Detailed Explanation of the Hook-Shaped Cleft Grafting Method for Jujube Trees, Step-by-Step Guide

1. Tools used: pruning shears, grafting knife (straight sharp knife), plastic strips.

2. Collection of scions: Collect well-developed, pest- and disease-free 1-year-old jujube head branches or current-year lignified branches, remove secondary branches (leave 2 cm long) and leaves, and use them immediately after collection. If short-term storage is needed, they can be inserted into a container holding 10 cm of clean water and lowered into a well to 0.5-1 cm above the water surface or placed in a cellar.

3. Cutting the scions: Hold the tail end of the scion cutter with your left hand, place the scion on the inclined surface of the scion cutter, with one end against the stop and the other end pressed firmly with your thumb to cut it. The scions should be wax-sealed beforehand.

4. Preparing the rootstock: (1) Cut-first-then-shave method: Make a longitudinal cut at the edge of the xylem, its length slightly shorter than the long cut surface of the scion and its width the same as the scion cut surface, then make a second cut diagonally downward 0.5 cm above the end point of the first cut, reaching the end point of the first cut, and remove the rootstock shaving to form a hook-shaped cut surface. (2) Shave-first-then-cut method: To facilitate operation, the rootstock can be cut off 20 cm above the ground, remove the thorns, hold the rootstock with one hand and the knife with the other, and push the knife diagonally downward, making the cut 1 cm longer than the long cut surface of the scion; make the second cut transversely and diagonally 0.5 cm above the end point of the knife cut, then cut off the rootstock at a point slightly shorter than the long cut surface of the scion.

5. Grafting: Insert the scion into the rootstock incision, aligning the cambium layers. Wrap tightly and firmly with a plastic strip from bottom to top. Be careful to cover the exposed white part of the scion.

The hook-shaped cleft grafting method is suitable for nursery seedling cultivation, top grafting for variety replacement, and grafting sour jujube onto large jujube.