Wow, Sunshine, that is great! Congratulations and good luck with your future grafting!

Thank you, Vladimir!

That is great sunshine!! I want to learn to graft! Great job. I don't know...maybe a calamondin? Some type of mandarin?

Laura, if you had a choice of having only one citrus fruit tree, what would you choose? Yes, learn grafting and also plant citrus seedlings, so you can practice. The more you practice, the more your grafting confidence grows.

Sunshine, you reminded me of the "Friendship Tree" in Sochi, Russia, ( http://www.ulivita.it/en/22809-2/) that has more than 630 grafts on it. The grafts were made by people from various countries as a sign of peace and friendship.

You can grant anything onto sweet orange stock, from my research... no incompatibilities (though sweet orange would probably be considered a week rootstock as it's not resistant to diseases and other things like other stocks and doesn't impart cold resistance). What ever you want to try should be fine. I would certainly let it grow and develop a root system before really adding more. The plant will support only what it can support, so the primary concern would be making sure practice good grafting habits (cleaning your graft knife and using clean scion wood). The more times you cut a plant, the more opportunities to introduce a disease.

Thank you, I will definitely do updates on this one, Brian! If it wasn't for my dad in 2015, I would not have had the interest in citrus growing again in my adult life. I was busy with my studies, then got busy with having my own family for few years until I saw my dad in my dream and he asked me to plant a tree. I knew right away what tree I had to plant, it had to be citrus. He especially loved lemons, I still remember the sparks in his eyes, when he harvested lemons from our trees and enjoying the citrus aroma, spending time together drinking cup of hot lemon tea. Those are one of the most happiest, unforgettable moments of my life.

Very moving sunshine your dad would be so happy . I lost my dad a few months ago and I wish for a dream as yours. It is my love for citrus love ones and friends that help me get through my great lost . May I say that is one pretty little tree. Thankyou so much for future updates .

Brian

I am so sorry for your loss!

Thankyou so much sunshine !!

Brian

Sorry for your loss! Brings back memories of my dad too, he passed away when I was 10. Got an heart attack. Thats him, who got me interested in gardening, and I want to share same things with my own kids.

My older brother passed away couple of years after my dad, he got a severe brain bleeding during a hunting trip.

I do believe, that we all will meet our lost beloved ones some time.

I am sorry for your loss, Jontte! We humans go through so much heartache and pain sometimes, we don't believe and understand it. It is the memories of our loved ones who left, the love and hope keeps us going through this life. My father passed away of heart attack also and two years after that I had twin girls. Months later I lost one of my baby girls, I thought my life was over but I managed to get back up on my feet and move forward.

Very nice tree. I am growing what I can't buy at the grocery store or what is very expensive. I would suggest that you might fine more enjoyment growing what you cant\'t fine. I am growing Fukushu and Meiwa kumquats as well as a New Zealand lemonade tree.

Very good points, Steve! I will keep those suggestions in mind. Thank you!

Vladimir..That was a very good story. I had no idea..Thank you! What a tree.

Sunshine, as Brian said your Dad would be very proud of you as well as I am. I have never got the courage to graft anything and in fact I wish I knew how. I wish people like you would post a step by step so I could give it a shot. Such a beautiful tree and a beautiful job. Please keep us updated and I too am sorry about your Dad...

Mike

Thanks Mike! I will surely do one step by step as soon as my pomelo seedlings are the right age, warm temperatures are present and I have scions. This winter I did four cleft grafts and two bud grafts, but only two cleft grafts and one bud graft took. You can say my graft survival rates are at 50%, it was higher years ago :) During cold months I had to watch the grafts closely and provide the right environment for them to take and grow, in the warmer months it is easier.

Sunshine, I just saw your post. I don't know...I definitely agree with Steve that it would be something you cannot buy in the store. It also depends on what you think you will use...I love lemons for cooking and baking. I know Brian loves his mandarins. What about a Santa Teresa or other Mediterranean lemon? I would send you a branch but am not sure I can to Canada even though I am not in a quarantine state.

Question for you, Steve, or others who graft...I am growing some seedlings of limequat, calamondin, and nagami kumquat. Can I use any of those as rootstock to graft to?

The calamondin should make good rootstock for potted citrus. The nagami might be good to graft a Mature branch from itself to the base so you will have a fruiting tree that is not to big. Same for the limequat. The limequat may work for other scions too.

6b Steve

Thank you, Laura! I really took some time to think about the tree I "introduced" to you all. It is so nice of you to offer me branch from your tree. What about we create "Citrus Forum Friendship Tree" in Ontario, Canada ? Imagine, I graft different varieties of citrus from you guys on the tree! Okkkk... Back to Earth! :)))

That would be nice and very big responsibility. By the way, I don't know all the rules and regulations on obtaining the citrus bud wood from the US to Canada. Hopefully our Canadian citrus growers will help with that info. I agree with Fruity Paws on making the tree stronger, developing strong root ball. I repotted it one week ago to a fresh batch of soil and it had strong roots filling the tiny pot it was in. So I will keep you posted. As for you seedlings, go with what Steve is saying. I also know from someone that pomelo seedlings can be good rootstock as well.

