I have about 25 P trif about 2 feet tall. They are still in the container that I planted the seed in. I have been pulling and potting from this container and placing some of them in the rows in the ground. This last 25 I think that I will..............

a. water them well for a couple of days
b. remove them to a work table in a bucket of wet moss
c. while on this work table bud them about 6 inches from the earth depth line
d. pot them up and place them in the shade and water them.

This seems like a good idea to me. The removal, budding and repotting would all be accomplished in one swift movement from growing bin to final potting. It would be on a table where one could sit and do his work with all his tools and material at hand. It would be a swift operation. Much less complicated than scootin along a row and budding. Much less labor intensive than bringing potted rootstock to a table and then removeing it as you finsih.

Any opinions out there? See any drawbacks? Think it will work? See any advantages? Speak to me if you see something that I dont. Thanks
David

Well I did it back in Novermber while I still had bark slip. Budded 28 Ptrif with Brown Select, Owari and LA Early...........handed them to my potter....(10 year old helper) and she potted them up. Watered them good and placed the entire bunch under some trees so they got some filtered light. They have been budded and trasnplanted now for 7 weeks or so and the buds are green. The Rootstock is dormant now (no leaves just the green thorny stalk) but all appear to be doing well.......................Comments are welcome. Anyone else tried this? I am gonna keep an eye on them and if I have no trouble............and they grow off like they are supposed to.....I will have a good working soloution to my one man operation....(with 10 year old helper) Its nice to sit at at table with all your stuff within reach and do your budding.....Much easier than scooting along a row in the field and making each graft............Thats what I think. Remains to be seen if they are all going to make it and grow off but all looks well at the present..................David

Commercially, many grape cuttings are traditionally budded on the work bench, then rooted, and planted in the field. Works fine for grapes. - Millet

For what it's worth, this is exactly how I do all my roses and camellias.
I am no longer physically able to get on my knees or bend over for more than a minute. Bench grafting is the way to go as one gets older, for sure.

I may experiment with the stenting process on some of my citrus. It is where a scion is grafted onto a rootstock cutting and struck at the same time. It saves a step in the process. It works well with roses and camellias.

That sounds like it might just work well. I was experimenting for the exact reasons that you spoke of. It is beginning to wear me out scooting along on my little seat roller to graft the in ground rootstock. By the time you have finished a long row you have had it. The next day you will be too stove up to do any more. But with the method I am trying it is so much easier and so much faster and a whole lot less labor intensive......I hope that it proves to work well and be a proces that I can use. I have never budded or grated a cutting and then installed it int he medium.........dont see why it wont work if it is done quickly and done in the proper manner...............may be just what the doctor ordered..........Daivd

David,

I was reading a lot of the older posts last night, and I saw where a couple of folks, Ned and another fellow, had tried it but was still resorting to budding.

I don't think it will work stenting Flying Dragon, because it is notorious for being hard to root. It might work with Swingle. I still intend to experiment with bench work when budding this spring. I plant my sansaqua seedlings in pots and when I am ready to cleft graft my camellias onto them, then I just put them on the picnic table and take a seat. Aaahhh....what a relief to be able to sit normally and get the job done. I don't see why it wouldn't work with the seedling rootstock (citrus) being planted out in pots and bench worked the same as I do the camellias. Same principle....they would be easily cleft grafted or budded and then wrapped and set aside. It's sure worth a try.

The difficulty or the complicatedness of rooting Flying Dragon and Poncirus in general seems to be age dependent of the tree. - Millet

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