While I'm very new to this forum, I'm been grafting treefruit on a small scale for many years and have been grafting chestnuts on a moderately large scale (maybe 1,000 grafts over the last 4 years). My grafting success rate is about 99%, for what it's worth. One tip another grower gave me 5 years ago has been a tremendous help. It is very rare that I use grafting tape now, I use masking tape almost exclusively. While most of my grafts are rind bark grafts, I also using masking tape for whip grafts. It's cheaper and easier to use and works great. It tears away as the union heals and expands. I have used Doc Farwell's Grafting Seal ($9.95 for 1 quart at a Lockhart Seeds in Stockton) and cover the graft union and the type of the scion. Sometimes I also coat the rest of the scion, except the buds) if it is small and the temperatures are warm. I usually find the local Ace Hardware has their own brand of masking tape on sale for $.99 per role and I stock up on a few roles. Their tape seems to work better than some of the other off-name brands.

I don't know how this might be useful for citrus, but I suspect it would work very well for grafting and it is cheaper. I'll probably give it a try later this year (unless everything freezes to death!).

I agree that the masking tapes are great for grafting nuts, apples, pears and others. The only major drawbacks of using tapes with adhesives are the adhesives themselves. Sometimes the adhesives remain on the tree for a long long time and it will accumulate dirt and I simply don't like touching sticky joints on my grafts, but this is not really a problem with masking tapes, only the electrical and other tapes.


I wouldn't recommend the adhesive type of tapes when T-budding citruses. The adhesives even from masking tape would attract dirt and contaminate the buds, so the percent take is very low if you use adhesive tapes. A simple flat rubber band would work better than the adhesive tape. The easiest for me to use would be the paraffin grafting tape and rubber band combo. I would have used clear vinyl tapes, which is supposedly the best to use and cheaper too, as these are preferred by more experienced grafters than I am, but am lousy at handling stuff. I cannot wrap the slippery vinyl tapes, they're too slippery for my sloppy hands and always have to wrestle the tapes back as they unfurl or unwind easily from the roll. So I am stuck with paraffin grafting tape as my most convenient and relatively faster material to use, albeit, a little more expensive, a price certainly that I am willing to pay for the convenience they bring. When used properly, both the non-adhesive vinyl tape and paraffin grafting tape works well with citrus T-budding. Even saran wrap and plastic bread covers could work if you really want to go cheap and have the time to cut them to size.

But your tip on the chestnuts just using masking tape is valuable information to keep. Thanks for sharing Harvey!

I found out that the 1/2 " is the best for me so I don't have to cut it so I bought 3 rolls at the scion exchange .

For my two cents worth.
I have been grafting pecan and citrus primarily since 1967.
The L. E. cooke vinyl tape is the best that I have used. I have used electrical tape, masking tape, wax etc. the 4 mil vinyl is excellent for patch budding plus can be used for whip and tongue plus can be used to secure scions to the understock for bark grafting.
For t-budding and hang bud I use the 2 mil chip budding tape.
Each year I do over 2000 t-buds with very few failures.

Joe, I'll be going to the Sacramento scion exchange. Maybe I'll see some of that tape there. I don't know what the slipper white stuff I've used before is made of, but I assume it's the vinyl stuff you're talking about.

Many of my chestnut grafts have been up high in a tree and the slightly adhesive property of the masking tape has been very welcome since I end up leaning out on a ladder too much as it is.

Thanks for the feedback!

I can get vinyl tape from work at no cost, but it does have an adhesive on it. Would this be safe to use? The adhesive is a food grade adhesive.
Andi

Hi Andi, I'm sure if adhesive on electrical & masking tape worked, that your 'food grade' tape would be fine.