand scion into each other.

• Push rootstock and scion together so that thecambium layers are in close contact at leaston one side of the join (if rootstock is largerthan scion), if not both sides (if rootstock andscion are the same size).

• The scion and rootstock should be held to-gether by the opposing nicks beinginterlinked with each other.

length ofscion

slanting cut

The scion shouldbe cut just above

the top bud toprevent too muchwood drying out


Let's SeeLet's See

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Then wind theplastic tightly

upwards

Binding the GraftBind the joined rootstock and scion together so no air or

water can enter the wound.

Start bindingfrom belowthe wound

Bind theplastictightly

around thestem

See an alternative to using plastic on p.18

Windthe plas-

tic toabove

the join,then

wind itdownagain

Bind downto where the

plasticstarted

Tuck the end ofthe plastic so it

points downwards

Measuring a localrootstock 3-4 inches

from the base

Cut at themeasured place

Measure the scionfrom the good

fruiting tree to fitthe rootstock

how to doGrafting

how to doGrafting


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Make a slanting cut 1 inchlong on the base of the scion.

Make a small nickabout half waydown the face.

Hold the scion in themouth to prevent

drying out.

Make a nick inthe same place

on the root-stock

Make thesame 1

inchslantingcut on

the root-stock

Rootstockwith nickclose up

Push the scionand rootstock

together so thatthe nicks on eachface insert into

each other.

Binding the graft withplastic is shown on p.8

Carefully bind thegraft tightly so no airor water can get in to

the wound.

This scionshown

sprouting2 weeks

after beinggrafted.


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A stone mulch has beenplaced around a

seedling grafted directlyin the fields. ( )

Grafted seedlingsshown in the nursery.An arrow marks the

bound graft. ( )

A shoot sprouting from therootstock of the graft. This

should be pinched off.

The graft scar can be seen after plastic is removed

A graftedseedling showngrowing well inits permanent

place.

If the root-stock is

bigger thanthe scion.

It’s OK to graft asmall scion onto alarger rootstock.

One side of the cambiumof root stock and scion

must match exactly.


}

How tomaintain

a grafted seedling

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Care needed after grafting

• The grafted seedlings need fencingagainst livestock, and should not betouched.

• They should be protected fromstrong sun, wind, hail, and heavyrain. Make a 50cm high thatchto place over them, and thenursery should be in a shelteredsite.

• The seedlings need regularwatering to keep the soil moist.

• After 4 months, when the scionhas sprouted well, the plasticcan be carefully removed.

Withoutprotection,

work iswasted

PinchingAny leaves or branches sprouting below the graft (from

the rootstock) should be pinched off with the fingers, other-wise they take valuable water and nutrients meant for abovethe graft. This is called pinching.

If the graft is unsuccessful, a single sprout from therootstock can be allowed to grow. This can be used to graftanother scion again next year.

Citrus root-stock is

grafted in theAutumn andkept underplastic until

Spring.

Compatible species and timing of grafting

Type of scion

1. Improvedpeach, plum,apricot, almond

2. Soft shelled walnut

3. Pear

4. Orange

5. Persimon

6. Apple

7. Cherry

Type of rootstockMonth

(NorthernHemisphere)

all can be graftedonto wild peach,plum or apricot

Jan./Feb., Sept.

local walnut March, April

wild pear Jan./Feb., Sept.

trifoliate Oct./Nov.

local persimon Jan./Feb.

wild apple,crabapple

Jan./Feb., Sept.

wild cherry Jan./Feb.

MaintenanceMaintenance


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Lucaena

lemongrass

marigold coriander

comfrey

onion

comfrey

lemongrass

Grafted seedlingsshould be

protected fromlivestock

Around thefruit seedling,

plant com-panion plants

Lucaena

Grafted seedlingsshould be given

water and compost

Any leaves orbranches sprout-ing from belowthe graft should

be removed

These branchesare removed

The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 12 - Grafting18

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The method for grafting walnut is slightlydifferent to that given above. Let’s see :

Make a pointon the scion,

with one edgeslightly

longer thanthe other

How the scion is joinedonto the rootstock

shortedge

on thelowerside

longedge

on theupperside

When therootstock andscion fit per-

fectly, cut off therootstock abovethe graft. Thenbind it as in thenormal method.

This is done in the spring

The skin of the sisal (Agave) can beused to bind the graft. The skin is re-moved as shown here. More detailsabout this are given in chapter 10 -

Fruit Introduction

scionscion

root-stockroot-stock

æ

Æ

Farmers'ExperienceFarmers'Experience

From Jajarkot district, Dhime -7, Dharnasi village in Nepal, MrShanta Bahadur Pun has doneplenty of grafting. Now let'sread about his experiences.

Shanta Bahadur Pun

After I learned grafting Ipracticed at home with a smalllocal, wild peach nursery. Ontothem I grafted improved peach,plum, apricot and almond. On such a small piece of land thisgave such a high production, and you can literally eat thefruits of this success within 3 years! In the spring, shades overthe beds are very important - this stops the hot sun from dry-ing out the newly grafted seedlings. Water needs to be givencarefully, at ground level. If you water from above, water canget inside and ruin the graft, and it can also shake the seed-lings and so break the graft. The cutting tools need to be sharpand clean - like in any operation. I’ve succeeded using justthe local ashi (hook), I don’t need a posh grafting knife. Atfirst the other farmers didn’t believe that it would work. Igrafted plants on my own farm, and sold them. Then theybelieved me. Nowadays all the farmers have small or largenurseries on their land.

Mr ShantaBahadur Pun

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nsSubjects Related to GraftingThis book provides enough information for you to be

able to do your own grafting on fruit trees. However, thisinformation is also linked to other methods. For extra benefitslet's read, learn and practice from other related chapters.

Fruit Nursery chapterHow to grow root stock from local wild fruitseed for grafting and budding on your own land.

Integrated Fruit Orchard chapterInformation on how to plant fruit trees with variousother multi-purpose trees to give more and quickerbenefits for less work is given in this chapter.

Fruit Tree Planting chapterAfter raising good seedlings in the fruit nursery,if they're not planted well all the work can go towaste. Information is given in this chapter.

Read On !Read On !

Stone Grafting, Budding, Top Graftingand Air Layering chaptersInformation about various simple methodsof growing improved fruit varieties at home forplanting on the farm are given in these chapters.

what is grafting ? - permaculture research institute

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