Planting freshly-grafted rootstock. In the final local or in a temp garden bed???

I am grafting some apple and chestnut trees tomorrow. I want to know if I should plant them in their final places or plant them in a more protected garden bed right after grafting them.
Additional info: - I've never grafted before; located in the pacific northwest with well draining soil; I have the ability to water the plants in their permanent planting sites.

The biggest concern is that something will bump them and mess up the graft union. The second concern is that that's a fair amount of stress for a plant to be under, to be both getting established and also taking a graft.


If it were me I would pot them up. One gallon pots or milk jugs with the top cut off and holes drilled in the bottom would suffice. For trees the soil need not be fancy store bought potting mix.


I've taken to simply planting my rootstock and then budding onto it once it's established.

Alright, I appreciate the crisp n clear answer, James. Follow up question: When do I plant the potted tree in its final location? Thanks :)

I'm doing this right now myself.  My teacher has always said to store them in a 40-50 degree area for at least two weeks so the union can start to heal.  Then plant them out after the danger of frost is past.  So they've just sat in my root cellar from when I graft in April until June 1st (for my area).  And store them with their roots in a plastic bag with a bunch of lightly damp sawdust or planer shavings.  

Dj Cox wrote:Alright, I appreciate the crisp n clear answer, James. Follow up question: When do I plant the potted tree in its final location? Thanks :)

You're welcome!


I would plant them in fall. Some people recommend holding them another year to babysit the graft union longer

Wow. So I grafted 26 trees today. The sizes of the branches were not like what I practiced for last week with 1/4” suckers from a crab apple. The scions I received from the nursery were much smaller than the root stocks and the root stocks were smaller than a 1/4 inch. It was a heck of a learning experience. I did whip & tongue but I think a cleft graft may have been better due to the small scions. I will certainly be trying to make as much of my own root stock in the future and trying to get bigger scions if possible.

My question regarding planting out the freshly grafted trees on my hillside seems silly after seeing them in person. There are barely any roots on them to begin with and the seem much too fragile. I’m going to nurse them till the fall at least.

I have the grafted trees sitting in moist saw dust for now. Now I need to figure out what to do next. It seems that some people purposefully keep the plants dormant in the saw dust for a while to help them callous before planting them. Any recommendations on if I should plant now or give them a few weeks in the dark and without nutrient-rich media?

I'm not sure about that last question. I would pot them up now I think, being careful to avoid disturbing the graft.


As to planting in fall, you can definitely plant before leaves drop,  just be sure to keep them watered if you do. If you plant after rains begin it doesn't matter. These are all good questions,  by the way!

I let my trees callus over in a bucket of damp sawdust, covered with a plastic bag in a dark cool place for a few weeks.  Then I just keep them in that same place until I plant tomatoes out (after frost risk is over).  Little roots or not, I'm thinking they'll have a better chance in the ground than in a man made pot subject to my ability to water them correctly.  But that's just my personal situation...

I did most of my grafts with tiny scions and fat root stocks.  I'm not sure if this is an official technique, but my grafting mentor calls it a "side approach".  Basically you slice the scion diagonally as you'd do for whip and tongue.  Then you cut a very slight glancing cut on the end of the root stock.  Aim for the removed piece of root stock to have the same shape as the end and middle of the scion's exposed cut.  Then tongue both of them and fit them together.  Seems to work fairly well last year but I'll know for sure this summer when my 89 grafts either fail or succeed

This was my first year grafting also. I grafted apple and pear trees mostly.

I had really good success with putting them in a raised nursery bed that had healthy and well draining soil, with a fence around it to keep out the critters.

I grafted the trees about a month and a half before our estimated last forst date, and I planted the trees outside right after I grafted them. I think it got down to about 20 degrees F a few times and the trees were fine.

Planting them in their final location after being grafted would be ideal in my opinion if possible, but I wanted to just use the the rootstock temporarily, and remove it before I planted them in their final location so that they would be growing on their own roots. Planting them in their final location could also save a lot of time and work too, since instead of having to be planted twice, they would only have to be planted once. It would probably also result in a healthier and faster growing tree since it would only go through transplant shock once, and then be in its final home after that. The majority of my grafted trees have grown very vigorously so far, better than a lot of the year old trees that I've bought. I think a key to planting them in their permanent spot, would be to have the location already prepared for them with soil that drains easily and is not waterlogged, and creating soil that is full of organic matter from mulching with leaves, branches, logs, and other plant debris, which can help provide the right nutrients and encourage beneficial fungi that will greatly help the tree's immune system!

I planted them in a nursery bed instead of their final home because I wanted to just use the the rootstock temporarily, and remove it before I planted them in their final location so that they would be growing on their own roots, and I didn't have enough time to plant them all in their final location at the time, and I didnt have a spot picked out for them yet and prepared for them, and the soil was healthier in the nursery bed.

It will probably depend on what your goals are for the plants, as to which way may be best for them.

I will probably use the nursery bed for grafted trees in the future so that I can remove the rootstock, but for air layered or propagated plants on their own roots, I hope to be able to plant them in their final home in the future if it is possible.

I really enjoyed grafting this year for the first time and really felt like it was a really great experience!