I was not impressed with the grafting on my Valentino either but think over time it will smooth out. Anything that will emerge around that area and I don't care if it is below or above, will be rubbed off as to keep this area clean.

I got one from them with a graft like that too. My moro i think. Will post a pic tomarrow

The new growth looks like that due to insects feeding (sucking) on the leaves. I spray ALL new growth on all my tree with HO every 3 days or so. The leaves then develop 100 percent clean, healthy and damage free..

They have not done a very good job on that graft, Sammers, but I guess it will take some time to smooth out the trunk. Watch the graft line to not be affected by strong winds.

I have seen that happen when the material (e.g. rubber bands) that binds the scion to the rootstock is left on too long. The tree has a callous-like reaction to the foreign material. It is unlikely to affect the long term health of the tree. As the tree grows, this will become less and less noticeable.

My ST looked just like yours - new growth was distorted from some kind of sucking insect. I'm going to spray it down with neem after it's had a few days to acclimate to its new soil and pot. Congrats on getting one finally! We'll have to trade notes on how to keep the darn things alive and fruiting in the PNW.

I am with Susanne, I graft two tree's same as what you bought this spring and they are almost as big as yours but they have a clean looking graft.

You might want to shape that graft because if you don't it allways be a weak spot to break.

You can also take a branch now and graft it to one of a bigger tree in your collection so you can always fall back if it breaks.

Thanks everyone for the input, I hope that the tree will be fine as it grows, I sent an e-mail to four winds last night with pictures just mentioning what it looked like and that I was concerned about the tree being able to support itself as it gets larger. I don't imagine they will do anything about it now but maybe having informed them will help down the line if a problem occurs with it. It has been a crazy last couple of weeks and my poor trees have been on a back burner, I am going to be getting out and spraying them tomorrow after work then hopefully re-potting the new additions as well. I am thinking about re-potting the two I have in Root Pouches with 60/40 soil and perlite as well as they haven't shown any growth at all this summer, it will depend on how much reptibark I have after the ST and the Valentine get potted.

Bret- I think your right there seems to be bits of rubber band stuck/fused in the growth. :/

Pac- I am so stoked to have this ST! Where did you order yours from again? I know it wasn't FW. I wonder if they came from the same supplier as I can't imagine the Santa Teresa supply market is very full. I am really hoping it does well here and i'll keep you updated on what is and isn't working. Its nice to have someone growing in similar conditions.

Bob- How would I go about re-shaping the graft? I'd be happy to try if it will be better for the tree in the long run. Its going to have to support a fair amount of weight eventually and I want it strong.

Sammers, i am also using some fabric pots, do you think that they are not a good choice? Or do you think it was the soil? The fabric pots are much more cost effective if you buy a 5 pack on amazon rather thsn buying plastic like 25$ or less compared to 40$ or more, that was my reason for trying them and the root pruning. Less money in pots more in trees;) but maybe it wasent a good idea. I couldent find much info about fabric pots and citrus.

Sammers, I originally ordered from Pearson ranch but I ended up jumping on FWG when I got the email that they were in stock. And I know others have had good luck with fabric pots, but I saw no growth and horrible vigor overall from a Meyer and a Bearss in fabric pots last year. My citrus have all been much healthier and more vigorous since I swapped to cedar or plastic pots.

I must admit that I also have had very poor performance in fabric pots and switched 1-2 years ago back to plastic and glazed clay. Our climate is very dry in the summer so I wonder if they simply dried out to fast.

First of all i would call the source and ask them about the growth and see what they have to say or suggest. If you don't get satisfaction ii would start shaving the growth either with a super sharp grafting knife or a electrical jigsaw with a fine tooth blade starting at the bottom. If you are not comfortable leave it alone.

Lauren- I started using them for veggies/herbs in my garden and they worked great so I thought I would try them out on my citrus to save cost. 5-1-1 is pretty expensive to make when you have a lot of trees and reptibark is the closest thing you can find to use. My experience is that of Pac's they just sat all summer and didn't grow at all, not even a new leaf. I water them less that those in the 5-1-1 but they somehow are never quite right between over and under watered. There might be a better way to grow them or a better mix to have in the bags, I have been toying with the idea of getting some promix but for now I'm going with what I know works for me so I don't lose another season of growth.

Pac- Well I am glad you got your tree! i had considered ordering from pearson back when you had mentioned it but decided to wait since it was a higher cost so I am glad it all worked out! I don't know why the pots didn't work out but I suspect that even with the 60/40 soil/perlite mix and the breathable pots that the soil is still compacting too much. I had them in full sun in the hot part of my yard so I don't think the roots were too cool but I don't know for sure. The plastic pots and 5-1-1 seem to be the way to go for me.

Bob- Thanks for the advice! I emailed FW yesterday and haven't heard back yet. If I don't get a response by tomorrow I am going to call. I think I'd be able to shave it down, will it hurt the tree to have an "open wound" like that? is there any special way I should treat it afterwards?

Dang ive already potted everything for the summer. Did you loose anything in them?

I would not shave any of the graft growth, I would leave it alone. FW certainly seems to have a lot of problems lately. I have always ranked them high as a good supplier, but lately it seems their problems abound. I see you also ordered a Valentine pummelo. I have an in ground valentine tree, and I can tell you the fruit is excellent - wonderful.

When you clean the growth you have to look at the sound bark and don't disturb that part because that will with time covers the wound.

I can't believe that that company would allow such a strange developed graft. The only i can see here is that the rootstock is pushing too fast and the budwood too small.

Bob I agree the graft is certainly not the best graft that I ever seen. But that type of graft growth is not all that rare either.

Lauren - I did lose one tree, a Washington navel. It was the only tree I lost this year and I was quite sad about it, It was a robust little rooted cutting that was doing great before the repot then it sat for a long time (2-3) months before slowly dropping all its leaves, it was just a stick and before I could dig it up and look at the roots, my puppy (who has a tree murdering past) decided to "help" me dispose of the tree by ripping it out of the pot and chewing it into bits. So I don't know for sure that the pot was the cause or if it would have rebounded but its enough that since my large more established trees didn't do anything in them that I am going to switch.

Silica - I haven't ordered a ton of trees from FW (5) but the quality has been all over the place, this is certainly the most questionable tree I've gotten from them but I am going to try and not be too worried about it. I emailed them Sunday and no one has responded yet, as I have not contacted them before I am not sure what their usual response time is so I am not sure if I should call or not. My only goal I want to achieve from talking to them is some sort of agreement that if the tree should fail later due to this graft that they will replace it for me. Is that a reasonable request or should I just drop it? I may be an overprotective tree mom that is worrying over nothing but i'd like to be sure and I figure it doesn't hurt to ask.

Sammers, it is best to call FW i never get emails from them they say they replied but i can never find it in my gmail. They will probably help. But calling is better. I agree the quality is all over the place. Ive had everything from amazing to not so much. They replaced two of my trees that were looking ROUGH when recieved. Rip little washington navel. How heartbreaking.

Second question: today I actually got out to look at the trees in the sunlight on my lunch and the Valentine has some black specks from the graft down, I tried to scrape them off and they don't come off like scale would. Any idea what is it and how to treat?