First year trying to graft and my question is, once it seems to have taken, when is it safe to bring out to full sun??? I grafted this little guy on 3/4/16, seems to be happy so far. It has been outdoors and in the shade for about a month now, took it out once it started to break out.
binbin9
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Great question. I've been gun shy about bringing my grafts outdoors too. They've all been sitting on the window sill. What did you graft together?
FigTrees2013
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Start by bringing them out into the sun a few hours a day. Gradually work your way up. Maybe 1 hour for a few days, then 2, then 3, after a week or so they should be well enough acclimated.
Louneo
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I put a big black madeira graft out for 3 hours the other day and it got sunburnt lol. Definitely start slow :)
Elfarach
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@Ben, it's an LSU Purple I received from JoAnn in a trade, THANKS JOANN!!! I grafted it to an unknown green/red I rooted last year. I'm at about 25% success rate on grafts but it's still too early to tell. This LSU and one other VdB have taken fast and have good signs of growth. I've lost a few cuttings in the past due to bringing them out too soon and not being able to handle the sun, don't wanna do the same with these grafts.
jdsfrance
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Hi, My take on that is that you want to shade the graft union - not the leaves of the pushing bud. The sun could cook the new growing tissue at the union graft.
You can use tin-foil or saran wrap. I myself used saran wrap that I scotched on top of the cutting/branch and let it down to cover below the graft union. My idea is: I water the saran wrap to keep some more moisture against the graft. I'm monitoring the bud break and will make a hole through the saran wrap to let the bud and new stem escape. In 3 or 4 months, I'll completely remove the scotch . I tried some grafts on a cherry seedling.
Elfarach
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JDS... I lost a graft because of the moisture that got trapped with the grafting wrap I used, it was a wedge graft where the root stock I used was a little wider than the scion and the extra space seemed to work against it. Not sure if I had anything to do with that when watering though... For now I'l just keep it where it is till I feel it's a bit stronger, maybe a couple months then bring it out slowly...