Brian did you ever find out why it died?

Just a quick update on the graft :)

Now that is bypassing the middle person. Congrads

Thanks Steve:) The regular bulb overhead is doing wonders for the little baby in terms of light and warmth.

Just an update on the graft, doing ok so far, the top bud took over leaving the other buds dry, still under the plastic bag:

Looking good! Just for fun, I tried rooting 5 cuttings from store bought. As expected, they all died.

Sunshine, that word says it all. It is just great to see your success, you might inject some unwilling members in a new adventure.

Great work sunshine- those look amazing! I would never have thought such skinny twigs would take. I haven't even attempted grafting yet. One of my big trees dies last winter but the rootstock lived so I am happily growing it. It is C39 and is getting quite big, and has about 5 big shoots coming off of it. Could be a fun project to try some grafting :).

Vladimir, rooting cuttings that are dehydrated in transit is very hard or impossible, but grafting them gives you higher probability, if you provide the right conditions of cause. Just watching this little one very closely, if it lives all the way to spring time, that would be awesome :)

Bob, that is the plan, want more fruit tree growers to start grafting trees, they are missing the fun :))

Hobby, try on the rootstock you have, you will learn so much in the process:)

Sunshine, I did not expect them to root.

Have you tried bud grafting?

I plan to do some grafting in the spring. I have some rootstocks I could use and will probably get scions from CCPP.

Wow sunshine, it’s amazing! You are very skilled!

Vladimir, I had done two bud grafts in the fall from my lime tree, still alive but have not pushed open yet because of the winter conditions.

Hi guys, just a quick update on the graft. Here it is as of today, not grown much, but still green and holding on to the leaves it put out earlier:

You can see the new flush of tiny leaves, but the energy of this cutting is low, I did not expect that kind of super slow growth speed. Well, I guess not much of a growth you can expect from a cutting taken from store bought fruit. I still remain hopefull :)

In this next picture you can see the lower buds on the twig are swollen for the second time since it was grafted:

Hope the graft makes it to the warmer and brighter days in the spring, so it can soak up the sun's energy and thrive.

Glad this thread popped up again. Over the weekend, I was finally able to get to a big Asian grocery store not far from me that I had never been to and for the first time, I saw a bin of those satsumas with the twigs. I actually bought 3 for the heck of it (was going to freeze them) and remembering this thread, instinctively bought some that had some longer twigs on them.

Gardenweb · More Info

I wasn't really planning to graft anything but then remembered that I have an entry FW Kishu that was in awful shape when I got it and the top has pretty much died back on it but the rootstock appears to still be alive (in contrast, my OGW Kishu has put out bloom buds all along the branches and some of the trunk thankfully).

I may try to graft something on that small FW rootstock in any case. Would need to make a quick decision though since the twigs on these satusmas appear to be drying a bit quickly and some of the bigger (but nicely firm) leaves have already started to drop off, . Will have to see...

Jenny, instructions on how to handle them are mentioned above, good luck!

Yup and thanks! That's why I was glad you updated the thread and brought it back to the top because I was going to search for it!!! LOL

Go Jenny! :)

Great job Sunshine! It looks very healthy! I’d be so very proud! Jenny, I hope you can pull off a graft also!

Sunshine I really enjoyed this thread , very inspiring thank you for sharing. :)

Jenny I hope it works :). I will keep my fingers crossed!

Sunshine - this is so cool , amazing job .

Hi guys, update in more than a week, progression of the graft in pictures:

Have a question for those who graft: why the energy of this grafted twig is so low, have you had an experience with graft that grew very slow? The new growth is so thin and the young leaves curl in the daytime, but at night they are perky and fresh. It has one bulb all to itself, I don't place it on windowsill because of roots getting cold, we don't have enough sunshine, mostly cloudy and cold days here.

There is a world of a difference in a grafted twig and a T-bud against the trunk of the rootstock even though my NZL is a much faster growing tree than my Fukushu kumquat, the T-bud Fukushu grew more than 5 time faster than my twig grafted NZL. Now that both grafts are robust the NZL is much more aggressive than my Fukushu.

