Prunus Mume graft aftercare

Some of my Ume grafts look like they've taken. It's been about 3 weeks since I placed them.
When should I take the bags off? Full sun or no? Any other advice to make sure these grafts stay alive please?

It is not usually necessary to bag dormant deciduous grafts. The dormant scion can survive until the graft union begins to pass water through when it will begin to grow.
Bags don't hurt and may increase the take a little. When I see some growth I start to open the bags a little at a time to allow the scions to gradually harden off. I generally use a 2 or 3 stage bag removal process when I use them for evergreen grafts.
Start by unzipping the seals but leave the opening substantially closed. That allows some air exchange but not much.
A few days/week later, if the scions still appear happy, open the bag wider but leave it in position to allow even more air and to reduce humidity but still maintain protection around the scions.
Finally remove the bag. Sometimes I pull the bags up part way to increase air flow and reduce humidity further while still protecting part of the scions before removing completely a week or 2 later.

Thanks Shibui. The scions weren't fully dormant, they were from shoots of the same trees that had finished flowering. They were kind of an after thought, I repotted and cut back at the same time.

I see the dilemma of Ume. Flowers first, then growth. No leaves and growth buds still not active so to all intents those scions are still 'dormant', at least they are not using water, etc so as close to dormant as necessary for grafting.
As I said above, the bags are a good insurance policy and won't hurt, but, my feeling is, not necessary for these grafts.

I'll be interested to see the final results so please post more when you have results - good or bad please.

I don't know whether bags are necessary for ume grafts, but if you're going to use them, I wouldn't have them in full sun. Boon teaches to put painters tape over bags (that he uses on conifer grafts) to limit light (and presumably heat buildup). That said, all the examples of ume grafts that I recall weren't bagged, ...but I haven't looked into it so that might be a topic you study up on.

Yeah, I've got the Japanese KB Mook book on Ume and it says to bag them but doesn't talk about when the bags come off!

JeffS73 said:

Some of my Ume grafts look like they've taken

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, don't let the bud movement or extension deceive you. If you were to take those scions and plant them in substrate they might even send out 5-6 internodes before drying out and dying, having never sent out a root. A grafted scion is no different to the extent that it has just enough momentum/energy of its own to give you hope before it breaks your heart

Of course you're on the right path - seeing this growth is not a bad thing either!

good luck

Thanks Canada that was the "humble bonsai failure" feeling I was craving. Up there with "It depends"

In an attempt to provide updates, this is at 3 weeks on from grafting.

Ume 1 - 2x grafts, both looking OK, adventitous budding at the top which is almost better. Probably a result of the hard cut back after flowering:


Ume 2 - 3x grafts, 2 pictured, both look OK. No adventitous buds yet. These look slower, but the furthest out leaves grow first, and these are at the base:


Ume 3 - 2x grafts, one looks OK, the second not so much. It was between two bark scars, so despite seeing cambium, maybe a bit weak, or just late. Or dead of course:


I left a few unbagged, night temps are 6c / 43f + and I'd probably break the leaves trying. Will update in a bit.