Hi All,
what time of year should grafting or budding be done
and which is the preffered method? 

Grafting is still new to me. If you are doing grafts on outdoor trees. I believe the cool part of the year. I lost many due to heat. If you can bring a small tree inside, then I would say now. Good Luck....... Here is what I prefer doing....http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/graft-this-is-what-i-have-been-doing-6804541?pid=1282663869#post1282663869

aaa,

Through early summer say until August you may go with  'T-Bud' and 'chip-budding'  which are simple grafting methods.. There are plenty of tutorials on the net.. YouTube, etc
These two are the simplest.
Later on at dormancy or early spring you may try 'Cleft grafting' which again is simple.

Check previous discussions on this forum...:
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/grafting-question-will-this-work-6282141

Francisco

Ive havent had any luck tbudding or cleft grafting figs. That being said I dont think I went about it the right way either. Here are afew lessons I learned. When attempting any kind of graft on a fig, graft it to a branch, not the main trunk. I learned that the hard way! Next lesson is to completely wrap the bud or scion is cleft grafting with a film of some sort. The bud will push its way through the film when its ready. Also leave the tape/film on the graft for a whole growing season until there is no doubt the graft has taken. And finally wrap the grafted unions tight and cover with foil until it heals over. These are all the things I didnt do consistently and the main reasons my grafts probably failed. For me, fig grafts are not as easy as citrus. The inverted Tbud graft on citrus is so easy a cave man could do it and most all of them take! Not so for figs!

To have success you need to do it

at the right timing for a given method
to have healthy scions and root stock
Observe absolute cleanliness
insure Cambium to Cambium firm contact
complete insulation of the graft from air/moisture
protect the graft from direct sun light

Go through many description and clips describing the various processes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wSHkYuSOMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJtWZxzNcXs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=balqtgMTj6I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3w-IXTT_Yg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2-QMoCWKQU

Francisco

thanks all for the replies.
ok t bud and chip bud starting in summer.
i have seen many videos on how to graft but none mention
a specific time of year to perform a std whip and tongue graft.

normally you would do stone fruit in winter during full dormancy

cherimoya and white sapote into spring when strong growth and sap has started flowing

figs ??????

Let me be more precise

At  dormancy (February for instance ) up to early spring you may go for cleft, bark, side, whip.. grafting

As soon as sap starts flowing and the buttons appear about forming, it's time for T and chip-budding. In the Mediterranean, farmers commence these two budd methods in April/ May and go through August.
You may go beyond that and if done properly the grafts will hold but will not shoot out new growth until next spring.

Good luck
Francisco