I was roaming the garden this evening and looking at some of my flying dragon and sour orange rootstocks. I got to noticing that a lot of them had branching limbs low on the rootstock. I got to thinking about the intended purpose for grafting/budding and thought to myself that the low branches wouldn't serve any purpose. Does anyone prune back branches on rootstock in order to develop a strong central leader to bud onto?

Phillip

The advantage is for ecological survival of the tree that is why they tend to be like that. Avocadoes for example don't like unshaded trunks, same as some citruses. Also to protect against grazing animals, the lower you can protect the trunk with small branches that have thorns, the better for the tree.

However, since we take the role of a caretaker of the garden of life, and do as we please by caring for the tree, and to enjoy the tree's appearances, yes we remove those lower useless-for-us branches.

I form my trees that way, remove most of the lower branches until there is only one strong leader to graft to. But you can try experimenting if you have plenty more rootstocks and tell us what happens.

I have formed one multi-trunked flying dragon, about 4 main trunks, and on each trunk are 2 cultivars of mandarins, forming the beginnings of my multi-grafted all-mandarin tree. An 8-n-1 mandarin tree is the beginning.

I have some difficulties grafting some mandarins unto other mandarins, as they do have the tendency to self-prune injured branches, that is why among the difficult ones to intergraft, I separate them unto 4 major small limbs of the Flying Dragon.

The next time I'm going to add another batch of mandarins could be three years later. The growth on FD is truly very slow. I'm spoiled by some of my other grafts on other trees that usually extend between 2 ft to 6 ft in one season.

If you plan on budding them anytime soon, don't trim the lower leaves or branches until you are ready to bud. I have noticed that if you trim the lower branches and leaves a few days before you bud, when you go to bud the bark has tightened up & no longer slipping... Now I do the trimming at the same time I bud.

That's another good tip Laaz.

Another one is that if you want to force the bark to slip, be prepared to plan for a lot longer time. Prune heavily then wait a couple of weeks to three weeks until you see growth flushes, and then bud. This is only applicable during the growing season until midway through the fall.

It is ALWAYS a good practice to leave the lowers limbs on a young tree's trunk as long as practical. Much research has shown that leaves on the lower limbs contribute most to the development of the trunk's diameter and strength, and also to root growth. The sugars manufactured by the leaves in the upper part of the tree STAY in the upper plant and develop buds for the next flush of growth and for flower and fruit development. Trees properly grown will have a stem taper like a good deep-sea fishing rod. You will not get much trunk development without leaving on the lower limbs AND allowing them sufficient light and space to function. Tree height is not the criteria to use when evaluating young tree quality. Trunk diameter or taper is far more important. Plus tall slender trees always have poor root systems, because roots cannot grow without energy and the energy for their growth comes from the lower limbs. - Millet

That's great explanation Millet!

Thank you gentlemen for your responses. As always, I learn a lot from you.

Phillip