Grafting macadamias (forum)

Jason starts with ...
Is anyone here done some macadamia grafting? I have this issue that in theory
tetraphylla should be the ideal species down here for growth speed/best flowering and best crops etc. But in practice it doesn't work that way. Integrifolia turns out to be much faster and stronger growing, from what I've read this is because integrifolia grows much better in heavy soils and tetraphylla likes sand?.

Anyway that's how it seems to be, so I figure I should graft a good tetraphylla onto integrifolia rootstock and I'd have the ultimate cold climate heavy soil tree. So who has grafted one and which graft worked best?

Time: 16th October 2010 5:30am

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a says...
That

Time: 20th October 2010 12:40am

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Jason says...
There's another guy here that grows tetraphyla, he's in sandyish soil ontop of clay but his trees also get the "burn" you mention quite badly. He's about 3km from the ocean, my trees are about 5km from the ocean so apart from a cooling effect salt isn't really an issue I wouldn't think for either him or me.

I have 3 integrafolia seedlings which seem to be all pure breed and 2 of them are throwing a couple of flowers now for the first time, they are both 15-20 feet tall at 10 years of age and in what I must say is perfect health, I can't fault them at all, which I thought is quite good for the very southern end of Victoria since I've never fertilized them until this year or really looked after them much at all. For the last couple of years since they have been properly established they have been doing a few feet a year and that seems to be the normal now.

The 3rd tree integrafolia is a little smaller but starting to power along now. The interesting thing is, the guy that grows tetraphylla got me some seeds from a fruiting tetraphylla tree in Geelong and they have all been reallllllly slow growing I just can't seem to get them to do much at all, they must be 4 years old since germination and would be just 2 feet tall no more than that.

With any kind of logic you would think that tetraphylla would be more ideal here especially since it's doing really well in Geelong, but the roots seem to just not want to do anything. Geelong probably has the typical costal sandy soil I guess and maybe that's the reason.

Anyway a hybrid probably would work really well. I visited Australia Zoo earlier this year and took some macadamia seeds from the ground in the Red kangaroo enclosure just because I wanted some Irwin trees in my garden :D. I can't remember which species they are but I'm going to plant those and see how they go. When I find a bit of fruiting tetraphylla wood I'll graft a bit onto the bigger integrafolia trees I have and see if it grows ok, assuming I can graft it :p, your right it doesn't look or sound like it will be easy with such hard wood

Time: 20th October 2010 1:06am

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Original Post was last edited: 20th October 2010 1:08am

About the Author Jason
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allybanana says...
I would say you are on a winner with your integrafolia you will soon know if they give good nuts in your area, if they do you won't have to butcher them with grafts. I am starting to lean more towards them as a species for our area. What do you know about resistance to phytophera could integrafolia be better as if its better in clay soils.

It is interesting that you use seedlings, all the old trees around here are seedlings, do you do it that way to get a better tap root? The A268 I have I think is a layered cutting but hopefully is will get its roots down.

I have been contemplating air layering some branches from Lexi

Time: 20th October 2010 11:32am

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Jason says...
I tend to grow a mix of seedlings and grafted trees. Grafted trees just to keep me happy while the seedlings get going. Because my climate is marginal for most of the things I grow I can't usually afford to have slighter weaker trees. If I can get seedlings in the ground before the tap root has reached the end of a pot then everything seems to go much better long term. Or if the tap root is damaged/bent then I usually trim it and hope it regrows well.

It's really bad what happens often to old gardens when the original owners go. but sometimes people appreciate them. I rented a massive 4 bedroom stone house once that had a living room bigger than most apartments and had the most awesome garden with an acre+? front yard full of 100 year old trees. It was like having a botanic garden in your front yard. You would have to be a pretty harsh person to cut something like that down. My garden is on my parents property over in an area they never used so I just claimed it. They will probably leave one day and sell it but I hope to have everything that's any good duplicated at friends houses before that happens just in case the new owners will chop it all down and have 4 cows or 8 sheep or something equally stupid like that like most of the neighbours who have tried and failed to grow fruit trees have settled on doing (growing 4 cows) :)

Time: 20th October 2010 5:24pm

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allybanana says...
As no one else has jumped forward with maca grafting advice Jason it looks like your the man. Keep us posted on results so I can learn from your mistakes ---- and of course your triumph.

