Approximately 6 weeks ago, I grafted four 'Scott Pratt' scions to three different varieties (2 of the 'Scott Pratt' were grafted to a variety that had two tips). I have not removed the grafting tape, and don't really know when/if I should do that, but here are pictures of my grafted plants. Each of the 'Scott Pratt' scions are growing leaves and two of them are blooming. Two of the grafts are "long-angle" grafts and two of them are "wedge" grafts, but until the tape is gone, I don't know which is which.



This 'Scott Pratt' was grafted to a vigorous grower NOID. The 'S. P.' has 3 tips



This 'S. P.' also has three tips and was grafted to 'Riviera Rainbow'



These two ' S.P.' were grafted to a 2-tip 'Celadine' and one of the 'S.P.' looks like it is about to form additional tip(s)

Great job Ken!!
When the scion has leaves it means the graft has healed so you can feel safe in removing the tape.
However, the additional tips forming BELOW the graft site in your last picture probably means the graft has failed....

OK, I understand but I am not so sure there are any tips forming there. I will know when I remove the tape. The additional tip(s) I mentioned are at the growing tip of the 'Scott Pratt'. I will update my pictures, sans tape tomorrow. I will also know what sort of graft was used where, though since both seem to have been effective, that probably won't matter. Thanks, Hetty.

I removed all the tape and splints, and there is absolutely no sign of any branching or anything else at, just above, or just below the graft sites. The sites are ugly though, I mean really ugly. Plumeria "trunks" are not the most beautiful thing to behold anyway. When I finish my second cup of coffee and a little bit of fruit, I will take some nice close-ups of the grafting sites and the experts can tell me what they look like (Hetty, be sure to comment). Ken

Once those are trees and in bloom nobody will see the graft sites

Remember, Hetty, I live in NE Mississippi with numerous heavy frosts and lows into the mid-teens. All my plumeria are inside for 4 or so months, dormant. They will never become trees, at least not for me.

I still haven't taken those pictures. I spent the last hour watering all my tropical plants outside and in the greenhouses. Hetty, if I were to take cuttings of these grafted 'Scott Pratt' "tops", how far below the graft site should I cut? How soon after the grafts have "taken" would you advise taking cuttings? My thought is to take the cuttings (whenever?) and then use those same root stocks to graft new plants, perhaps 'Scott Pratt' but more likely other varieties, such as 'Rose Red', ''Mareno Rainbow', or 'Honey Queen'.

P. S. My thirst for knowledge never seems to end, does it? Sorry about all my questions over the last couple of years. That's what you get for being an expert! LOL

Ken

Here are the grafts. Three of them are "long-angle" grafts and the fourth is a "wedge" graft. Some of the pictures may not be in great focus (I didn't have my glasses on at the time it took the shots) but I think they are good enough to see the results of the four grafted 'Scott Pratt'.

What do you think, experts?






The first pictures shows both grafts on a single 'Celadine'. I could not get the "wedge" shot to rotate upright. Don't know why.

For a first try - not bad. The slant grafts look better than the V grafts.

I am puzzled about your reasoning for first grafting a plant and then cutting it off.... The whole point of grafting is to create a plant with a superior root system to a rooted cutting.

Here is my thought. If I take a cutting below the graft site and root it, I will still have a plant with a superior root system. Is this not correct? I am rooting the root stock section, not the scion section. I am looking for a way to increase my grafted plants for sale, not simply to grow them. Is this all wrong reasoning?

The superior root system comes from the original plant, which should preferably be a seedling (which will have a taproot) or a rooted cutting of a variety that roots easily and sturdily.
So what you are saying is you will cut the graft off just below the graft site so you are in fact rooting the root stock. That is then no longer a grafted plant but a rooted cutting.
It can be done, but you will never achieve the superior root system that you get from a seedling, and seems tedious and risky. Why not plan to create more seedlings thereby increasing your root stock supply?

I have never grown a plant from seed and thus have no seedlings. I guess I am totally confused about the grafting usage/benefits. Since the scion was grafted to a rooted cutting, I would think that taking this grafted plant, cutting it perhaps 6-8" below the graft site, and then rooting this cutting would still give me all the benefits of the root stock. This certainly is time consuming but carries little risk. I have great success with rooting cuttings of all my plumeria plants, some just take longer than others. Air-layering my old, large fiddleleaf is far more difficult than rooting plumeria cuttings, at least in my hands.

I am sorry to be such a nuisance about this, Hetty, I just want to understand. Ken

Great job on your grafting! I only have 1 success out of 5 attempts. I grafted to create a rainbow tree but recent bouts of rains rotted my graft unions.

Once you graft the plant the intention is to keep it permanent. Like Scott Pratt is hard to root so it makes sense to graft it but once the graft is established you leave it to mature into a full grafted tree but you won't cut it to root it, since it defeats the purpose of grafting.

If you had grafted the Scott Pratt on only one branch of the Celadine and left the other Celadine branch, you could have had a 2 colored plummies (red on one branch and yellow on the other) and that is a space saver in itself. Hope this helps a little bit.

Hello, How long should it take for a grafted scion to hold (take, or heal)? 2nd question; Would rooting powder be helpful to get the scion to take hold and star growing onto the graft plant? I tried my first graft a couple months ago, and it did not work.
I will continue to try this out. A ny answers and suggestions are appreciated! Thank you, Martha 9/22/2020

@spyderwoman2 just read this one. My grafting experiments were successful but it looked funny for a big plumeria to have a Singapore pink growing on them. So half to cut it off. But grafting should heal within a month. Do not put rooting hormone when grafting.