54663 853 Road

Pierce NE 68767

402-329-6774

Hours:

January-April

Friday, Saturday and Sunday  1:00 pm-5:00 pm 

May-December

Wednesday-Saturday

11:00 am-6:00 pm,

Sunday 1:00 pm-6:00 pm

Closed Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve Day, New Year's Day, Super Bowl Sunday

Grafting

Field Grafting and Budding    What are the reasons a grower might decide to change cultivars (varieties) by field grafting or budding?

The cultivars being grown are not longer economically viable.

A. Wineries may pay more for cultivars that are in high demand in the marketplace.

B. The grower and winery may see a trend in the market and wish to get ahead of the competition.

Productivity might be poor on existing cultivar or disease susceptibility might be high on a given sight.

Vigor might be less than desired on a cultivar on its own root system.

A. Care must be taken to choose cultivars. A good example of this would be using Riparia (our native wild grape) as a root stock. Riparia varies greatly with individual clones, but in general in heavier soils with good moisture holding capacities it will give great vigor as a rootstock, in sandy soils that can dry easily, it may shut down midsummer and not properly ripen fruit.

A cultivar might need to be tested for quality reasons and the grower does not want to wait for three or four years. A grafted vine may be fruited in the following year after grafting.

T-bud. This method utilizes a single bud from the scion cultivar and is inserted into the trunk of the rootstock cultivar. First select a bud on the cultivar you wish to graft and make a cut 3/8" to 1/2" from the bottom of the bud, cut straight up to about 3/8" to 1/2" above the bud, then make a horizontal cut about 3/8" above the bud. Choose a trunk for your rootstock at least 1/2" in diameter (larger trunks will give a better percentage of takes), make a vertical cut about 1" long, and a horizontal cut on top of the vertical cut about 3/8" to 1/2" wide. You have now cut a T shape. You can now pull the bark upwards and insert the shield shaped bud piece into the T shape. You may now start at the top and tie with budding rubber strips or plastic plant tie tapes. NOTE: In order for this type of graft to work properly, you must wait long enough in the season for the bark to slip. This means cell division is taking place at the cambium layer and budding is more likely to be successful. In northeast Nebraska this is about when the wild riparia start to bloom, about the third week in May.

Cleft Grafting. This method is very good in cases where your existing cultivar has problems maintaining trunks (trunks dying from winter damage), you can make the graft union at or below the soil surface eliminating cold hardiness problems from the rootstock. Grafting with this technique, the trunks need to be no less than 1" in diameter. With a saw or lopping shear cut off trunk at desired level, then with a cleft grafting tool or a fine common chisel, split the trunk down approximately 1" to 1 1/2". Choose your scion wood and make two diagonal cuts, adjacent from each other with one side being wider than the other (that side being closest to the bark of the rootstock). Then with the chisel or grafting tool, open the cleft and insert the two scion pieces, push pieces down to insure a tight fit. You should not need to tie this if the trunk is large enough to hold the pieces. Cut the one bud scion pieces off at the top above the bud about 1/2" to 3/4". The ends of the cut scions as well as the top of the trunk should be covered with a tree wound sealant or pruning sealer. Cover graft and scions to at least 2" above scions with moist viable soil.

Long Whip. This method may be used where the rootstock is only pencil size and the scion may be one or two buds long. With a knife cut the rootstock at an angel with the cut surface being 1" to 1 1/2" long, then starting about one third down from the top, make a cut on the previously cut surface, moving downward but being careful not to follow the grain of the wood and going only about 1/3" of the cut surface. Then choose a piece of scion wood the exact same diameter and make cuts to match those of the rootstock. With your knife open the lip that you made on each cut surface and then slide the scion and rootstock together until the cambium layers march as completely as possible. You may then tie with budding rubber or tape.