Just be very careful :) i've budded some really skinny wood before and its very easy to cut right through with a sharp knife...a lot of time when you tape the bud (wrap it)..you'll snap the whole thing.... i had that happen a lot int he past...one reason that thicker wood is a lot more forgiving...but...its still doable. You still have a few weeks here to do it...so you could wait for that wood to thicken up a little. I haven't done any budding yet, but plan on it any day here.

Thanks Frank. I think I'll wait about three weeks and give it a go. I can see how you might easily snap the little beasties. Sharp knife and a light touch.

I've T budded stone fruit on some really small wood. No problem with snapping anything. The best tip is the wood has to be taken out of the bud. If not the sharp radius of the rootstock stem won't allow the bud to fit under the bark flaps. To get the wood out the bark has to be slipping really well on scion. And the root needs very good slip also.

It's also necessary on a small root that the diameter of scion wood be no bigger than that of the root. Even with wood out the scion bud can get too bulky to fit under bark flaps if it's too big diameter.

Get the smaller budding rubbers. They are easier to tie without breaking anything. It really only takes a couple wraps above and a couple below. I wrap up really well but less will work.

This post was edited by fruitnut on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 12:19

I was just grafting to some small shoots this morning, one variety is failing and I am moving it to shoots coming out of a neighboring tree I topped this spring to remove the variety. As long as the budwood is small its easy to graft to small shoots.

Scott