Thanks to a dear friend i received a few cuttings of 4 new Portuguese varieties in the beginning of October.



Although it's quite late in the season i decided to graft them using the chip technique that has had good results last year. I generally use it during August and September. I never did in October.

Despite the dropping temperatures at night the days are still warm enough and i thought that it would take about 15 days to 3 weeks for the chips to fuse with the grafted branches in these conditions. Afterwards they should be dormant during the winter. With luck they should awake in the spring.

Here's some photos of how they are 15 days after grafting. When these green cuttings have pecíoles i tend to leave them and cover the whole thing with parafilm and protect the graft with aluminum foil. When checking after 15 days, if the pecíole falls when touched the chip has taken.
I remove the pecíole and cover the bud with parafilm again.





If all is well and they don't get fungus in the winter (sometimes they do when there is too much moisture inside the parafilm) the buds should stay dormant and break in the spring.  

In the 3 varieties that were not that green, i didn't use all the cutting, only the bottom buds of each. I buried the remaining of each cutting just in case they might root.

The photo album is here:
http://s1024.photobucket.com/user/bassbbtjs/library/Enxertos%20tardios%20Figueiras%20-%208%20Outubro%202016?sort=9&page=1

Good Job! Looks like you have mastered "Chip Grafting" Outstanding!

Jaime the grafts look good.
 Wish they take. Let us know late in november how they look.
Waiting to see the results; with less light long days it might take a bit slower to heal.
Good luck.

Thanks, Frank and Porfirio,

It's a wonderful sight seeing the grafts that i have done in late October waking up in spring. They went dormant in November but had time to fuse and resisted well the unusual cold winter we had (it reached -7ºC and killed some citrus trees).

Some chips are still dormant, others are waking up showing green buds and some are showing it's first leafs. So far not one is giving me a bad feeling of not waking up.
We will see in a couple of weeks if some failed.

Even than, if the chip fused alright, there is still hope. I had a couple of chips waking up one year (and one even 2 years) after the graft being made (it's rare but it can happen).















Now, it's a matter of waiting a few months and some may even surprise me with some figs in this first year of growth. It's not very common with chip-budding though (it happens much more with whip and tongue which develop much faster).

This was the champion grower of last season (amazing growth in 6 months).

I have been busy in the last 3 weekends rooting and grafting the new arrivals for this year. I have to say i went a bit over my head and more than 90 varieties joined the existent collection.

Of those i grafted at least 50 to be on the safe side in case something went wrong with rooting (with more desirable varieties i grafted more than one chip using all the buds in one cutting)






















With the sap flowing strongly in the spring, it's very important to make a few shallow cuts below the graft, so the excess sap doesn't drown the graft. 






Also, i remove the apical growth, in most cases, leaving a few leaves until the chip fuses. Afterward, according to the bud development i decide if i remove all the top growth, but usually i reduce it gradually.




The existent buds below the graft are all removed




In the first month and until there is signs of bud break, i will leave the graft protected from direct sun using aluminium foil




A few of the grafts that i made a few weeks ago are starting to break buds






All the photos here: http://s1024.photobucket.com/user/bassbbtjs/library/Enxertos%20Chip-Bud%20em%20Figueiras?sort=9&page=1

Jaime,

You must be a surgeon. I could never do that type of intricate knife work.
Instead of sap flowing from the graft site, it would be blood flowing from
my fingers. 

Beautiful work and results Jaime.I think I may be over torquing the rubbers,
deforming the chip and losing cambium contact.I noticed you don't use any.

Ray,

If you use a very sharp grafting knife (as i do, thanks to a couple of excellent japanese sharpening stones) it's just a matter of practicing and i have lots of practice lately :-)
If the knife is not sharp enough, that's when accidents can happen. 

Nevertheless, this type of graft, in my experience, is one of the safest, in that regard.


Tyro,

Thanks. I found out that the chip-bud technique doesn't need lots of pressure (i use much more pressure with whip whip and tongue for instance, to force, not so perfect cuts, together).

With chip-buds, as you say, excess torque can deform the chip, so the pressure of the parafilm is enough. I also like to start placing the parafilm at the top first as it helps to maintain the chip in place.

If i have the time, i will try to make a small video to illustrate it better, instead of trying to describe it.