C35-Fukushu-Node53 · More Info

New Zealand Lemonade on US897 grafting · More Info

New Zealand lemonade on US897 rootstock. · More Info

Steve

Hey guys, my recent bud grafts, only two weeks, couldn't help it to check them and wrapped them again (I never do that, usually unwrap in three weeks). Will talk about them in a new thread. Vladimir, this is my bud grafting practice:

Have any of you tried using a grafting tool? For example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XCJGD1F/ref=asc_df_B06XCJGD1F5368541/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=395033&creativeASIN=B06XCJGD1F&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198106292047&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4778805745040363083&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001961&hvtargid=pla-348587583780

The negative part of being a decent grafter, it multiply your problems by building way too many tree's. ask me been there! But it is sure fun getting there.

I am at max with grafted tree's so what did i do in the last 2 days, i grafted close to 20 new tree's. I consider myself to be a real dumb....s. I was given way too much budwood. Read this over and over will ye.

Vladimir, I have only used knife for grafting, works for me without going all fancy about the grafting process, will not use any other grafting tool in the future except a grafting knife. It is not the tools, it is the skills that matter for me.

Bob, I give my grafted trees as a gift if I have too many. You are right, I get carried away sometimes, but it's all under control:))

Sunshine, it is nice to have friends to give them a tree, i don't have that luxury live in the sticks. Friends in my neighborhood thinks i am crazy doing what i am doing, but they like the hand-outs. When they buried me i'll take my grafting knives with me, i am with you with knives. Great reading your stuff.

Update on the grafted clementine:

I am still not happy with the behaviour of this grafted tree. If I leave it without a plastic bag over top, it starts drooping, I would think something is wrong with the graft joint. On any other graft I would have removed the humidity plastic dome by now. What do you think?

remove the bag for an hour or so each day and increase the exposure until it is fine. It is fine. This is a bad time of the year to graft.

Just a quick update on the graft, guys! It has been three days since the tree growing without a plastic bag over it.

I present to you the very independent baby clementine tree, standing all on it's own without a plastic bag over it, we can now call it a toddler :)))

Oh boy, it was a hard work to keep this little one cared for and deal with it's tantrums during these winter months :))

Beautiful :)

Update on the grafted twig from store bought clementine, here is the little tree:

It is not a fast growing one, but that's okay, I will be patient with it.

Sunshine, it looks great!! Nice branching, too :)

Sometimes when you leave to many branches on a small tree there’s not enough energy to supply for all the branches, so it is better just to grow one and use the cut off branches for more grafting. The main branch should be pinch back later, then select your scaffold branches than.Bob.

I leave all the branches and let the tree decide what to keep in the long run. I have learned to prune nothing on a small trees. They are programed to do what is necessary for survival and quick growth.

Steve

There are several ways of doing things. You train the tree the way you want to and than there is Steve's way, Bob way and the list grow longer, etc. Hard telling what the others on the forum are doing. Far left tree in picture are grafts in January 2017, could be trimmed again, tree in center, graft 2017, now the question, will you grow a short mushroom looking tree or a slender one or who knows what.

Here is my way. First picture is a tree that grew a side branch, as you can see, had to straighten the branch to almost vertical to become a main.

Second picture. A grafted tree that is a singular branch. Can take a good 12" of now and start the lateral branches.

Thank you Kelley, Bob and Steve! When it comes to training and shaping trees, I approach it individually for each tree, depending on their strength, growth pattern, uptake of water and nutrients. This one has given me a hard time from the beginning, my "difficult" child so to speak :)) , it is slow to grow, but maybe one day it will decide to grow at a faster pace.

Your tree is much smaller than Bob's and needs all of its leaves. You can alway nip bugs as they expand on the limbs you don't want but do not cut any limbs with leaves. Many times a tree will send up a water sprout that will rise to be the main trunk. You have mature buds grafted so you don't need to worry about node counts. It will take off when it is time. Bob's tree was big enough to not be threaten by branch trimming.