The future of ones food forest can be a concern, I am living in the place my grandma lived when I was a kid and a lot of the older trees I helped plant with her or my dad as they were both right into there fruit trees. I moved back to my home town a few years ago to live with my gran, when she got on a bit and had a few years in the garden with her and planted a few trees before she died a year and a half ago.

Unfortunately my gran died a year and a half ago and the property got left to my dad but he also died recently four siblings and myself look to inherit the place. So far non of them are keen to sell it so I am hoping for the best and weather or not I am here in the long run I don

Time: 24th October 2010 10:39pm

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Jason says...
As my trees starting bearing well last season I had plenty of nuts this year. Ate some, stored some. Planted some. Now I have 10 seedlings, turns out most of my patent trees are hybrids but tending towards integrafolia. I do have one pure tree. The pointed nut gives them away in the end. Anyway I'm going to try some grafting once the seedlings are bigger

Time: 20th March 2014 5:12pm

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arrie says...
I find it difficult to graft 3mm seedlings. I want to use electric isolation tape instead of grafting tape? Why not?

Time: 16th November 2016 1:40pm

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Markmelb says...
try 2 layers of PTFE plumbing tape - Be interested to see your pics of progress.
Im trying to propogate from cuttings till i get my seedlings old enough to have a go at grafting.
After you do the graft try holding together pith a peg on the end for a little more pressure for a couple days only. I did this on a Kwai Muk im putting Richmond on and looks like its taken - somehow when I did the graft in the afternoon there was no latex.

Time: 17th November 2016 8:34am

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Manfred says...
Any tape is good. Grafting tape stretches and is easy to snap off. Insulation tape will be good as long as its stickiness lasts, because it won't mould around the stem as well as the thinner vinyl grafting tape. Also, you will need to remove it when the graft takes or it will restrict growth of the stem.

Teflon tape would be too fiddly to use. It doesn't come off the roll as cleanly as vinyl and snaps into threads. It is too durable and would be hard to cut off when the graft takes.

Back in the old days raffia was the chosen material, or for those grafts which stay together like whip and tongue, cleft, saddle, bark... just grafting wax, no tape at all.

Time: 18th November 2016 10:05am

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About the Author Manfred
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Markmelb says...
Maybe the Adhesive on electrical tape a small negative? ---

Manfred have you seen the two rolls into one tape feeder Daleys use with PTFE tape - I think Birdwood use same system?
I use PTFE tape sometimes to give a graft that has taken extra moisture protection and it also stretches really well -
I actually use both Vinyl for a stong wrap - stretched alot - and Parafilm for wrapping scion instead of bagging and also to exclude rain but still use grafting wax / grease for waterproofing as well to be sure to be sure - ha not irish. Had a 100% take on 5 Cherimoyas this year on seedlings from last year. Doing a Richmond onto kwai Muk seedling at present and looks good so far.

Time: 18th November 2016 7:16pm

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Original Post was last edited: 18th November 2016 7:37pm

About the Author Markmelb
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Manfred says...
Hi Markmelb- I've got a Forestry Tools catalogue unopened which I must look at to see what the two roll feeder looks like. The stickiness of insulation tape is a two edged thing- It would make for a quick join, but it is all that would hold the tape on and when it has been in the sun for a while it would lose its stickiness and fall off. It would be unpleasant to work with. I wouldn't like to use it.

I can understand why someone who might only want to do one or two grafts might be deterred from budding/grafting tape if they see it at up to about $7 a roll in a place that only sells a little of it. But a roll goes a long way. Negotiate them down to $4.

What I mainly neglected to mention earlier was that macadamias can be propagated by cuttings. Hartman and Kester suggests leafy semi-hardwood tip cuttings of mature current season's growth 6 to 10cm treated with 8000 to 10000 ppm IBA. Mist and bottom heat beneficial. I have had success just sticking cuttings into 50:50 perlite and vermiculite and leaving them on the shelf (in the wet tropics).

For grafts, H&K suggest a sidegraft, checking rootstock growth with water or nitrogen deprivation before grafting, and ringing the scion branches several weeks before taking them. M.tetraphylla rootstock preferred.



Time: 20th November 2016 11:18am

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