Grafting to native stock produces larger nuts with more meat

By Bob Harrington, bharrington@miconews.com

Bill Reid, pecan grafter, matches scion wood to the host tree as LeRoy Moore gets a close look at the Bob Creason pecan farm Friday afternoon. (Photo by Bob Harrington)

Under a partly sunny but crisp windy day, about 30 people attended the pecan tree grafting school Friday afternoon at the Bob Creason farm south of Paola.

Creason has several hundred young pecan trees he plans to graft. Bill Reid, Kansas State University Extension Service tree grafting expert, showed how to make two grafts, the four-flap or four-fold graft and the inlay bark or side graft.

Spicing his presentation and demonstrations with anecdotes, Reid kept his audience engaged despite the crisp, strong wind.

He emphasized the need of proper tools for making grafts, such as fresh scion wood in an ice chest to keep it cool, a pruning saw, pruning shears, grafting tape, aluminum foil, sandwich bags, flathead brad or a staple gun, a small tack hammer if using brads, a nail apron, soft cord, a sharp crafting knife and good bird perch sticks.

He first demonstrated the four-flap method of grafting by cutting straight across the host stem to which the scion wood would be attached. He then made four vertical cuts through the bark of the host wood, equal distance apart, and matched scion wood to the diameter of the stem on which it was to be grafted. He then “squared” off about 2 inches of the scion wood cutting through the cambium layer, leaving a ridge of bark containing the cambium. He then peeled back the bark on the host wood and cut off the “plug.”

The squared scion was placed on top of the host wood, and the pealed back bark was wrapped tightly to the scion wood with grafting tape, making sure there were no air bubbles between the host wood flat and scion wood.

Next the taped section was covered with aluminum foil and a bag tied on both ends to form a “greenhouse” for the grafting.

Then came the perch stick. Reid explained that birds liked to perch on the upper end of grafted tree, and this would tend to break away the graft if it was not protected. A sturdy pecan stick was taped to the stem with the top end well above the graft for a “perch.”

He also demonstrated the inlay or side bark grafting method.

A number of landowners in Miami County plant nut trees and are interested in having trees that produce larger nuts with more meat, thus the need for grafting to native stock.

The Miami County Extension office and Master Gardeners have printed information regarding the growing of nut trees and illustrated grafting methods to produce larger fruit than is produced by native stock.