I bought Galicia Negra as a 1 year old potted tree on eBay last fall.  It got dried out in shipping and looked real bad when it arrive September 26th:

Trimmed off all the dead leaves and useless fruit, gave it a couple of weeks for shock recovery, and hit it with 400pm fish fertilizer:

All of my figs go dormant in early November and move inside on Black Friday.  I cut off the bottom branch to attempt grafts then put it under 400w metal halide light for 12 hours a day.  New buds growth on December 1st:

They all moved outside on May 30th, then we moved to the new house and the whole garden went under some stress.  Repotted into 5g pot on 6/14, packed in with dried chicken fertilizer pellets.  First colored fruit appears on 7/2! 

Only surviving graft, on Stella fig #GotHerGrooveBack 6/28:

Looks good Greg. I lost my GN this winter but I have a replacement.
It has fruit but we shall see if it ripens.

So you have the mother plant and a graft?  Strong work!  Hope both of yours ripens and tastes great!

That plant has come a long way since last September, Greg, and it looks like a very special fig. Always happy to hear growers using an organic approach, also! Let us know how it tastes when you get there.

Yup I have a mother plant and a graft, the graft is growing faster in the last few weeks than the mother.  But the graft also isn't trying to support fruit!  :-)

The graft I have is not one from the 2 I attempted with dormant wood, those both failed.  I also tried two grafts with the fresh green shoots from December 1st, this is the one that lived. 

Very excited to eat this one I expect it to be ready tomorrow or within the next few days.  Will post pics!

Nice job Greg !
Looking at your last picture, showing the graft, it looks to me that some bracing shall be needed on the graft joint.
It took fine but once the scion portion acquires additional weight and bigger leaves, it could be pushed by wind and brake apart. Birds as well could damage that joint.

Francisco

What should I brace it with?

I wondered about that when I removed the parafilm from the graft.

I would use a petroleum emulsion,  you may find it in Ag shops and meant for grafts.
It dries up in a couple of hours but remains plastic and mechanically strong (sort of cement)

1 - Apply a generous amount of this stuff over the scion and root stock on opposite sides

2- Stick two lengths of light plywood or hard plastic following the slightly curved line of the joint, on those opposite sides and fix with clothes pins

3 - Smear more emulsion on the remaining portions of the stock and scion

Once dry I believe it's sufficiently strong to exert firm grip on the joint
Estimate you may cover 1 3/4 to 2 inch bellow the graft, on the stock and  as far as you can go on the scion .

The picture gives a feeling of great fragility on the graft area, so a generous 'cement tube' embracing stock and scion is the best IMO

Francisco

Interesting interesting!  You have any pics of this process?  I mean like when graft takes place and months down the road?

It seems like a good idea, I just found my popsickle sticks and treekote!

No, unfortunately not, I have no pictures...never did this sort of graft.---the bond areas should be much longer  (double of yours, minimum) for greater Cambium contact and  to warrant mech. strength

Tomorrow, I will try to send you pictures of another approach to solve this problem !! may be simpler.
You cannot afford to loose a 'Galega Negra' !

You are absolutely right!  Please do send those pictures, thanks!

     


One  simpler/easier alternative could be...

Find a suitable piece of flex soft PVC piping - pics show one used on domestic laundry machines for clean water supply from tap to intk valve.
Cut a convenient length and open it in two equal shells with a strong kitchen scissors

Get one of these shells around/under the upper area (2 inch or more ??) of the root stock and with sufficient length to embrace as much as possible of the scion, having previously half-filled it with the thick emulsion.  NOTE: Get as much lenght of the scion as possible....this will insure your full success.
Down the root stock at the edge of the shells you can wrap  around it a small cloth  to work as a plug to stop the filling cement dripping down  

Apply gentle finger pressure betw fig branch and PVC to have this first shell glued along the root stock,... immediately after,..

Half fill the remaing shell with the emulsion and juxtapose/align it over/against the previous job, gently pressing one shell against the other and completing the filling with the 'cement' along the final length of the scion, very carefully  avoiding any forcing/pushing on this graft and scion and using a generous amount of filling cement
Use  rubbers to fix both shells together on 3 or 4 places and let it dry.
Once dried the shells will remain glued to the plastic cement which will work as outer protecting insulation, with enough mechanical strength, much limiting any damaging movement between stock and scion. This material will have enough flexibility to allow the fig growing without any problems and it will not bring any harm to the exposed graft area

In 3 or 4 hours it will harden and dry, but keeping a good degree of elasticity.
There are other types of cement which could also do the job but this one (black after dry) we know it as 'Norwegian tar' and has been used for over a century on grafting and repair  jobs.
Good luck
Francisco

Awesome, thank you for that!

Is this how you do grafts from the beginning, just putting them in that sleeve when you put them together at first?

