In the last few years i have been grafting figs as a backup measure to rooting.

Sometimes we receive only one cutting of a precious variety, so i began using the bottom bud to graft and rooted the top of the cutting. That way i had more than one shot to secure the variety.

When i have only one or two buds to graft i prefer to use Chip-Budding.
It's very easy to do and has a very good success ratio. 
With cuttings in dormancy, it's the goto technique, if you want to use only one or two buds (when using the whole cutting, i prefer Whip and Tongue - it has an ever greater success ratio and it provides a stronger union and a faster development)

In my experience, by comparaison with other techniques, chip-budding is a very forgiving method of grafting. It's works with green or hardened scions during 8 months of the year (i use it from March to October)

To learn how to do it, you just have to master the same 2 movements, over and over again:
1. making an angled cut below the bud on the scion
2. placing the knife above the bud and learning to slide it until you reach the initial cut (doing a controlled rocking motion helps to pass the bud - zone of more resistance - in the case of figs).

If you repeat those 2 movements on the root stock, you create the slot to insert the chip-bud.

I usually start in the root stock and go to the scion afterwards, so it doesn't have to wait (the quicker you place it in the slot the better and don't touch the underside with your hands - use the grafting knife to insert it - when in place you can correct the position or lift it to lengthen the slot, but pick it up by the sides)

Place the chip in the slot and cover it with parafilm (including the bud). Done! 

Regarding alignment of cambiums. You have to try and make the slot about the same size of the chip-bud you will be using. Experience will let you know the length of the slot. 
I always recommend starting with a shallower (and narrower) slot, similar to the chip-bud, but trying to be conservative. 
When inserting the chip, if it's smaller than the slot, you can correct the slot, cutting again, a little higher. If the slot is too narrow for the chip, cutting again, in the same place, at the same height, will also widen it.
I never try to align anything. I just try to fit the chip-bud in the slot i created. 
When you insert the chip-bud into the slot, the cambiums always cross at some point (in the straight zone of the chip and in the bottom angled support cut). 

In my experience, even the chip-buds that later fail to develop have fused the cambiums with the scion (they may not develop for several other reasons, like dehydration or bad scions to begin with but the cambiums have established contact)

Here's a short video to demonstrate the technique (i will try to do a real graft in video when i have the time):

T-Bud Grafting

I really don't use it much for figs. I prefer the simplicity of Chip-Budding. To me, this technique is much more complicated and i don't see any real advantages.

It doesn't work for cuttings in dormancy - the kind we all receive when we don't have the variety. Unlike other fruit types, it's not easy to remove the wood, so you really have to cut a chip, to insert it below the bark. If you have to cut a chip, why slice more of the bark, prie it open and create a greater wound?
The flaps tend to open when they dry, if not well secured (that's why you have to use a stronger material to wrap it or fold the parafilm so you can tighten it more).

I haven't experience a greater percentage of success with this technique when comparing it to chip-budding so, i don't use it any more in figs.

Nevertheless, here's a demonstration of the technique (give me some slack regarding the slowness - as i said, i don't do it in figs anymore, so i'm out of practice)

Thanks for the video,Ive done pretty well with whip and tongue grafting figs.Never really tryed chip -bud grafting.
In the fall I will give it a shot,this technique is worth mastering.

GButera,

I am approaching 100% with Whip and Tongue when the scions are in good condition, so it's my preferred technique. But, when you have only 1 cutting, doing a Whip and Tongue will need 2-3 buds (at least). With those 3 buds i can do 3 grafts by Chip-budding,
So, it's a must have technique for everyone who is considering grafting.

Jaime, thank you for taking the time to demonstrate these 2 grafting techniques on figs. This chip budding seems really easy. Will have to try it one day on figs.

Wonderful demonstration of grafting techniques. Thank you very much. Will definitely try out these techniques.

Great tutorial videos Jaime!

Francisco

Thanks for the info and inspiration on chip buds Jamie.  How green can the scion be for taking chips?  Will the tender growth that is only 2 months old work? If I use very green scion is it best to match it with similar aged growth on the rootstock?

I'm asking this because the only scion I can get this time of year is very green.

Super! Thank you!

Hi,
Nice videos.
The process seems always just so easy when the others do it :) .

Thanks everybody for the nice comments on the videos.

Conrad,
In the T-budding video i believe that the scion has less than 2 months, so you can definitively use tender growth with these techniques. But remember, the tender they are, the more delicate you have to be, beacuse they are much more fragile. 

It's always better to match scions and rootstocks of similar age, whenever possible. I prefer to use scions and rootstocks that have less than one year, but i also prefer them not too tender.
When they start to change color it's perfect for me.

Last year i have grafted green cuttings to more mature stocks, very late in the season (October) and the results where very good, provided that the buds were visible and in good shape.  See Here for more information.

The worst results came from the second (edit) cutting in the next photo that hadn't any visible buds (and most of it was 2 years wood). The chips have taken, but they are still dormant (i grafted them late, in October. and it's usual that they break bud only in the next spring. Those haven't yet.



Here they are in this next photo (all chip-buds are growing well, except those that come from that cutting)

 

Those chips are on the lower left, they are fused and may still break bud, next year.

 

jdsfrance,

I used to think that too, when i saw other people grafting videos. But try doing a few hundred chip-buds and you will see that it's also easy, when you do it :-)

Kidding aside. After you do a few you will see it's a very easy technique. It's a bit more difficult with dormant scions because of the hard wood of figs.
That's when the rocking motion and the control of the knife are most important, so you don't cut the chip too short, when passing the bud zone (the most difficult to cut)

Thanks for the reply Jaime. This evening I did two trial grafts with green growth just to see if they take. You are right about this being a very simple graft to perform.

Good luck with your grafts, Conrad. If all goes well they should take in 2-3 weeks.

Jamie another great grafting job!  
These videos are very interesting.  
My difficulty with fig grafting has been getting the timing correct.  Ensuring the root stock is at the right stage and the stored scion still dormant viable.

Thanks, Pino.

As long as the rootstock is not dormant and the sap is starting to flow, i never give much though to timing the grafting jobs. Over here i graft figs from March through October, depending on the year (in warmer winters i could try grafting in mid February, as i sometimes do with pears or apples, but there is no need to risk good scions risking it)

That's one of the reasons i like chip-budding. With t-budding the bark has to be slipping and the scions and rootstocks have to be green for that to happen, so the grafting window is much narrower.

Off course, in colder climates (like yours) the grafting season will be much shorter unless you keep the rootstock indoors or in a greenhouse. But, as a general rule, if the rootstock is beginning to wake up, you can graft it.

I wish i had the time to film some of my grafting jobs this spring, but there were too many grafting jobs to do and so little time.
It was a great season with lots of grafts in very different conditions and situations, that forced me to adapt the techniques to match rootstocks and scions in the best possible way. I can film some of the results, when i have the time, but it would have been interesting to film the whole process.

Someone asked me to make a video of the Whip and Tongue technique. Although it's not the right season for that type of graft, i will try to do it as a demonstration (like the 2 videos above) and post it here.

Thanks Jaime for the tips and videos.

In the first of July i did a T-bud with buds from dormant wood (a cutting that has not rooted but stayed alive for several months), and after 10 days the grafts were already taken with good cicatrization.
The buds started to open after 2 weeks.

I bought one of these to try my hand at grafting.  Seems as idiot-proof as you can get (which I personally need).