THREAD GRAFTING

[my nellie]

I read on the Internet that thread grafting should be made late winter-early spring.
I also read that mid summer is fine because the scion can grow immediately and healing will begin readily.
Which is best?
Which is your opinion if anyone of you have tried thread grafting?

Thank you.

[bonsaisr]

As with many bonsai techniques, as well as other horticultural practices, it depends on where you are. In Greece or Florida, late winter or early spring might be fine, especially if you already have a branch from last year that is still soft enough to bend around in a thread graft. Here in the North, I generally do it in late spring or early summer, when there is a new branch long enough to use and everything is in active growth. I did a successful thread graft on a friend's Ficus in September. It doesn't matter if you do a thread graft on a temperate tree later in the summer, as long as it has time to get going. They can go through the winter if protected from hard freezing.
Iris

[my nellie]

Thank you for your response, Mrs. Iris.

... ... It doesn't matter if you do a thread graft on a temperate tree later in the summer, as long as it has time to get going. They can go through the winter if protected from hard freezing.
Iris

So, do you think that I could try to thread graft a new branch on my japanese maple at this time? There is a last year's growth candidate branch.
Summer lasts till the beginning of October here

[marcus watts]

i've thread grafted acer palmatum and trident branches in the past at any time of the year that i've been working on the trees, as long as the intended branch is long enough and still bends enough.

i tend to drill a larger hole through the trunk initially so no buds get knocked off when the thread branch is pushed through, I then leave the branch for all of the following year to grow freely and fatten up. once the thread is swelling around the drilled hole i score the bark of the tree and thread so they heal together. Because i leave the threads for over 12 months - normally longer,( 2 growing seasons works really well) - i dont think it makes much difference when I start the work.

i guess a fast growing ficus or acer grafted now would be ready to detatch at the end of the 2012 growing season

[marcus watts]

Thank you for your response, Mrs. Iris.

... ... It doesn't matter if you do a thread graft on a temperate tree later in the summer, as long as it has time to get going. They can go through the winter if protected from hard freezing.
Iris

So, do you think that I could try to thread graft a new branch on my japanese maple at this time? There is a last year's growth candidate branch.
Summer lasts till the beginning of October here

to get the thread graft through the drilled hole you will have to cut the leaves off, once the leaves are off the thread will probably stop growing this year so you could do it now but not gain a lot, or leave the branch growing until autumn then do it after the leaves fall naturally

[bonsaisr]

Maple thread grafts respond very rapidly. You could easily start one now, and it might be done by fall.
Of course you cut all the leaves off to get it through the hole, but most vigorous trees start growing new leaves from the dormant buds shortly thereafter. As you can see from my pictures of the Nanking cherry, it sprouted new shoots on the thread graft before I put the tools away.
I would not start a thread graft after the leaves fall in autumn, at least in my climate.
I try to scratch the bark on the scion where it goes through the hole, if the branch is not too delicate. The idea of exposing the cambium layers is to have them connect and grow together. Of course on a young green branch there is no bark to speak of, so they connect pretty fast.
Iris

[my nellie]

Thank you both for your kind help!
But let me ask one more question, i.e. why do we use the previous year's branch? What if we use a current year's branch for thread grafting?

Mrs. Iris, your Nanking cherry thread graft is growing amazingly fast!!!
I am sure that the update of this "fixer-upper" will be similarly amazing. It already looks much better after your intervention.

[bonsaisr]

It doesn't make any difference how old the branch is, as long as it is still flexible and skinny enough to work with.
The main problem I'm finding with the Nanking cherry is that it doesn't bud back on the trunk or old branches. I wiil have to work with what I have.
Iris

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