310 Effect of Scionwood Moisture and Cut-end Waxing on Pecan Bark Graft Success
Pecan is a difficult species to propagate by grafting. The whip graft, bark graft, and four-flap graft, the most often-used techniques for pecan grafting, require dormant scions, collected and stored for 60 to 120 days prior to spring-season grafting. Poor graft success is often blamed on handling and storage environment of the scionwood. Moisture content of packing material, waxing of cut ends, and use of polyethylene bags was evaluated in a controlled experiment in 1998 and 1999. Scions were cut in early February each year, and stored for 60 to 70 days in a household refrigerator under different treatment regimes. Scion viability was tested by bark grafting mature pecan trees in Fairhope, Ala., and Uvalde, Texas. In 1998, graft success rate was equally good among scions stored in polyethylene bags with different amounts of added moisture, whether cut ends were waxed or not. Moisture loss of the scions during storage was affected each year by the amount of water added to packing material and by waxing the cut-ends, but the differences did not impact graft success. An interaction of not waxing the cut ends and very wet packing material reduced graft success at Fairhope, Ala., but not Uvalde, Texas, in 1999.