Plant Propagation -- Week 7 -- There's no avoiding the graft

This week reminded me of the scene from Apollo 13:

We've got to find a way to make this
fit into the hole for this
... using nothing but that.

David introduced us to the M111 Malus root stock.
And the Golden Delicious scion wood we would be grafting to it.

The main tool for the day was an as-sharp-as-you-could-get-it grafting knife. We practiced several grafts: cleft, whip & tongue, veneer, and saddle. First up the cleft graft, accommodating smaller scion wood.
A whip & tongue graft with a nice tight fit.
A veneer graft on the side of the stem.
And the trickiest to do by hand, the saddle graft.
Here are all four wrapped up in stretchy tape.
With the practice over, we worked directly on the root stock. Exposed surfaces were coated with grafting wax.
And off to the hoop house to wait for callus to form.

I hate waiting.