Excellent work, Sunshine. I've never tried branch/twig grafting, so I have to give you credit there! Your ventures with grafting would make your father proud!

Laura, if you want to grow rootstocks for grafting funzies, just pick up one sour orange... it'll be loaded with viable seeds that are pretty tolerant of waterlogging/other indoor maladies. The only problem is the rootstocks won't be dwarfing!

-Tom

Thank you, Tom!

Hello everyone! Just updating you on my citrus salad tree, I grafted it in January 2017 and it is growing well. What do you think, Brian? :)

I also got a Meiwa kumquat tree from Greenscape Gardens, Toronto. David is a very fine gentleman, delivered my tree himself, turns out we are located not that far from each other. Thanks David!

Here is the new girl, I meant tree (Laura, I think I should name her :)

Now, the plan is to let the Meiwa grow a little and then I am going to graft a twig or bud onto my above mentioned little citrus salad tree (Mike, I will try to post step by step progression of the grafting, if I can find someone to help me with my picture shots). Wish me luck :)

Congradulation Sunshine

I wish you all the success in the world.

6b Steve

congrats sunshine for the new addition and great job on the graft I will try my hand at it this year.

David gets excellent variety that is otherwise unavailable for us here.

Hey Sunshine love your citrus salad tree beautiful your good your really good and by the way how many more varieties are you planning for that tree ? Your new addition looks fantastic beautiful and your so right about David very nice gentleman and his selection is crazy fantastic . I received my 2 Gold Nugget tree's last week and they were in great shape he made a fantastic job packing them . Hi Dev also nice seeing you back so do you two have anymore purchasing planned ? David's selection is mighty tempting . Sunshine Laura is a great name for your new tree you just know it's going to grow so well.

Brian

Thanks guys for your kind words :)) So it is official now, my tree is named Laura :) ( I hope our citrus friend Laura won't mind).

Dev, I agree with you on the fact, that before, here in Canada it was hard to get citrus trees, that's why in 2015 I ended up obtaining citrus from Europe (my larger citrus tree, which is not fruited yet). By the way, I found the old pics of that tree, when I got it in the mail in October 2015 ( just a stick with roots wrapped in plastic):

And here it is now outside, driving me crazy with it's growth pattern ( the lemon branch of it):

Please, give me advice on how to tame the lemon branch, it grows faster than the orange branch (See my other post http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4278645/fruit-salad-tree-not-flowering-help).

As for my small salad tree in the making, Brian, for now I am going to graft on it Meiwa kumquat first and some other light weight citrus fruit grafts, my concern is the tree is still very young and the branches are still too weak, I want to develop good root system on it and get it bigger in size. I up potted it yesterday in ProMix and here is the picture (she is on the right):

It had good roots and not root bound, I can get away with repotting it this time of the year, it can grow over the summer with plenty of room to grow. This was the second time I repotted it this year, the first one was around February of this year.

hey Brian. didn't have much to comment during winter :) all the trees survived but a greenhouse is an absolute priority this year . bought mineola tangelo, gold nugget , var calamondin n page mandarin from David. also got Palestine lime , Santa Teresa, centennial kumquat and Chinotto from Phoenix .

Sunshine - how did you manage to get plants from Europe through customs . I have been eyeing some Italian lemons for a while now they even include a phyto but don't think it would get through.

even my Meyer lemon throws tonnes of growth in weird directions. I try to prune n shape it.

Sunshine, I don't know how I've missed this thread till now. I hope Laura is doing well ;-). You know I have a Rangpur lime named Vladimir...;-). I may have to name a few others that still lack name tags. I am happy to see how well your grafts and trees are doing. I really want to learn to graft. I will try it one of these days. Tom - I grew up using sour oranges to marinade pork in Miami, but I do not know where I can get a hold of a sour orange in Annapolis. I hope you get the lemon branch under control Sunshine.

I have a question for you guys who have experience grafting and rooting....which is easier...which has a higher success rate...rooting or grafting? I have yet to be successful at rooting a cutting. I have a few going now that are still green after a month or so, but am afraid to check for roots.

Dev, I got the salad tree on EBay two years ago and it was opened at the border (because when I got it, the outer box was open), paid for it again at the post office pick up. Too pricey, good thing that David brought amazing citrus tree selection now to this part of Canada. Read this post of mine about that tree here:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4278645/fruit-salad-tree-not-flowering-help

Laura, she is one cute little Meiwa tree:) I love kumquats. As for my lemon branch, I'm going to chop it down. We will see what it does next.

Hey Dev great selections from Dave your going to love the Page and Minneola I am really looking forward to see how the GN grows in a pot . We are so fortunate to have David and Phoenix right here in Canada the possibility's are endless.

Brian

Sorry Laura, I missed answering your question about rooting cuttings and grafting. The process of grafting is very delicate and needs to be done quickly, as for rooting cuttings, after you plant those twigs in soil, you have to watch the environment for them closely. For me grafting gives me more results than rooting a cutting does. I grafted this year in the dead of winter and I got 50% success rate. Yesterday I chopped down the lemon side of my fruit salad tree and I planted 8 cuttings. Will let you know how it goes ;)

Thanks Sunshine! I suspected that. I need to read up on grafting and run a few trials...