Kirk, I like flat graft, because it is easier to do, less time, and the scar looks better.

Flat graft is popular nowaday.
Marie

Guess you could get much more grafting material from one plant as each leaf bud has the potential to be a scion? Never seen this style before.
Gill from the UK.

This is all new to me and I am looking forward to doing some.
Do they call this form of graft a "bud" graft. In an article of David Clulow, he shows a flat graft with the scion done upside down. Showed how it still worked, just didn't look as nice.
It is amazing how they can use quite small caliper of scion as apposed to the caliper of the root stock with the flat graft.
I like the appearance of my flat grafted by far.
A very nice woman in Australia does a lot of grafting and uses both, but uses the "V" graft as it is more secure for shipping and/or selling.
As I say, all new to me in practice.
Rick

My keyboard died the other day shortly after making this post so had to wait a couple days to get a new keyboard and mouse for my computer. Now I feel like I'm back in touch with civilization. LOL

I do think that using that horizontal scion (bud graft as Rick said) would leave a better looking scar if both scion and graft stock were almost identical in size. I may try that when I graft some of mine later this year. But like Marie I'm still leaning towards flat graft. Fun to experiment any way you slice it, I say.

Kirk

Old thread, but it illustrates a very interesting grafting technique. Any updated photos, and information? I'd love to know it this graft was successful.

Frank

May be difficult to find updates on the pic above Frank as Kirk mentioned it was found on the Internet whilst he was searching for grafting techniques :)

Gill UK

OOPS...didn't read the fine print. My error.

Frank

Has anyone used tissue culture to mass produce adenium plants yet? I know that with tissue culture it's possible to grow hundreds of similar plants with just a small piece of a plant..but I wonder if anyone is doing it.

I think the V-graft with a horizontal scion will healed nice.

Please correct me if I am wrong. In the original photo it looks like someone is getting ready to tape the graft union. Why? To prevent drying?....to increase the contact area between the graft and stem?...to prevent the plant sections from shifting out of alignment....or, all of these reasons?

As noted, (by greenclaws), a section of stem can be subdivided and used as a scion as long as there is a bud on that section of stem.

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BTW, when taping a graft-union, does one leave the area surrounding the bud, that will eventually sprout, untaped?

Frank

You got it right Frank. It's all the reasons as you said. After a week or so you can remove the tape when the scion and union are fused together.

Maybe a grafting expert can explain it better if i am wrong.

When sliced, the exposed plant tissue will dry almost immediately. You'll notice a film of drying sap forming on that surface. When this happens, that area will contract a little as it dries out. The tape is to hold the sliced pieces together firmly so that they are exposed only to each other, allowing them to fuse together. If the tape is not holding them down firmly, that contraction that
happens as the pieces dry will separate them and so the graft will fail.

In summer, fusing takes about a couple of weeks. In winter with supplemental bottom-heating and sufficient lighting, it will take about a month, sometimes longer-- hence the tendency to fail. The scion will normally die before the fuse succeeds.

I've had a perfect score in summer and about 30 percent success rate in winter with a heating mat in a room that is routinely 25C during the day. Bottom heating isn't enough--the whole plant has to be warm--probably 30C to 35C warm, all day.

I hope this helps.
Pagan

Great information. Thanks for filling in the blanks.

Frank

Frank, In early summer is definitely the best time, unless of coarse you live in a tropical climate.. The relative humidity needs to be kept and can be done anywhere by enclosing graft portion with a baggy tie over it.

My preference is the "Flat" grafts, they look less to almost unnoticeable over time. The majority of "V" or Cleft grafts will show for a long time if not indefinitely.

Rick

Rick-

Thanks for the information, especially the suggestions concerning the correct time of year for the grafting of plants.

I agree, that most of the grafted plants that I have seen are just shockingly ugly. The grafts are almost always mismatched, and the plants look, hacked up.

It seems that the flat grafts are the best hope for a clean junction. What I don't understand is why the V-graft, cleft graft, and bud graft are still being used commercially, when a flat grafted plant looks so much nicer, and is probably, just as easy to do?

Frank

Frank,

Flat grafts are easier to dislodge since the point of contact is harder to stabilize. Also most sellers show us pictures of the blooms and never the actual plant. They get away with the shocking ugliness.

But even flat grafts can look horrible. Check out the shelves on this one lol

Pagan

So....I revisited this topic because I just came across cuttings for named varieties, that are offered for sale, on Mr. Ko's website. Then I remembered the opening photos of the horizontal V-graft made by KODOM, and I thought, ummmmm.

My plan: I am now growing/training a tower shaped Adenium. I made the "tower" by braiding ten, very tall, no-name, seedling, plants together. The caudices are all taped together, so they all touch firmly, and hopefully as the composite plant ages, the tightly bound caudices will start to fuse together, and form a very fat trunk. I also expect the braided stems to fuse together. Roots will be trained to flare out from the "trunk" and the top branches will be wired and trained into more artistic positions. After a few years, the top branches will also be grafted with a selected, named variety -using either flat grafts, or horizontal V-grafts- so the whole top end of the plant will have the same kind/style/color of flowers for a better display. While all the initial, major, training will be done in The Bronx, NYC, the "tower" will be transported (by car) to Florida, for further development, which I suspect will take a very long time....a work-in-progress, if you will. I think Florida has a better "Adenium climate" than NYC. I'm hoping the extended Floridian growing season, will help the plant develop even more quickly.

I'll keep my fingers crossed and I'll do plenty of praying that the plant will thrive in the sunny, heat, and do well,. growing without major problems. If it all works out, in about ten years, I will have a great looking, Adenium tower to look at while I sip some adult beverages by the pool.

An ambitious undertaking? You bet. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Kodom, et al...many thanks for showing the grafting techniques, pictured above. Now, I have to try it too, using cuttings from Mr. Ko.

Frank

Interesting the Mr Ko has cuttings thanks. I have recently seen cutting the inner the skin of the touching stems this seemed like the merging may take more easily. I have not noticed if side by side stems merge or mold to each other as they get bigger. Will be interesting to watch.

Marcia....I was wondering if the Adenium will eventually fuse - with, or without, cutting into the cambium layers....which is what is done when grafting. I wanted to avoid cutting into living, juicy, tissue- for obvious reasons. I may eventually have to resort to more drastic measures, for fusing the caudices, but that will have to wait until I move the plant down to sunny, Florida.

I'm wondering how long it will take, if they do fuse. I took the express route on this one and chopped two plants then taped them together at the base. It only took a month for them to fuse together.

Pagan

Since you guys were talking about different grafting techniques, I thought I'd ask about my grafted Adenium. I noticed that the grafted scion has (I'm guessing) grown its own roots and caudex? That's the only assumption that I can come up with. You can clearly see the "V" notch in the original caudex. But then, if you look closer, the grafted section has its own roots and its own caudex. If it already had these, then there would've been no reason to graft it on to another caudex. Now it seems as though the newer caudex has outgrown the original.

Can the grafted scions grow their own caudex? I've never seen this before on an Adenium...

Trippy

A seedling was grafted on the plant. I saw that on a website. I will search for the link and post it

I don't think that it was a seedling, though it may have been. I bought the plant from Wal-Mart, one of the ones that came from Costa Farms. I don't know if they graft seedlings or not. Every grafted Adenium of theirs that I've ever seen for sale was just a normal graft. This one caught my eye while sitting on the clearance rack.

They kind of look like 2 have merged. Very interesting. Are there shoots coming off of both. I bet the blooms would be different