John,
Just a guess, that it wont make a huge difference. In general the more
growth and foliage left on the graft the faster the graft will thicken and
fuse to the host tree. So I would leave all the leaves on.
Keep us posted.
Jerry Meislik
Whitefish Montana USA
Zone 4-5
http://www.bonsaihunk.8m.com/
I'm going to do a thread graft on a Ficus retusa. Instead of bending a
branch around, such as shown on Colin Lewis website, I'm going to
use a rooted cutting. The cutting is from the same tree, about a year
old and growing vigourously. My question is this: should I remove the
leaves on the part of the cutting that DOESN'T go through the drilled
hole? I am under the impression that if you remove some, but not all,
leaves, the tree will put it's energy into the remaining leaves instead of
producing new ones. I'm wondering if removing all the leaves except
the new growth at the tip will encourage growth distal to the exit wound
and speed the fusion process. Or will I just kill the cutting? I'm
probably making this too complicated, just curious.
Cheers,
John Carnes

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