Hi, by preindustrial grafting I mean without the use of plastic implements and toxic substances.
I live in Costa Rica, where people don't seem to have a past and a culture, no matter what I ask them. At any rate, a neighbor came to graft a few varieties of avocados onto our
trees. He was using torn strips of plastic bags to tie the scion to the rootstock, a plastic bag to put on top and protect the graft, he wrapped everything in tin foil and advised us to use a certain chemical fungicide.
I know that the Arabs were grafting citrus trees in Sicily 1,000 years ago, and I wonder, what were they using? Gauze for wrapping? Any vegetable fiber? There must be a way around all that plastic and chemicals.
I heard in one of Paul's podcasts about
bees that the guest was applying a paste of fermented cow dung, clay and sand to tree trunks for sanitation and better health in general; so I made a little search about that, and sure
enough there is a thing called grafting clay, which is pretty much the same ingredients made into a putty and plastered around the graft like a tennis ball.
Still, the information about this all is very scarce on the internet.
Can anyone tell me about their experiences, or what key words I
should use?
Thanks.
