AusBonsai

Yes you heard right: Thread Grafting Black Pine.

Here is a technique I saw on Sunday that seems to work. I saw it apparently working. How about that!.

Grant

OK,

Now for some musings.

How thick can the trunk be? Black Pines are very vigorous growers so I imagine quite a long hole could be drilled through the trunk and bud will elongate and seek the light.

Will sap plug hole before bud grows? Maybe if it was a very small diameter hole but not a problem if slightly larger bud used.

Will it work on other pines? Vigorous ones probably yes; others I don't know.

Any other thoughts or problems you can foresee?

Lots to experiment with here.

Grant

How ingenious! I wonder how and when the cambium layers of the trunk and the shoot start to fuse, and when it's safe to cuf off the branch that supplied the bud. And, of course, I wonder if that method would work with other species besides pines.

Lisa

I would be worried that the cambium layer may die back away from the hole before the bud fattens enough to fuse and graft. Other than that a great idea!

LLK wrote:How ingenious! I wonder how and when the cambium layers of the trunk and the shoot start to fuse, and when it's safe to cuf off the branch that supplied the bud. And, of course, I wonder if that method would work with other species besides pines.

Lisa

hi Lisa,

I also wondered whether it would work with Picea, cedar, juniper etc. The possibilities could be absolutely mind blowing.

I imagine the new branch and cambium will fuse very quickly as you have no bark on the new branch to get in the way. Do it in spring just as the buds start to elongate and get "pointy".(pine)

I imagine you cut off the supporting branch using the usual monitoring and then cut off the old branch once the new branch is significantly thicker than the old branch. Possibly 18 months to make sure on a pine? I will monitor this experiment and let you know.

The technique was apparently bought back from China by one of the recent visitors.( And obviously works)

Grant

Jarrod wrote:I would be worried that the cambium layer may die back away from the hole before the bud fattens enough to fuse and graft. Other than that a great idea!

The cambium would be more likely to start healing over rather than die away I would think. You would do it as the bud is ready to elongate and as you know Black pines can elongate a lot in a short time.

It will be really interesting to see this through.

Grant

Hi Grant i have seen a similar method used on pines many years ago .The shoot with minimal needles was actually rolled up in aluminium foil then inserted through the hole to a point where the foil could be completely removed .Then a small wedge was inserted to hold the branch from sliding back out . It worked quite well however i have never tried it myself , preferring to inarch branches rather than thread graft .No doubt the thread is far neater.Cheers Alpineart

Why isn't the branch just pulled right through as per the usual branch grafting method?, I've got a radiata here I could try that on.

ozzy wrote:Why isn't the branch just pulled right through as per the usual branch grafting method?, I've got a radiata here I could try that on.

It may be difficult to push the branch all the way through a tight hole without damaging the bud.

Plus if the technique works as described why would you need bother with a more iffy technique..

Also answer is I don't know. Lots to play with here.

Grant

I always thought the branch and the hole had to make contact to seal the wound otherwise it would not take, as usual with these things though you never know unless you give it a try yourself.

ozzy wrote:I always thought the branch and the hole had to make contact to seal the wound otherwise it would not take, as usual with these things though you never know unless you give it a try yourself.

Often the branch does not fill the hole entirely in the usual thread graft technique; only a small portion has to come into contact to be successful; say one side etc. You do need to be careful not to push in sealant too hard as it may insinuate itself inbetween the cambiums of the two.

Looks like the pine technique might fill the entire hole as it elongates.

I wish it was early spring so I could do a few myself right now.

Grant

I will definitely be filing this on for future refernce.
My oldest and bestest Pine seems to have a little fungus issue which has caused a few branches do die back. I have cut them all off and sealed the cuts. Have treated with Fungicide so I hope it will survive. If it does, then it will need this to repair the damage

Ken

I have a tree which is so desperately in need of a branch in just the right spot.
I was just startign to wonder how to do the graft and make it look natural.
Awesome idea. No reason it wont work on a healthy tree.
Wish I new about it 8 weeks ago so I coulda tried this year.

Thats looks great and I have a plant which this would be useful also, but how do you know when it is time to cut off the original branch from the trunk?

Damo

Grant,

Nice technique, I would think that the size of the trunk could only be as wide as the new growth/bud could grow in one season?

I have seen approach grafts work really well on JBP and also grafting JBP to a number of native US pines, I have yet to try any grafting on pines but have seen results 18 months on that looked promising and 10 y.o. approach grafts where the 'mating' of the graft was really clean and hard to notice.

What benefits do you see with this method over approach grafting?