No Greg, this is a salvaging 'operation' to bring rescue to a weak and threatened fig saddle graft. Just like one uses gypsum and splints on a  broken limb.

You may use a similar approach on damaged  branching when saving it is mandatory 

On my grafts I make sure to have sufficient strength around the joint areas and use that tar on cleft, side and bark grafting just to isolate them and avoid air and moisture to go in.
Instead of such a short/risky saddle graft, you could probable have used 'the whip and tongue' graft which configures a stronger contact with a firm tie-up between stock and scion.
Wish you good luck  and if you can,  do avoid exposure to strong winds on that tree for these coming weeks

Francisco

Francisco - how do you get that tar gunk off the branch next year when it is well healed?  Or even remove the splint if it is adhearant to the tar and branch?

Ed,

Plant growth will slowly push it out and once the graft fully takes a robust bind, then if you like, you may peel all that stuff off, or in time,  the tree will fully reject it by itself. My worries so far are not the cosmetic side of this business, but to save that graft

It  MUST be made quickly,  immovable/still in relation to the stock and grow safely through the coming weeks.
We may be dealing here as to bring a cure to the 'chicken of the golden eggs' !!!
There will certainly be other solutions...


Francisco

Alright, I have gathered all of the ingredients to make this cement sleeve.  Before diving forward, what about risk of strangling the bud union?  I've been advised before to be careful of having the grafting tape too tight, is that a thing?  Is that a concern with TreeKote?

  OK. I see your concern.

Of course there are risks and you shall need surgeon hands to perform this right. As regards to the emulsion itself I am confident that it will be sufficiently flexible to allow safe growth.
I do not know that TreeKote but believe it will be a similar elastic sealing compound.

But if you fear your patient may show some potential rejection to that tar, there is another alternative to immobilize that graft without the involvement of any dirty stuff ... please have a look on the attached sketch and tell me if it makes sense to you - no scales on this sketch.

It will require an 'air splint' over a convenient length of the stock and scion, naturally ventilated
You have to select the best diameter for that splint, a transparent sleeve which, if you like,
can be made 'ONE' piece or split in two halves, for better/easier mounting. Leaf growth along the scion will help to center and immobilize it.
It has to be bracketed to an adjustable heavy pedestal  to take coming growth and keep the graft union still..you have to use your immaginations to install this apparatus which may change depending on how the plant grows..pot ?  in ground ?

Believe that this arrangement can effectively keep that graft union zone static not to disturb the natural development of the joint over the next 3 or 4 months and until it is sufficiently strong with a robust bond.
Happy 4th of July!

Francisco

Great discussion. Thank you guys.

Cement sleeve brace complete!  The clothes pins were not big enough to contain the branch and both Popsicle sticks, so I went with good ole' duct tape.  It isn't pretty, but it sure is solid! 

In a week or two I'll snip off the duct tape and fill up any gaps with more treekote.  That way it won't restrict it, so long as the treekote is flexibile enough! 

  
  
  

Also the Galicia Negra fig was ripe and literally bursting with deliciousness today on the mother plant:

Should I be letting them ripen more?  It seems like the white fleshy margin on my figs is way thicker than most pictures I see.  Anyone know what that has to do with?

I would say another couple of days, that is with out being able to do a little touchy-feely.

That's a nice job!  Well done.

Have a question ... Is all  that branching and foliage on the first picture from your last thread, hanging on ' our saddle graft' alone ?
If your yard is not too windy , I believe that plastic sleeve  you did is enough.
But if it may be eventually exposed to sizable wind gusts , I think that you should use a tutor, taller than the side stick seen on the picture to somehow help to limit the movement of that growing canopy.
This foliage mass seems to be a fast grower and may soon impose  its weight and movement on the graft. It's something very simple to install and your graft would have additional protection

Nice fig. Congrats !
Everybody dreams of 'Galicia Negra'.  I believe its ripeness is OK. (at least for my taste)

Francisco

That whole canopy is sitting on just the greenwood saddle graft.  I will take your advice on using a tutor as well.  Grasa has advised me to use a Tpost which seems solid.  Will update when that's done.

Appreciate all the love, everyone, and all of your useful wisdom. :-)

I would say based on the photo when the fig was still on the tree that it wasn't ripe enough even to touch for softness.  It should hang limp before you pick it.  The neck was still strong enough to keep the fig from hanging straight down.  Also, you'll need some way of protecting it from critters.  The thick white pith, as you correctly observed, is a good sign its not quite ready.  Hope it was good for you anyway and you get more to try this year   :)

Octopusink,

Hope that the graft new growth keeps pushing up strongly with more or less pruning and/or pinching you may eventually do.
With this in mind, make sure that this growth moves freely upwards, conveniently guided and without any stoppage that, to exist, would exert unwanted compression stress on the still tender graft.

Francisco