Grafting Trees

I have found it impossibly difficult to achieve success with grafting.
Tried a large fig tree - absolutely prolific but so tasteless even birds and rats don't eat it. Tried to graft a sweet fig onto it. Of about 40 grafts over time only 5 survived and each has grown to about the size of my hand in total leaf surface area. I am now in the sixth year of attempts and only one has figs on it (six figs to be exact).

Tried whip-and-tongue, cleft, chip etc etc. Followed all the advice at the head of this thread (approximately). Only about 10-15 scions took but then would rot off or would fall off or would dislodge when I remove the tape or would break off later (maybe birds?).

Sigh.

So I have given up - I will leave the 6 figs to the birds (not worth going to all the effort to construct a netted cover for that) and go back to watching sport or drying paint.

Clive
Johannesburg
South Africa

my references say that figs are not easy to graft. i hope you haven’t given up on the idea of grafting altogether, just because figs don’t like it! i’ve had to resort to killing a useless fig altogether and planting a better-suited variety in its place

Thank you - I think much of what passes for information on the web is simply positive spin propaganda. A bit of realism wont do harm.
I will try again!

Yeah just use them as chop n drop  instead of watching paint dry or worse sports.
But you can take cuttings of nice figs easily, they're not difficult to take with a bit of love they'll do. There is a lot of difference in growth rate though. My fig took a long time to get big and tall and give fruit, to the amusement of my neighbor who had visited a castle with a giant fig tree and sneaked out a couple of cutting sized branches that grew into giants in a season.
She kept asking '' how is your fig doing'' while passing it weekly in her van for years. Now they have to keep pruning it every year, mine got big with better fruits giving every year. I've obtained another one from a friend which is a fast grower which can stand cold better, i'm at the northern edge of where they will grow, need a southern exposed wall for them to lean to.
There are so many fig varieties because they cross easily. Chose wisely from a local nursery if there is one if people can't give cuttings of ones you like.

This is a great idea for a reference guide on grafting! It’s always exciting to learn from someone with so much experience. It's is such a useful skill