Grafting Sealant - liquid base. Question -- is watered down latex paint good enough.

[paully22]

I saw a posting about grafting sealant(liquid form) in dark color being used. The guy using it recommended the sealant be painted over
using a latex paint mixed with water in ratio of 50:50 to prevent overheating on "hot" days. My question is wouldn't the latex mixed be sufficient
instead of using grafting sealant & then having it painted. Perhaps some master grafters can chime in. I will be doing grafting for the 1st time
mainly cleft. All info is appreciated. Thanks.

[AscPete]

I'm a grafting novice, but watered down latex paint is a simple "White Wash" recipe, it's not water retentive enough to protect from desiccation because it breathes.... for an inexpensive tested grafting sealant Toilet Bowl Seal Wax Rings, http://www.supplyhouse.com/Hercules-...FQkfhgod1GUP9w work Quite well and are very inexpensive (less than $2.00), thought a bit messy sometimes.

[smatthew]

The recommendation of painting over black sealant is a good one. Heck, all young trees should have their trunks painted for the winter.

But for grafting, I'm with Pete - I don't think latex paint would be sufficient. Tightly wrapped parafilm would work. Two traditional options are Trowbridge grafting wax http://amzn.to/1ZuKzgN which is pretty good, as is Doc Farwell's Grafting Seal. Both are sticky as heck, at least the Doc Farwell's will cure. You can also use wax - either rig up some way of melting wax (tin can and a flame) and brushing it on, or i've even seen people use a burning candle to drip wax on the graft.