I plan to graft some Japanese Maples early next year for the first time. I was wondering what is the best way to provide bottom heat and humidity for the newly grafted plants ?. I do not have a greenhouse or plastic tunnel to care for them as of yet.
I tried my hand at some late-winter grafting a couple of years ago. I used a cold frame and did my best to keep things between 50 and 70 degrees during the day. I had to bring the young grafts in at night as I had no heat in the cold frame and the temps would plunge into the teens or twenties. Amazingly, I got about half of these two dozen grafts to take. But, the amount of effort requred to baby the plants and move them in and out was not something I want to repeat. Since then, I've shifted most of my grafting experiments to summer -- late June to mid-August. I just play around mostly -- maybe a dozen or so each year. But, I've found that there is very little to managing the environment (mine usually park under a grape vine in cool, dense shade) and my success rates are usually higher. The older I get the lazier I get.
Let us know how you get on Macko I have a number of seedlings coming along that would provide good root stock for grafts. You might convince me to try ....... Surely grafts would be comfortable enough in an unheated greenhouse here in Ireland?