(taken from an email thread of March 2020)
Jack Kertesz.
I watched one of Steven (Skillcult) Edholm’s videos and he laid out the cheapo way to go about grafting, using cut up plastic bags, a Swiss Army knife, and Elmer’s Glue as a preferred sealant over tar. Anybody heard of using this before? He doesn’t give details about his dislike for tar, and he’s in Northern California, which may not stress out the glue like it might here. I have seen tar dry and crack. Another compound from Europe, Gashell that OESCO sells is easy to use but expensive.
I have seen Doc Farwell’s compound used on huge cuts in Turner area by commercial orchardists.
I think Steven just tapes over the crack of a cleft graft then smears glue around. Seems weird to put tar, (or anything) down in the crack.
Could one use sap of Milkweed or that invasive that I have, Cypress spurge?
Tom Roberts:
Generally toilet bowl seal rings are made of beeswax. You can sniff a new one to get that unmistakable beeswax aroma. Since petroleum wax is cheaper, some less expensive ones are made of this, but petroleum wax has a lower melting point than beeswax, and it has no odor. There is no more need to include antibacterial in the rings than there is in the porcelain bowl above it or the PVC drain pipe underneath. Of course Tom V was suggesting using a NEW sealer, not a used one!
I, too, use Teflon tape to cover up cleft grafts, then I have been using Tree Kote to cover that up to assure a good seal, but I’d like to use something else. Nothing gets into the crack if you tape up the graft tightly. My favorite method is commercial grafting wax, but it is SO messy on the hands, especially when you have to alternate between using a knife, hammer and other tools, handling scions, and then handling the wax again at each tree. Coating my hands with Crisco helps a bit, but overall the mess involved is why I moved over to using tape instead. This is the same teflon tape available in any hardware store to wrap tightly around pipe threads before connecting; it’s for preventing leaks.
Tom Vigue:
Ok Everyone- Here goes about grafting sealers:
Toilet Bowl sealer: In the distant past, many decades ago, it was a beeswax formulation. I haven’t seen one of those for a very long time. Now, toilet bowl seal is (most of the time) 100% pure petroleum wax. (Does anyone besides me miss Adam Tomash, who would have a complete understanding of the chemistry of it?). I did some rudimentary research about it. It is composed of “waxy, long chain, non polar hydrocarbons”. Formulations of these same types of compounds are found in Crayons, Lipstick, Vaseline…. Well, I wouldn’t advise using toilet bowl wax on your lips, or anywhere else on your face. But it is harmless enough for your hands. More stuff I found out- The use of this product is not regulated. It is classified as non-hazardous. It is considered not environmentally hazardous, not carcinogenic (even in the state of California, where almost everything is considered carcinogenic). No known adverse effects from skin contact (not much different from Vaseline, aka petroleum jelly, after all). No occupational exposure limits, no biological exposure limits. More or less odorless and stable. It is cheap—make sure to get the ones WITHOUT the plastic ring, just because the ring would go to waste, and of course with the ring it costs a little more. It works really well and is super easy to use. After each use simply wiping your hands on a rag cleans them enough to continue working. (try that with conventional grafting wax….)
Grafting Wax: Made of rosin (from pine trees I think), beeswax, and tallow (from cattle). All presumably safe, but a pain to use. (Couldn’t it be made in a slightly softer formulation?) So, speaking of grafting wax, here is a story- and this is why I stopped using grafting wax. Warming that stuff in the hands is, in my experience, is a lost cause. So, it is easiest to use and most effective if it is (softly) melted. I repurposed a fondue pot. It fit a sterno can in the bottom, I fashioned a (handy) handle for it, and from the lip of the pot, by means of a small hook, I suspended a small (1 inch) paint brush. This worked very well, really, but there was no convenient way to keep it readily at hand at the top of a ladder for top working. So I took to having it ready at the base of the ladder. Imagine my adrenaline rush when, one time, I stepped off the ladder directly into a grass fire! OK, I thought, there has to be a better way. That led me to toilet bowl seal. It works well at ambient temperature. Inside a plastic bag it can be stuffed in a pocket. Or the bag can be hung from a string tied to a rung. etc.
Tape and Glue: Glue is a polymer- polyvinyl acetate, petroleum based, emulsified (or something) with water. Rated non-toxic. I’ve not tried it for grafting. It dries hard, brittle. I would expect it to crack as growth begins- possibly causing failure? Or maybe enough healing would already have happened?
Doc Farwell’s: Another petroleum based polymer. a Polyvinyl ester. I don’t know about the toxicity rating of this one. Probably safe? But you have to buy it in gallons now. Useful only if you are running a nursery of thousands of plants.
Treekote: A water emulsion of Asphalt. Asphalt (aka bitumen) is a petroleum distillate residue. Asphalt is NOT classified as non hazardous. It has skin toxicity. As well as many other issues. However, in the ’Treekote’ formulation it is said to be stable and, at least relatively, harmless. Though there is definitely some skin toxicity. My own feeling is that, though I have some, I avoid using it.
Milkweed sap: I have little doubt that with enough experimentation, the sticky sap of Milkweed, mixed with something?, could be made into a grafting product. I am anxiously awaiting the invention of that product!
I will continue to use toilet bowl seal.
— Tom V.