Thank you for the photos and clear explanation of this. I am going to give it a go. My daughter has several fig seedlings and I am keen to try using them as rootstock.

Hello Jaime

This is a very good job! Congrats
I agree that  - 'Chip budding' - is the way to go given its simplicity and  rapid take. But as you say, you do need a very sharp tool. Given the mild climate of the South I am convinced that one can do it almost all year round.

I welcome the video idea !

Francisco

Very nice work, Jaime! It's always a pleasure to read your posts. Very informative and great pictures.
I have a question about the aluminium foil. Do you use it to protect the grafts from cooking, or do you think that the darkness helps the callus formation?

Congratulations, you are a chip budding master!

Over 90 varieties, are you planning to create a botanical garden? This is a huge collection, compliments!
I'm planning to add only a few varieties (mostly Smyrna types) and stop, it's a big job to take care many plants, plus i'm not very lucky with cuttings and grafts, at least with figs.

This month i did some grafts, some with semi-herbaceous cuttings, using various techniques, and i'm waiting for the results.
These cuttings were practically just bark and pith/air, then the chances are lower.

Thanks to show us these precious pictures and tips.

Thank you all, for the nice comments.


doricdragons,

Give it a try. If you have a fast growing rootstock it's a good way to taste figs of a new varieties quickly.



Francisco,

Chip-budding is extremely simple.
As for the fast take, i still have faster results with whip and tongue (although this is a lot more difficult to execute in figs, both technically and because of the large pith that one year cuttings usually have). 
Sometimes the chips fuse but take some time to start developing. They are affected by the upper buds dominance, unlike the whip and tongue.

Nevertheless, it really is a safer approach and you can do lots of grafts with one cutting. I sure am making the most of the cuttings you sent me. Thanks again.



Timo,

The aluminium foil is to prevent the buds from cooking under the direct sun. The parafilm let's them breathe but works as a small greenhouse and the temperature could rise to dangerous values for the graft survival. But it really depends on the time of the year and the region. In colder months and colder regions it may even help forming the callus tissue. Regarding darkness, i may be wrong but i don't think it's a big factor in callus formation.



Fico,

Chip budding master? Far from it, but doing a couple of hundreds chip bud grafts over the last two years, ends up giving you some experience.

I turned to grafts after losing a couple of precious varieties when the rooting failed. I haven't lost another one since and, as an added bonus, most develop much quicker that way, so i can evaluate them faster.

The pith problem you mention, is frequent in figs, namely with young cuttings, but it's manageable with the right technique and, the extra contact that whip and tongue allows, compensates for that issue.
I tie tightly to maximize pressure and contact between cambium layers - http://s1024.photobucket.com/user/bassbbtjs/library/Enxertos%20Whip%20and%20Tongue%20-%20inglesa%20complicada?sort=9&page=1

The 90+ varieties was just this year, to add to the 120 i already had.
My initial goal was to collect all the portuguese varieties that i can and try to preserve the most typical, emblematic, rare and high quality ones, as best as i can. 
But, in the process, people keep sending me the best varieties from other countries and i simply can't say no to them, at least until i have a chance of evaluating them in my zone. 

In the end, most will not make it to the piece of land i have reserved for fig trees, though.

Thanks.

I also lost many varieties that have not rooted, this year i tried with grafts.

I use mostly the bark graft, a little less cleft graft, and almost never whip or bud/chip grafts, because i often failed with these.
I know that buddy tape or parafilm are very helpful, but here is almost impossible to find them, and i used teflon tape, even if it does not work like the professional graft tapes.


Collecting all these varieties, you are doing a great job: you created one of the biggest collections, at least in Europe, and it is nice to know that there are people who preserve biodiversity with such enthusiasm and commitment (i imagine you have spent so much time and money for this).

Congratulations again, keep us updated on progress about grafts and fruiting!

Fico,

If you tried chip bud grafting, as a last resource, to save rooting cuttings that were dying, you can get that feeling that they don't work.  I've been there myself. I tried to do a few chips as a last resource after removing the bottom part of the rotting cutting but, by that time, the damage is done and those chips will fail - sometimes the cambiums join but the damaged chip tissues are not able to grow further and die.

I bought my parafilm in the UK but the seller is not carrying it any more. So i turned to the US and was able to get them there through an ebay seller. The cost included shipping and custom fees. Not cheap but it's worth it.

