Citrus Growers Forum

Matt N · Posted: Sat 22 Nov, 2008 4:42 pm

Joe,
that is an amazing accomplishment! What an outstanding tree. It has been an inspiration to me since I'm out of planting room. I have been grafting and topworking a citrumelo and a citrandarin. Keep us posted on your progress.
thanks

David · Posted: Sat 22 Nov, 2008 7:18 pm

I am impressed. I have a tree that I am building. Nothing like this as I only have 7 0r 8 cultivars on it. I am getting ready to bark graft some more on it this spring. Good Pics and I enjoyed looking at them. Wish I was there to sample some of that fruit. Thanks for posting. David

JoeReal · Posted: Sat 22 Nov, 2008 11:47 pm

bastrees wrote:

Joe, Words do not adequately describe this tree! Thank you for sharing the photos. This tree, if in my neighborhood (let alone my yard), would be a daily attraction for me. Your love of grafting and citrus is very evident. Amazing! Barbara

You're welcome Barbara! Whenever you are in the area of Northern California, just drop me a PM, or email, and I'll give you a personal Short Step Tour through all the 81 (or more) cultivars including fruit samples, Smile

!

JoeReal · Posted: Sat 22 Nov, 2008 11:50 pm

eyeckr wrote:

Hard work + skill + persistence = amazing tree! Nice job Joe! I'm gonna be in your area next fall so I hope to be able to see the tree in person. Who knows, it may even be a 150 in 1 tree by then!!

Thanks G! Just give me a call and I will fetch you up from the airport! 150 n 1 would really be a stretch. The tree has no more room to grow. If I had a bigger yard, maybe. Perhaps the lawn has to go, and my girlfriend (also my wife) would be mad, Laughing

JoeReal · Posted: Sat 22 Nov, 2008 11:55 pm

KW4 wrote:

Joe- that is amazing!
Did I miss it- what is the original tree?

Kyle

Thanks Kyle! I honestly may have mislabeled or misread the original rootstock, I may have to dig up the notes from my very old laptop which I no longer use. I am sure it is a tristeza tolerant type, perhaps a rough lemon, trifoliate or a citrange type, as that was one of my primary criteria. I grafted Lisbon, Mandarin, Grapefruit, and Trifoliate orange on it serving now as the main scaffolds. Am too iffy with the grapefruit and lemon portion which are huge limbs but have since placed several more interstems in some of the tertiary to quarternary laterals.

JoeReal · Posted: Sat 22 Nov, 2008 11:59 pm

Patty_in_wisc wrote:

What ever happened to the "guerilla grafting" on the city owned tree in front of your house? I tried to find the post, but these pages only go back to 11. Is it growing 2 kinds of fruits now?
I thought that was hilarious.

It has about 16 cultivars on it right now, with 4 kinds of distinct fruits:
3 cultivars of Asian Pear
4 cultivars of European Pear
4 cultivars of Apples
5 cultivars of Quinces

It also used to have Hawthorn and Loquat, but those died out. May have to retry them using a different type of interstem.

JoeReal · Posted: Sun 23 Nov, 2008 12:01 am

Dylan wrote:

Joe, that is an amazing tree you have there. I am curious to what the age and the size of the tree is?

Dylan

Thanks Dylan! The tree is about 8 years old, perhaps about 12 ft tall, and about 10 ft wide, trunk diameter about 4 1/2" at the base.

JoeReal · Posted: Sun 23 Nov, 2008 12:03 am

Granrey wrote:

Wow, you have made a reality the drawn pic of this forum

thanks for the compliments Granrey!
Although this approach is not for everyone, I am showing how far we can take our love for citruses, and perhaps some of you can take it even further, and would be proud for those of you who will!

JoeReal · Posted: Sun 23 Nov, 2008 12:05 am

karpes wrote:

Awesome! I have never seen anything like that and I bet Guinness hasnt either. You should call Guinness World records.
How do you keep track of the location of each variety?
Karl

Karl, thanks for the compliments. One of these days, a friend of mine who is a certified plant physiologist and a citrus expert himself, will be coming over and visiting me from Australia and may sponsor the event. Although I'd rather spend the time grafting, I may take a break for vanity, just to spread the enthusiasm for citruses.

JoeReal · Posted: Sun 23 Nov, 2008 12:09 am

Matt N wrote:

Joe,
that is an amazing accomplishment! What an outstanding tree. It has been an inspiration to me since I'm out of planting room. I have been grafting and topworking a citrumelo and a citrandarin. Keep us posted on your progress.
thanks

You're welcome Matt! Yes, I agree for those of us with limited space in a very costly city lot, this can be an alternative. Your citrandarin would potentially give you better tasting fruits than mine.

My future plans include using multiple diversified rootstocks and try to see if I can improve the flavor later on.

JoeReal · Posted: Sun 23 Nov, 2008 12:11 am

David wrote:

I am impressed. I have a tree that I am building. Nothing like this as I only have 7 0r 8 cultivars on it. I am getting ready to bark graft some more on it this spring. Good Pics and I enjoyed looking at them. Wish I was there to sample some of that fruit. Thanks for posting. David

Thanks David! You too will soon be there! Remember that at one point, I've only had 8 cultivars on it. I keep balancing the tree by matching cultivars depending on cold tolerance and vigor, and easily end up with what I have through the years.

Las Palmas Norte · Posted: Mon 24 Nov, 2008 12:01 am

Not much to add here ... stunning comes to mind :shock: . Thanks for posting your inspirational photos.

Cheers, Barrie.

patrick · Citruholic Joined: 12 Aug 2006 Posts: 44 Location: PHOENIX

The tree is truly a work of art Joe, and one of a kind.

In a previous post you mentioned that a Salustiana fruit grafted to blood orange stock had pigmentation. Im anxious to hear if the Salustiana you have grafted onto blood orange stock has red pigmentation this season. Does any of the fruit take on characteristics of the stock it is grafted to?

JoeReal · Posted: Tue 25 Nov, 2008 8:18 pm

Las Palmas Norte wrote:

Not much to add here ... stunning comes to mind Shocked

. Thanks for posting your inspirational photos.

Cheers, Barrie.

Thanks for the compliments Barrie.

JoeReal · Posted: Tue 25 Nov, 2008 8:20 pm

patrick wrote:

The tree is truly a work of art Joe, and one of a kind.

In a previous post you mentioned that a Salustiana fruit grafted to blood orange stock had pigmentation. Im anxious to hear if the Salustiana you have grafted onto blood orange stock has red pigmentation this season. Does any of the fruit take on characteristics of the stock it is grafted to?

The fruit doesn't take characteristic of the stock. My Salustiana sweet oranges are still greenish, showing a tint of yellow green. It would be ready for sampling starting Valentine's day next year. I will let you know by then.

Ohh, this winter's been really warm! Low's in the 40's. No frost for over a month now and still no frost in the 10 day forecast, and what it means, the pigmentation on my blood oranges wouldn't be as great if the trend continues into February next year, but I will have great bananas!