Q. I’ve heard in the past. You only have about 15 seconds to make your cuts while grafting, and connect the two together…is this true? thank You for any info. Scot Rabosky – Cape Cod, MA
A. Maybe if you are grafting in the desert. The truth to this is that you do not want the exposed cuts to dry out at all. This is dependent on the relative humidity of where you are working. There is no magic number of seconds. Just as critical is that the when the grafting is complete that you immediately cover the union with tape or grafting wax. You also have to make sure that the rootstock and scion are in the proper physiological state and the cambial regions must be placed in intimate contact and must be compatible.