Grafting Versus Growing

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Homes & Gardens

Sunday, 06 November 2011 02:30

By Eef Armstrong

Antigua St John's - It is more profitable to graft a tree than to buy a new one. A new plant will cost you $15 and bear fruit after 10 years, but a graft will cost $10 and bear after three to four years.

The chance that the graft will not "catch" and die are only five percent. The main reason this happens is bacteria or moisture. Danny Joseph, station co-coordinator at Christian Valley Agricultural Station, opens a book about the art of grafting.

Joseph has been with the Ministry of Agriculture for over 36 years and his main trade is grafting of crops and trees.  He visits farmers and private persons to work his art. When you are looking for a great quality mango, as in great taste, smooth skin, and great texture, grafting is the way to go.

“Many people don’t know that if you have a Julie mango tree and plant the seed of its fruit you will not get a Julie mango tree," he said. "Perhaps something close to it but definitely not a Julie mango tree.” This is where asexual propagation - also known as grafting comes in.

There are two different methods that Joseph uses - top grafting and crown grafting.

With top grafting, you basically have a mature tree (root stock) and a selected dormant side bud (scion) joined together. You cut the root stock in the middle, exposing the cambium, and you then cut both sides of the scion into a wedge.

You slide the scion into the root stock and wrap it up with garden tape. This is necessary to keep them together, but more importantly to keep out moisture. You then wrap the top bud in wax to keep in the moisture.

“If you don’t do that, the bud will dry out and collapse, making the graft unsuccessful," he said. "The balance of moisture is very important when it comes to grafting.” After being wrapped together, a chemical reaction takes place, joining the rootstock and scion.

On an average, this takes two to three weeks. If, however, moisture gets into the garden tape, bacteria form causing the scion to die.

Crown grafting involves a mature tree being cut down to about 3'-4' height. Preferably, a fat apical slant cut scion is inserted at the crown of the stock. This is done by making incisions into the bark. You place a few of those scions around the tree trunk resembling a crown, hence the name. You wrap this in paper and foil, and leave it for two weeks.

After that, you remove part of the foil and paper, exposing the new buds to the sun, but making sure to place paper on top of the trunk. This is necessary for the trunk not to dry out and crack when the sun hits it.

At the moment mango is still the most common tree grafted in Antigua. Citrus and avocado follow. Joseph hopes to do more citrus grafting in the future so their fruits will be available during the year. “We are already seeing mangoes at various times in the year," he said.

"The Julie mango bears in May-June, Tommy Atkins in June-July, Pinero in July-August and Palmer in September-October to name a few." Most of the mangoes are sold locally, but export to the UK has started.

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Joseph likes promoting his island and his trade, and so in 2004, he and Mackomes put their heads together and came up with the Antigua Mango Festival. “Christian Valley was kind of run down, and it needed new life," he said. In 2006, the Mango Fest was launched and it is gaining popularity every year. They even have a chef’s competition which created a gateway to the use of mangoes in local dishes.

“We joined forces with chemist Dr Richards," he said. "He is very knowledgeable of different process methods for mangoes and together with his team he came up with mango sherbets, mango chutney, mango butter, mango jam, mango hot sauce, and much more.”

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