Regarding my collection, i'm still lacking quite a few very good Portuguese figs in my collection, but i'm getting there with the help of the true dedicated people that did the true work of preserving these varieties, like Francisco.

In a month i hope that most of my grafts will be growing successfully. I will post some follow up pictures.

Jaime, these guys sell parafilm in the UK, https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/product/parafilm-grafting-tape/

Thanks for the link, doricdragons.

But, at that price for one roll (excluding shipping), i think i'm going to buy the parafilm in the US as long as i can (it's cheaper, even with shipping included). 
It's always good to have an alternative though, so thanks.

REPOST of the first message with the photos that photobucket doesn't allow to view directly on the message.

Thanks to a dear friend i received a few cuttings of 4 new Portuguese varieties in the beginning of October. 

 

Although it's quite late in the season i decided to graft them using the chip technique that has had good results last year. I generally use it during August and September. I never did in October.

Despite the dropping temperatures at night the days are still warm enough and i thought that it would take about 15 days to 3 weeks for the chips to fuse with the grafted branches in these conditions. Afterwards they should be dormant during the winter. With luck they should awake in the spring.

Here's some photos of how they are 15 days after grafting. When these green cuttings have pecíoles i tend to leave them and cover the whole thing with parafilm and protect the graft with aluminum foil.

 


When checking after 15 days, if the pecíole falls when touched the chip has taken. 
 

 
I remove the pecíole and cover the bud with parafilm again.



If all is well and they don't get fungus in the winter (sometimes they do when there is too much moisture inside the parafilm) the buds should stay dormant and break in the spring.  

In the 2 varieties that were not all green (with some older wood), i didn't use all the cutting, only the TOP green buds of each (from that year growth).
I buried the remaining of each cutting just in case they might root.

The photo album is here:
http://s1024.photobucket.com/user/bassbbtjs/library/Enxertos%20tardios%20Figueiras%20-%208%20Outubro%202016?sort=9&page=1 


UPDATE:
Most of the chips broke bud this spring and are growing well.



   
 

Those that were not green and didn't have visible buds (like the second cutting in the first photo), although the chip has fused very well, still have not brake bud (i had some situations where some of these, only broke bud after 1/2 years)
 

Very interesting Jaime. thanks for this new post
Back in more remote times, some growers would prefer this late budding and the most common method was the 'patch' style budding.. they would say that through the winter months the grafted, dormant  buds would gain momentum and shoot strongly the spring after.  In fact the direct contact of a rather large area of live cambium on both stock and scion,  without any wood 'in between', was paramount for the claimed successes

Francisco

Hi Francisco,

I only tried patch grafting in figs a couple of years ago, but i can say that after they start growing (at first some patches even seem dead), they were the more robust grafts of all the techniques i tried, by far.

That has probably to do with the possibility that this technique gives us of grafting to older wood (in this case, 2 year old wood).

 

 

 
 

I prefer to graft to younger wood, so i stopped using this technique, but i sure will use it again when changing varieties and grafting on older wood.

Repost - message #5 with the missing photographs

I have been busy in the last 3 weekends rooting and grafting the new arrivals for this year. I have to say i went a bit over my head and more than 90 varieties joined the existent collection.

Of those i grafted at least 50 to be on the safe side in case something went wrong with rooting (with more desirable varieties i grafted more than one chip using all the buds in one cutting)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With the sap flowing strongly in the spring, it's very important to make a few shallow cuts below the graft, so the excess sap doesn't drown the graft. 

 
 

Also, i remove the apical growth, in most cases, leaving a few leaves until the chip fuses. Afterwards, according to the bud development i decide if i remove all the top growth, but usually i reduce it gradually (otherwise, the sap can be removed from the grafted branch and the graft will dry out)

 


The existent buds below the graft are all removed

 


In the first month or until there is signs of bud break, i will leave the graft protected from direct sun using aluminium foil (this will be removed gradually, i use it to provide some shade after bud break, in some cases)

 


A few of the grafts that i made a few weeks ago are starting to break buds (they free themselves from the parafilm, as i only make one pass and stretch the parafilm when passing over the bud to make it thinner)

 


All the photos in this Chip-Bud grafting Album