his name is Dr.Fraken(Joe Real)stein, I think he is up to something like 40 or 50 in one tree. I think they are stone fruit, cherries, and almonds on one. He also has some multi citrus and persimons, and who knows what else.
some pics
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg061109234347.html?21

some experiments
http://citrus.forumup.org/about1721-citrus.html

I know he has posted other info, just didn't find it.

good luck with the experiment,
-Ethan

It would seem that a lot of folks have created multi-fruit trees. It's not so rare a thing afterall.

Here's something interesting on this topic for all the lurkers ...

FruitSaladTrees.com

These people are actually selling multi-graft fruit trees commercially ... several varieties with numerous grafts each.

Thanks for the compliments Ethan!

With citruses, I have just about 60-n-1. All publicly available UCR blood orange budwoods I have them on one tree. Plums, about 4 dozen on one tree, Apricots I have about 2 dozen cultivars in one tree. Peaches, and nectarines just a dozen. Apples, pears, quinces, I lost count. Persimmons I have 43 cultivars on one tree while most Californians believe there are only 2 kinds of persimmons.

Well, bearstate, the fruitsaladtree folks don't take it to the extremes. They don't even have apples, quinces, asian pears and european pears grafted together.

Well as far as corruption goes, I have grafted 5 genera together and 7 distinct species, but actually the total number of distinct cultivars on the tree is 24. Here's the listing of species and their genus that were all grafted together: Crataegus crusgalli, Eriobotrya japonica, Malus domestica, Cyodonia oblonga, Pyrus serotina, Pyrus beautifolia, Pyrus pyrifolia

Similarly, I have grafted all known stone fruit types that I can find in my yard: almonds, peaches, nectarines, peach almond, apricots, sweet cherries, sour cherries, pluots, plumcots, apriums, peachcots, peach plums, cherry plums, Asian plums, native American plums, Russian plums, gages, mirabelles, prunes, other european plums which are more than a dozen distinct species and interspecific hybrids, for a total of about 48 cultivars in one tree. Not counting the various interstock themselves. For one thing, both the Krymsk 1 and Krymsk 5 rootstocks can be excellent interstock for grafting apricots and cherries together in one tree as an example. Just the krymsk 1 and 5, you will be able to graft almost every stone fruits out there together.

I STILL HAVE TO FIND a specimen where a stone fruit is grafted together with a pome fruit on one tree, yes they belong to the same rose family but haven't ran across one live specimen that have both of these types.

Citruses belong to a different family altogether, and so wouldn't easily believe if someone has reported that they grafted apples and citruses together. I may believe an apple and nectarine grafted together through several series of interstocks, but not citruses together with either pomes or stones. But it shouldn't be far too distant that it could be done one day, it just needs time, as there is no monetary gain to be had in any of these feats.

When doing multi-grafts, you have to constantly do it to keep your tree balanced. Graft over the weaker cultivars unto the vigorous cultivars. It is like pruning, and not that complex to do. For me, pruning and grafting is the same effort. The longest time that consumes me is where to graft, not the grafting or pruning operation itself.

Joe,

I expect that we can refer to you as the Graft and Corruption celebrity, himself ... what with Ethan's intro given above. Thanks for making an appearance in this thread.

For someone who has yet to make a single graft, I find your post illuminating in several ways, not the very least of which is that there is an indication that grafts apparently suffer rejections depending upon what you graft to what. Although this possibility played out in my brainstorming and imagining of how to go about grafting together a mixed fruit tree, I admit to not having known for certain. Your post clears some of those doubts up.

When grafting, do you apply any hormone or other compounds to the graft to better ensure success? And for the novice, is there a reference to tell which cultivars are more aggressive or vigorous as you put it?

Someone just posted a question in the Propogation Forum asking if there is a text available on grafting. Perhaps you have an answer for them ( and myself ).

Thanks bearstate!

Well, just try grafting, there is nothing to lose but the scionwood which you can often get for free.

Here's the various grafting style that I use on various types of fruit trees. Bark grafting works very well with most plants when the bark is slipping. Very effective on persimmons.

Bark Grafting Tutorial

Limb Bark Grafting tutorial

Cleft Grafting

Hmmm, never heard back. Was the last post helpful at all?

Sorry about not responding.

Yes, the post was helpful.

I don't have any fruit trees yet, but I was thinking of experimenting on Crepe Myrtles. I have lots of those around here with various color flowers, whites, pinks, lavenders and purples.

They are cool trees, but ... I only recently learned that they are allelopathic. I don't know how severe they are on other plants or even what plants are doomed by them.

But they're here, so they lend themselves to my inquisitive nature and need to tinker.

What can be Grafted?

Most varieties of a particular fruit species are interchangeable and can be grafted. Because of differences in vigor, some are better able to support others as understocks. Plants of the same genus and species can usually be grafted even though they are a different variety. Plants with the same genus but of a different species may often be grafted. But the result may be weak, short-lived, or they may not unite at all. Plants of different genera are less successfully grafted although there are some cases where this is possible. Plants of different families cannot be grafted successfully.

Apples, pears and other "pomes" are not of the same genera as the stone fruits like peaches and plums, which are in the genus "prunus".

Most "fruit cocktail" trees are composed of different species of the genus prunus.

Grafting citrus on a stone fruit or pome would be impossible since they are completely different families.

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Just found this thread. I am no celebrity grafter like Joe, but I might be a mad-scientist grafter.

I have a largish hawthorn stump that I have grafted medlar, various pears, apples, various mt. ashes, shipova (which is mt. ash x pear), an apple-leaved hawthorn, pure aronia, an aronia-mt. ash hybrid, an apple-pear hybrid, a mt. ash-cotoneaster hybrid, and some other stuff that just left my memory banks.

The tree looks pretty odd with all the various leaf forms and colors. I call it my franken-tree.

Now if I could just get some mexican hawthorn interstem, I could start attatching plums and peaches!

A friend of mine, now deceased, swore that he got plum scions from some family in town, thought they were apple at the time, and grafted them to one of his apple trees. They grew for years and bloomed. But never any fruit. Suspect lack of pollinator, as he had no other plums. I never saw the grafts, as he said he cut them out after they would not fruit for years. He found out from the family way later that they were plum scions, not apple. Wishing I could have documented that one better.

Hi,

Does anyone know the answer to these questions?

I would like to, if possible, make two very unusual fruit-cocktail trees of fruiting trees in the Rose family.

I'd like to mix:

One Tree (Crataegus-Malus-Sorbus-Amelanchier-Mespilus-Pyrus Tree)
Hawthorn (if the root-stock, C. crus-galli)
Juneberry (if the root-stock, A. canadensis)
Medlar
Asian Pear
Crab-Apple (one of the natives)
American Mountain-Ash (Sorbus americana)

If so, which one of these should be the root-stock?

A second Tree (Native Plum Multi-Graft):
American Plum
Chickasaw Plum
Beach Plum
Dunbar's Plum (P. americana x P. maritima)
Wild Goose Plum
Canadian Wild Plum

Can this be done (either of these two)?

Also, I'd like to know if you think that if I planted to paw paw trees of contrasting cultivars a mere 8" away apart from eachother, if in time, the trunks of both would expand until they inosculated to form one tree sporting limbs of each cultivar on opposite ends. I only have space to allow a single paw paw (18') to develop into a full, unpruned tree of maximum size-potential. Or maybe I can plant them 2' apart and still get a natural, dual multi-trunk specimen?

Thanks,
Steve