Beautiful trees, Bob

Steve

Sunshine, your little tree looks amazing. Today, I also bought 6 mandarins still attached with leaves and twigs. I have been soaking them in water to rehydrate them, and searching for the post on what to do with them. Luckily, I found your post. Years ago, I did some air layering of some house plants, which were successful, but I need more detailed advice on how to proceed with grafting the twigs. What root stock do I graft them on? I have in my citrus collection, a standard dwarf Myer Lemon (which has not fruited in the last 8 or 9 years, although I have had fruit. It is about 25 or 26 years old). 2 or 3 regular Myer Lemons, a variegated Kumquat which is fruiting, and two other small kumquats. Are any of these a good root stock? And if I graft it on and it takes, how do I separate it from the root stock? Do I buy the root stock? Can I graft all six of the twigs? Sorry for all the questions, but I must understand what I'm doing. As you can see, I'm clueless.

Hi Soozifroozi, it is great that you have an interest in grafting trees! What is your growing zone? The above mentioned tree is still growing, will post some pictures of it later. Before grafting your twigs go through the steps mentioned above in my post from December 13, 2017 in this thread. To learn different grafting methods watch some videos on YouTube on the channel called "Fruitmentor", you can learn many types of grafts and how to take care of them afterwards. In order to save your cuttings, you can graft them on couple of your existing trees (lemon, kumquat). Once you get at least one graft growing untill next spring or summer, you can graft from that on proper rootstock which you can buy or grow your own. You can grow your own rootstock by planting sour orange, lemon or key lime seeds now, if you want your future tree to be grown in containers. For in ground trees you need different rootstock, which will be resistant to all kinds of soilborn disease and problems. The citrus lovers and growers on this forum are very knowledgeable about citrus rootstocks, hopefully some will chime in to give you best advice. Good luck to you and do not hesitate to ask questions :)

Yes, you can graft all the twigs on your existing trees. Once they take, you do not have to separate them afterwards, you will have trees with two different citrus fruit on them :))

What a great idea. You got a free tree from the store. Amazing to me that a store twig still has that much life in it. Great job! This really makes me want to start grafting ....

If you graft onto the rootstock of another tree and plan to keep both varieties you will need to be very careful that the rootstock doesn't dominate. The dwarf Meyer is probably grafted. Graft onto the rootstock that the Meyer is on. Grafting onto a kumquat will give you a real dwarf that can only be matched by flying dragon. Look for a Seville sour orange. It is the best rootstock.

Steve

Great updates Sunshine! My little store twig trees are well also. My two ST grafts are also well. It’s so satisfying to see them grow! - like kids lol

Sunshine, I suspect you cut the leaves off of the scion before grafting. Am I correct?

Congratulations on your success!

Thank you, Vladimir! Yes, I removed all the leaves before grafting the scion on to the rootstock. I will post some updates on the grafted tree mentioned in this thread later. Marry Christmas to you and your family!

Just grafted a store bought satsuma onto a sour orange nansho. Will keep you apprised. And Merry Christmas to you and yours, too!

I think it's cool to get a citrus tree from store bought twigs. I tried to root a satsuma twig I got from whole foods but it didn't take. This got me wondering however, would getting a tree like that violate the citrus quarantine rules if it came from a restricted state? What if the twig has the HLB virus? I read where even floral arrangements can't included citrus from quarantined areas. Maybe these are excluded? Just wondering about it.

Dave, that thought crossed my mind right before I decided to graft those twigs, but no one has prohibited to send them to the stores like that. I normally don't touch the twigs or bring them home if I see pest damage or something else on them. I buy the fruit and leave the twigs right on the stand, recently saw mandarins with twigs which had citrus leaf miner damage, bought the fruit and left the twigs at the store.

HLB is a bacterium, not a virus. If the store bought stem is infected with HLB the only way it can be spread to other trees is by the Asian citrus psyllid, a sap sucking bug which is not in my area, or it may infect the rootstock to which the HLB infected scion is grafted. In any case, an HLB infected scion would pose no harm to my other trees or any one else's trees.