I have never used parafilm before but...........after hearing all the commentary about it in the forum and in speaking with other folks that bud and graft I decided to give it a shot. Had some good rootstock that was having a good flush and some Owari Satsuma that was also putting on a ton of new growth. The rootstock was about 3/4 of an inch in diameter so I decided to bark graft a scion from the satsuma onto it. I cut the rootstock off about 8 inches above the ground and made a good cut. Cut a slit and using a homemade bark lifting tool I loosened the bark on both sides of the cut. Had me a scion in a jar of water that I cut on the way to the bench. Preped the scion and inserted it. Felt good and looked good. Now the bad part. Took me a piece of the parafilm off the new roll and began to wrap from bottome to top.....Something is not good. I must have broken the tape 4 or 5 times. I could not stretch it like I can stretch the budding tape that I normally use. It must have taken me 15 minutes to get a wrap on it that I really was not proud of. I find the parafilm too tender. I find that it doen not stretch enough before it breaks. Are my big old hands and arms too strong to use parafilm? Is the parafilm not made for making a bark graft? It may be good and I may be too rough on it. Perhaps I am used to budding tape and parafilm is much lighter..............I dont know but....................I am not happy with parafilm. Not going to condem it to the back of the drawer but..........Im gonna give it another shot when I am calm and sitting at the bench in the shade of the old chicken coop. I was not really impressed..............Are there like opinions out there????????

It's all I use. Try wrapping the scion first, leaving the bottom open. Insert the scion & then wrap the union good. I usually T-bud, but have made quite a few cleft & bark grafts with it.

Parafilm can get brittle and snap easy sometimes, probably if it is old, or sitting in the heat.

This may be the case here Susan. I ordered it and dont know the history of it. It may have sat for a long time and may have been in the hot sun...........one can not tell. I am not going to count it out. I ordered 12 rolls and I will try to use it when I bud.......may work out better............

Could be...

I worked in labs for years and we used to play with it in school, stretching it and rolling it.
The last place I worked we had a roll in the lab but I only used it a few times in 5 years- and I noticed it would break as soon as I tried to stretch it. I attributed this to age/UV light, but I suppose it could be that "they don't make it like they used to!"

It might be stretchier further inside the roll.

Sounds logical. I have lots of budding coming up so I will give it a shot on some of that work. It looks like it should be good tape and I like the idea of covering the bud and letting it break through the tape by itself. I can see that it would form a good barrier. Will not give up on it yet cause I have 12 rolls.............

I recently tried parafilm also, but had already read on this forum about it breaking for some before I ordered it. It worked well for me, but I kind of thought it was better suited for budding or applications that you didn't need the support of the tape to hold a lot of pressure on the union. I did like the fact that when the bud started growing that I didn't have to physically remove the parafilm. The bud just broke through. I'll definitely keep it as a tool in my arsenel, but it probably won't be the only one I use.

Phillip

My thoughts too. I will use it for budding as you dont need a lot of pressure to hold the bud inplace and you can probably get it done with out breaking the parafilm. I think for bark grafts and other types the regular grafting tape serves me better. You can pull it pretty tight and it is pretty tough. I have used the rubber binders before but prefer to do it with just tape. Budding is more or less a gentle process and I think the parafilm will better serve in that aplication. I remember that my Grandfather used wax exclusively...homeade grafting was.....Equal parts of beeswax and rosin and hog lard. It was really good wax and it worked perfectly...........I dont want to make or use it as long as there is good tape ......................................

I use it only to wrap scions so they don't dry out. IMHO it is not strong enough for budding or grafting. I use vinyl tape for that.