Back in January I did a short blog about grafting apples in the simplest way possible. https://wordpress.com/post/gardenruminations.co.uk/8269
Here, exactly 3 months later, is a progress report.
I grafted three scions onto three shoots of apple that had appeared in my garden. I think they may have been suckers from the roots of an apple tree I dug out a year or two earlier.
All three are now making new growth from the scions. So far this is only about two inches on the terminal bud but it certainly looks like they’ve taken. I shall leave the ties on for now and wait until the shoots are around six inches long before removing them. There were shoots growing from the rootstock and I have removed those.
At the risk of labouring the point, this is something that is very easily done and I have mostly used the technique to graft bits of various varieties onto a tree of ‘Elstar’ that I have in the garden. It now has six varieties on it, including what is left of ‘Elstar’, all flowering now and pollinating each other without having to plant another tree.
I get better pollination, more variety, cropping over a longer season and a sense of satisfaction, all from one small tree.
garden ruminations 
If that blue tape is intended for grafting, there is not need to remove it. I really do not like to bother scions that are freshly grafted.
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The blue tape is electrical insulating tape, in the spirit of using what many people might have to hand rather than specialist stuff which is hard to get hold of in small quantities.
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Oh, so that might be difficult to remove. I just use rubber bands. That is essentially what we use at work anyway. By the time they deteriorate and fall away, they are not necessary.
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I couldn’t find any rubber bands and chose not to use the pro rubber ties, just to prove a point.
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What was the point? I can not open the link.
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Only to show it was easily accomplished without specialist tools or materials.
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It is not so easily accomplished with tape with adhesive. Rubber bands are not specialist tools, if you happen to find some next time.
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I am making a note of this, what a great idea.
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That is like magic!! All kinds of apples from one tree! Marvelous!
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Elstar, Holstein, Red Windsor, Meridian, Tregonna King and Plympton Pippin. As bespoke as you could possibly get.
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GOOD FOR YOU!
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