Root grafting

[b3bowen]

How do you decide when a root Graft has taken? The picture below is on a European beech. When repotting in the spring, I cut a grove in the trunk in an area with a gap in the roots. I took a small root and Looped it backwards towards the trunk and fastened it into the groove. The root is about twice the diameter it was now compared to originally, and the bark appears to have healed over. The thickening is causing a little swelling of the trunk in the area and so my question is how to know when I can separate the graft. In Photo below, the red arrow points to the loop, the yellow arrow points to the grafted root That I wish to keep.

 

[b3bowen]

Also, here is an approach graft I performed earlier this year. It is easier to manage, I will just wait until the exiting limb is thicker than where it enters.

 

[Shibui]

A little scraping at the junction can often tell you if the join has healed or whether there is still a small gap there. I usually do a progressive separation for inarch grafts. When it looks like the graft is successful I scrape the bark off one side of the approach but leave the other side intact. I hope that reduction will force the graft to get on with establishing better flow through the graft union. 6 months or a year later I cut the approach part entirely and cross fingers.

 

[leatherback]

and cross fingers.

Yeah, that is scary though. To then see the graft slowly turn brown..

 

[b3bowen]

What if you applied a wire tourniquet at the orange line. That should prevent the incoming root from enlarging further, near the trunk at least (thus limiting further focal swelling at the trunk). It should gradually cut off the incoming root and i can just wait until the graft is significantly larger before cutting the incoming root.
thoughts?

 

[b3bowen]

No matter how i do it i like your suggestion @Shibui of cutting half the bark at a time

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi,
Ring bark half of the root I think making a decent gap so it doesn’t callous over. And scraping all green from ring bark (like half an air layer etc.
Charles