Budding And Grafting

[sbk]

Any orchardists out there, I'd be interested in your opinions.

We have quite a few avocado trees that we've grown from seed and they have reached a good size for budding or grafting. We do have the fruiting avocado tree to bud onto the rootstock, so that is not the issue here.

Right now we are in the middle of the rainy season and the trees have fruit on them. Should I wait until after the fruit is harvested (soon), after the rainy season, when they start new growth or is any old time ok in the 12 month a year season that we have down here.

[jaideeguy]

as i remember from ag class in college, it's best to graft when the tree is in a vegetative state....especially for the scion, which whould be slightly woody. then there are bud grafts, which i forget about.....college was too many years ago.

What variety of avocado are you grafting??? i would be interested in a university of hawaii variety called sharwell...developed for tropics and delicious.

[sbk]

I have no idea! We got the grafted trees from near the Ag Research center in Tak in Mae Sot province about 7 years ago--got the first fruit about 3 years ago. There appear to be several different types. One is quite large and round with a biggish seed and a bland flavor and then another one that is more pear shaped and more tasty and then another smaller, darker one that has a terrific flavor but so far hasn't been much of a producer. The medium one has been the most prolific and the most regular producer (ie every year).

[jaideeguy]

As most avocados cross polinate easily and their seeds, when grown lead to an unpredictable fruit, it's best to graft if you want consistency. in the market there are so many different avocado varities that you can be sure they were grown from seed and not grafted.

would like to find out if there have been any thai varities developed by any of the universities.

as to your origional topic about grafting...google it or drop by your local ag university.

good luck...i love avos

[sbk]

local ag university.

Not too many on this island!

Ours were grafted, fortunately, hence my desire to graft onto the seedlings. He talked to the guy at the Ag Research stn in Tak when we got our trees and there have been varieties adapted to Thailand but honestly, I have no idea what varieties. This conversation took place 7-8 years ago so there is no way to remember exactly what the guy said.

That said, there is also an Ag Research Ctr in Korat (I believe--could be nearby) growing avo trees as well.

Talked to hubby about the grafting idea and he says there is no way we can graft or bud during the rainy season as the graft will just rot. So, we wait. He has grafted other fruit trees before, but not avos. Don't see how much different they can be.

[chownah]

You could always call an ag Uni on the phone to ask a simple question like when to graft avacados......I don't really know but I'll stick my neck out and say that if I had nothing else to go on I would try grafting them at the time of the year when the fast vegetative growth begins....at that time the plant's juices are getting going and will continue for some time so it seems like a good bet.

Chownah