Official start of the grafting season

Official start of the grafting season.

I put a fresh blade into the utility knife after removing the manufacturing oils with rubbing alcohol.

I grafted nine quince and three pears this morning. Eight of the quince were Claribel and the last quince was Skorospelka.

I did a couple of things differently this year.

I pre-wrapped the scion with parafilm. That is, I wrapped it before I grafted. That way I was not stressing the graft as I pulled and stretched the parafilm.

The other thing I did differently is that I warmed the strip against my forehead after tearing a six-to-eight inch piece off the roll. Stretching the parafilm activates the stickiness of the coating and makes it more flexible. Parafilm is more likely to break than stretch when it is cold.

Parafilm is similar to the stretch wrap you put over the salad bowl before you put it in the refrigerator except it is coated on both sides with wax. From the feel of the wax after the parafilm is stretched, it has some micro-crystalline wax in the formulation. Toilet bowl rings...those sticky, stretchy cheese colored rings of wax are made of micro-crystalline wax.

Once again, Tashkent showed the least twig die-back with Skorospelka running hot on its heels. One of the Skorospelka had two blossoms last spring. I am looking forward to getting some fruit off these trees either this year or next.