Most years I start grafting pecan trees around the first of May. The photo at right shows a young seedling pecan tree that is the perfect size to graft using a 3-flap graft. For field grafting, I use growth stage as a gauge for when grafting will be most successful. The tree in the photo has new leaves just starting to unfurl. The emergence of new leaves tells me that the bark will easily slip which is so important for 3-flap grafting.
After 40 years experience in grafting trees, the first graft of the season went on perfectly (photo at left). If you need a refresher on how to make a 3-flap graft check out my post
HERE. As always, I placed a bamboo stake next to the graft to provide a bird perch (prevents graft breakage from birds) and a support stake for the new growth that will emerge from the scion.
However, much of my grafting will be delayed by the freeze we suffered on April 20. The photo at left shows one of many young trees that had their emerging buds frozen by the cold. The cold temperatures killed all emerging green tissue turning it brown. This shocks the tree into delaying further spring growth for at least a couple of weeks. As I said before, I like to wait until I see new green leaves before making a graft.
Following late spring frosts experienced in the past, I patiently waited until secondary buds on the young trees started growth. I ended up grafting a couple of weeks later than normal but I still had good success. I'm hoping this year will be similar.
I took a close-up photo of a frost damaged seedling tree (photo at left). You will note that all of the primary buds on this stem were frozen. However, the secondary buds have already started to green up. The red arrows in the photo point to easily visible green buds. These buds will take a little while to fully develop and break into new leaves but I expect to be grafting in 7 to 10 days. The speed of bud development will depend on the weather. Warm temperatures and sufficient rainfall should push thing along.
