Quote:
Originally Posted by FredB
Rootstock varieties have tiny seeds and in my experience tend to be sluggish and erratic in germinating, so I would say plant them at least five days earlier than the scions.
|
I'll tell y'all a little secret about the timing of the scion and root stock. Always plant the scion first. I usually wait about a week to 10 days between the two unless it is really warm then 5 to 7 days. The reason is quite simple. If the root stock stem is larger than your scion stem you will be forced to graft very high up on the plant to match the stems. Even if the scion is double the size of your root stock you can usually cut off the top of the scion and match it to the smaller root stock.
It is easiest to do the grafting if all the plants are about the same size but several times I have had the root stock grow much faster and then I had a really hard time finding any small enough to match the scions. One time I had to just cut off the tops of all my root stock and root them for about two weeks in order to get plants small enough. My healing chambers are only about 14 or 15 inches tall and if I graft too high up then I can't put the lid on.
I already have my root stock and scions planted and up for my first grafting attempt and will be starting my next batch of seed in a week or two. Right now my scions are around 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches tall with no true leaves and most of my scions are about and inch tall. When I start grafting my first batch I will pick out all the tallest root stock seedlings for that attempt and continue with that till my next plantings are ready to start grafting.
Bill