| [College of ACES] | [University of Illinois] | [Illinois CES] |
I collected about 250 acorns from under a tree known to
produce acorns that develop into albino plants. About 50
of them were already sprouting when I collected them, and I
planted them immediately. Of these, 3 were albino (the low
percentage is most likely because of acorns from neighboring
trees). After the first set of leaves had nearly grown
completely, I took one of these plants and attempted to
graft it onto a potted plant. I used a side veneer graft
near the top of the plant. The main reason for choosing the
top of the plant was the size of the stem. After binding it
in place using pipe-thread tape, I covered the tape with
petroleum jelly. It is now in the greenhouse with high
humidity and plenty of air circulation. The root stock (or
should I say chlorophyl stock) had just started to bud out,
and the leaves are still small and red. I figured this was
a good time to maximize the likelihood for a "take".
A second plant was chewed off and is resprouting.
I did something completely different with the third plant.
Out of the 50 plants I had that are the same age, I chose
the one that most closely matched stem shape, diameter, and
height, the plant I intended to mate to it. Imagining for a
moment that the two stems are touching, I excised the portion
of each that is touching the other. I then bound them to each
other, cambium against cambium, with pipe thread tape from
just above the acorn up to the first leaf (about 3 inches).
Prior to binding, I applied some petroleum jelly to form a
good seal. Half of this would is now below the surface of
the ground. The other half is above.
OK. Now for my questions.
1) What do you think the odds are on either of these grafts
to take?
2) I have another batch of 44 acorns which will also produce
a few albinos. Any suggestions for different grafting techniques?
3) The whole goal here is to provide a supply of food to the
plant. The thought has crossed my mind to use mistletoe for
this purpose. Mistletoe is commonly referred to as a parasite,
but it clearly has green leaves, which indicates that it can
make its own food. What better host to test this theory on
than an albino? I want to try sowing a mistletoe onto one of
the oak saplings, but I need some guidelines on how to proceed.
I know nothing about the requirements of the mistletoe. My
first impulse is to simply squeeze a mistletoe berry onto
one of the saplings. How long until it sprouts? Do I need to
keep it moist until it establishes a foothold?
One last comment. On the theory that the mistletoe berry has
some agent which allows its seed to be able to penetrate and
be accepted by the host, I dressed the wound of the first
graft, above, with squashed mistletoe berries with the seeds
removed.
Any comments appreciated. I will post pictures to the web as
they become available.