"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
David WE Roberts wrote:

"redonda" wrote in message
...
snip
Well, actually it's a little late.

One cuts the scions off, a bit longer than you intend using, after the
leaves have dopped, and heel them in. Then, before the buds burst, (for
apples, early April, dunno bout plums) you dig them up, trim to length and
cut the graft.
snip

Problem being that you are not supposed to prune (?) plums - errr.....what
is it called when you turn plums in to prunes?......reboot outside the
growing season because of the chances of silverleaf infection.

It used to be illegal IIRC but that was when plums were grown commercially
and there were real fears that amateur fruit growers could spread silver
leaf disease and ruin the commercial crops.

Regardless, you are only supposed to prune them when they are growing
strongly so that they have time to heal before winter.
Also, silver leaf spores spread during the winter months.

I must assume, therefore, that you are only supposed to graft them during
the growing season for similar reasons.

Apples, on the other hand, are generally pruned over winter when they are
dormant - and from your description they are grafted over the same period.

So I don't know if you take the scion earlier and overwinter for longer or
if you do a straight cut and graft around June when the trees are growing
strongly.

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_2155542_graft-plum-trees.html says to take the
scions in winter then keep in the fridge until April/May.
However I can't see how you can take a scion without cutting the parent tree
and again I can't see how it is O.K. to take scions from plum trees over
winter but not to prune them.
Not sure how accurate 'ehow' guides are - possibly slightly less than
Wikipedia?

Cheers

Dave R