We have been grafting Sapodilla all summer here at ECHO NARIC. Sapodilla budwood can be kind of difficult to catch at the correct stage for grafting.
Below are some images of ideal budwood. All the leaves surrounding the bud are hardened off. The bud is full, but none of the “fingers” (future new leaves) have started to open. The bud is still slightly fuzzy and reddish.
This has great buds, but it would be hard to graft them because they are on such a large stem. We usually look for terminal buds that match our young rootstock diameter so that we can cleft graft.
Below are some images of good budwood. All the leaves surrounding the bud are hardened off. These are not ideal buds because they have already started to open slightly
Below are some examples of bad budwood. The buds are either too small or already pushing new leaves
