Whenever I try to graft avocado, whether it be cleft or T-bud, I always notice the buds are very fragile. When I wrap the scion for a cleft graft or a T-bud with parafilm tape, I'm always worried that I will crush the buds so I always end up wrapping it looser than I would with citrus.

Am I damaging the buds by wrapping too tight? Or can I wrap it tightly without any worry that its crushing the buds? Any tips or recommendations would be appreciated.

I never rap my grafts I put a ziploc bag over it and zip it closed. It works great for me and I reuse the bags over and over. I have not grafted avocado though but I will use bags when I do.

Dr Manners send me some Avocado budwood a couple yrs ago. He recommended grafting avocados in the fall when temps drop into the 60s. I used both cleft grafts and one T-bud and wrapped all of them with parafilm. All 4 cleft grafts and the T-bud took--one cleft graft was later broken by the dogs. The T-bud was on my largest seedling, just a few inches above the ground--that same seedling had a cleft graft that initially grew really well the next spring, but the T-bud out grew it by late summer and utimately the cleft graft died in the cold this past winter.

I now have 1 avocado fruit on that T-bud--in the second growing season.

I have done so many t buds on my avocado trees and all of them have died. Now I guess I know why. Temps here have been above 95 everyday here. What do you think the threshold to start fall grafting on the highest temp allowed ? Just under 60 or under 80 ?

My potted avocado suffered severe die back. It was about 5 feet tall and I had to keep on cutting it back because the branches kept on turning black. Its now about 2 1/2 feet tall with about 90% of its branches gone. The blackening has slowed down and new growth has started. Every single leaf on it is now new from these past few months. I tried T-budding on the main trunk since most of its branches died off. It doesn't look like the T-buds took. I felt like I smashed the buds while wrapping, thus my post on the topic.

Dr Manners is clearly the expert here, but the first yr I tried--if I remember correctly, he sent me budwood in Nov--which is when he said they graft in South FL. None of those took--I think because it had gotten too cold here. The next yr, I asked him to send me budwood in Oct and that time they all took, so I think you need cooler weather, but still warm enough to get some growth--at least at the graft point.

If you can get seeds from Mexican avocados, they will be more cold hardy than other rootstock. I have been really impressed with the cold hardiness of the ones I still have--Mrs. Holland and Duke. The Duke I have is not growing nearly as fast as the Mrs Holland--now over 6 ft--early in it's 2nd growing season. The Duke is still less than 1 ft. I don't know if the difference is the rootstock or the variety.

Yes, I like to graft them after the hot weather is over, in the fall, which for us is November. I like a totally dormant terminal bud, or it can have swollen to the spherical shape. Once it starts developing side bumps (inforescences forming), it becomes far less likely to survive as a scion.

In hot weather, it is not necessarily mashing them with tape that causes buds to fall off. Avocado is one of those weird plants that commonly abscisses (drops) its axillary buds off naturally, especially if stressed.