island cassie

This is totally out of my field of expertise, but if anyone would be willing to let me have some seeds of anything outside of persian limes, key limes, meyers lemons or lisbon lemons that they think would be worth growing, I would be eternally grateful!! The citrus here are poor beyond belief and decent oranges, grapefruit, satsumas etc are just not available. Bitter orange rootstock I can get - but nothing to graft onto it and I can grow my own stock for that if I can get seeds for topstock for grafting. I have been spreading lemons (hitherto unheard of) around locally and have some seedy pink grapefruit. please pm me if you have anything you would like to send me.

Cassie

JoeReal

Cassie, the major season's almost over. Aside from different kinds of Lemons and Calamondins, I can collect seeds of my Mandarinquats (for sure) and Sanguinelli Blood Orange (maybe, sometimes they don't have seeds). I still have them hanging on my trees. I may have some more fruits, but most are in the true seedless category. Is it legally okay for you to receive seeds?

You know that in the US Citrus industry, we have an extremely contorted definition of what seedless citrus is. If a fruit contains 6 or fewer seeds, then they are categorized as seedless. By this definition, all of my kumquats and calamondins are seedless!

JoeReal

Am just eagerly waiting for the sun to come out so that I can start grafting. I finished grafting last night at 7:00 pm ad have to use shop lights. I can't do that light thing early in the morning or risked disturbing the sleep patterns of the neighbors.

I'm just 25% of the way in grafting my citruses. Persimmons are all done now.

JoeReal

Found that I have a Broken Heart Plum that has sprouted while in the Fridge. Cleaned that out and used non-dormant style grafting.

Broken Heart Plum is a sport mutation of Elephant Heart Plum and there is quite a story to it. Tastes as good as Elephant Heart Plum but has distinct pattern of coloration.

Also grafted this morning, March 26, 2008:
Mandalo unto Rio Star Grapefruit.
Interdonato Lemon unto Eureka Lemon.

Richard

(dumbstruck) !

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JoeReal

I know, I know... Even my dog notices the extreme. I've got more than 300 buds from this last January budwood cutting from UCR CCPP. I still have long ways to go. Been grafting for friends too. I normally do more than 1,200 grafts a year, for free.

Next year will just be corrective grafting for balance. I repeat to myself, no more additions! No more additions! No more additions!

I'm sure I'll be back to square one before the end of the season.

bencelest

Ha!
I thought I was finish grafting. But here I am in my yard early morning and grafted the following to my matured Eureka lemon.
But ...First I thought all I had graft to the Eureka were on the above list but I found more. Here they are:
fokumoko orange
meyer lemon
honey mandarin
W. murcott
mayagawa satsuma
silverhill mandarin

There are 2 cultivars that are flowering: the Chandler pommelo and the dream navel.
Now I grafted 4 seedless kishu and 2 clemenules this morning when I saw a very robust, large leaves Joe clemenule were hiding from many leaves so I trim the Eureka leaves so the clemenule will have no sunlight competition and it will grow more.

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JoeReal

Grafted tonight:
3 lemon cultivars added to my lemon tree. Will put labels tomorrow.
2 mandarin type hybrids added to my multi-grafted citrus.
Mandarin hybrid unto Flying Dragon
UnNamed Lemon hybrid unto Volkameriana

Richard

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JoeReal

Cannot graft today!

Have to leave for work to service the servers long before the crack of dawn! Then go back home to entertain and cook BBQ and feed 8 families who have no interest about grafting plants.

mskitty38583

sounds like you are in for a VERY long night. there has got to be someone in that group that has to be a plant freak. maybe they are in denial, or just dont know the thrills of watching a plant develope, or a grafting work its magic. i find it facinating.

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JoeReal

Good Idea! I might sucker them to watch a grafting "demo" while I'll actually add more lemon cultivars unto my lemon tree.

I'll still be adding these sour types from topmost part of canopy to the lowest part of the canopy unto my multi-grafted lemon tree:
Sudachi
Yuzu
Tavares Limequat
Eustis Limequat
Smooth Flat Seville
Seedless lemon
Ponderosa
kaffir lime

bencelest

I did not graft today but want to show you what I grafted before:

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Banana Nut

Richard

WOW!

Notice how plum trees this spring in California are encrusted with flower buds?

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JoeReal

Exactly right Richard!
There's lots of thinning work ahead. I prefer this problem than the one with no flowers at all.

bencelest

I don't thin my fruits except my citrus. THAT would be work with a capital T.
Here's more to the graft story.
I graft :
2 meyer lemon
2 Bearss lemon
and thinking that Joe's clemenule mandarin is growing very nice to the Eureka lemon, I graft the following:
2 Daisy mandarin
2 Page Mandarin
2 Pixie Mandarin

let's see if they are compatible.

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Richard

In the first year or two of planting in the ground, I remove all the fruit from a tree since 1 fruit is about equal to 4 feet of branch growth. Otherwise, I thin all the fruit on my trees except citrus to a 4 to 5 inch spacing which results in a harvest at least 200 fruits per tree. Citrus are better at self-regulating themselves.

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JoeReal

Most of those would be compatible.

I didn't graft yesterday....

Not even did a demo...

My guests were interested in the Fruit Tasting when I gave them a short step tour of the yard. Shown them the 350 or more cultivars in just about 150 footsteps.

Limequats, Mandarinquats and Kumquats (Meiwa, Nagami, Nordmann) got different reactions. Then showed them how to eat properly and they loved it. You eat the rinds of these fruits. To make it excellent tasting, simply roll the fruits in between your palms as hard as you can but not bursting them. This is to bruise the skin and remove the oils (bletting), then bite unto them. It removes a lot of the rind's pungency and you are left with sweet tasting rinds that have a tart flesh, very interesting flavor battling it out in your tongue. Truly delightful.

We tasted the fruits of Yosemite Gold. I intentionally left these fruits for testing their keeping quality on the tree. These fruits were ready since last November. Was extremely surprised to find them very juicy, sweet with a little sprightness like they are supposed to. I think they could stay longer more than 5 months once they ripen. I would rate the Yosemite Gold mandarin as good keeper. The best place to store your fruits are on the tree.

Then the last to be tasted are my Sanguinelli blood orange. Was extremely surprised to find them very juicy and sweet that I would rank them better than the Moro Blood oranges this year.

Still waiting to be picked are Oro Blancos, Chironja, Valencias and the Melogold fruits from Benny's scionwood that I grafted some years ago.

Will try to attempt grafting this afternoon before the rains start to fall.

Never graft when it is raining, I can assure you that it will be one of the lowest success rate.

bencelest

I understand their feelings Joe. Only a crazy guys like us would be interested. They are only interested on what they can eat. Even fishing. They'd rather go to the store and buy fish than fish for it.

Anyways thanks for the encouragement that they are compatible.
My reasoning for not picking the fruits of my trees are that I wanted to taste them first before I let them grow. 2nd I want them small so I can reach for the fruit.
Question: Should I flocked all the cherries of my 2 plants if I want them grow?
They are so full of flowers but did not grow much for the last 2 years now. But I am eating a lot of mouthfuls in 2 years now. And the birds.

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JoeReal

You can try plucking them off. But cherries are one of those fruit trees that are not affected by thinning. Certainly it should help the growth even if just a little bit. So you can forego some cherries this year. Anyway, the cherries in the fruit stands will be truly cheap this year at peak harvest time...