NB: THE FIELD TRIP TO CRFG IS FEBRUARY 9th NOT THE 16th AS DESCRIBED IN OUR SYLLABUS.
Select
straight wood from last year’s growth and cut as near to our scion
wood exchange date as possible.
Wood should be ¼” – 3/8” diameter (pencil size) and contain several buds.
Cut
to lengths that fit easily into a Ziploc-type bag. Cut with a
slanting cut on the top (distal) end and flat cut on the end that
would have been nearest the trunk (medial).
Bundle
by variety in a moist paper towel(s) and place in a Ziploc-type bag,
leaving a slight opening in the Ziploc bag for the wood to breathe.
Put only one variety in each bag. Make sure that the towel(s) stay
damp as long as the wood is stored.
Label
the outside of the bag with fruit type and variety, as well as any
additional information you feel is pertinent (i.e. minimum chilling
hours; needs pollinator; vigor; area where successfully grown, etc).
It’s nice to add your name so that those collecting your wood know
where the wood came from and can ask you questions about the parent
tree.
Keep
the scion wood bag in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator until
the morning of the exchange. Be careful not to let the scion
wood freeze!
At
the exchange, please wait to make your selections until directed by
the Chair.
Please
limit your selections to two of any variety, until everyone has had
an opportunity to collect wood. Then feel free to go back.
Please do not collect wood you do not plan to use.
What to do with your collected scion wood after the scion exchange:
If
you don’t plan to graft as soon as you get home, remember to add
moist paper to the bag and refrigerate until you have the time to
graft. Do not freeze! Be careful with the label. An all too
frequent mistake is to put the label in the bag with the wood. Then,
when you add moist paper, the label becomes unreadable. To avoid
bringing disease into your garden, immerse your chosen scion wood
cuttings in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water for 10
seconds.
No comments:
Post a Comment