Hi there, I'm new to the forum but have found lots of interesting information here. Lots of reading to do in order to catch up and not ask duplicate questions! But I have one.

How unwise is it to graft orange and mandarin onto a lemon tree with unknown rootstock? Here is my situation:

I have a Eureka lemon in my yard in Fresno, CA a bit less than 20 years old, which I didn't plant. It produces tasty juicy lemons that friends and family say they've never had before. The problem, it is a huge tree and the roots are everywhere -- and I don't like lemons! Doh! I love almost all oranges and mandarins, though and want to plant many young trees nearby, but the shade created is obstructive.

With my chainsaw out, I was about to chop it down completely but my family held me back. So I pruned the tree back very heavily and was going to root prune (severe roots just outside the canopy).

What do you think about grafting oranges and mandarins onto this tree? I do not know the rootstock and there is no clear bench graft point, so I'm wondering if these lemons planted all over my neighborhood are seedling. Is it true the lemon seedlings are poor for other sweeter varieties? If not, then since the tree is thriving I shouldn't have to worry about disease resistance, soil quality, and it should work, right?

TIA

I have a Lisbon lemon with over 15 varieties grafted onto it. They do just fine. I had oranges from my Hamlin on it not long ago and they were very sweet. I had Page fruit from it last yr that was great. I like my lemons in lemonade and lemon pie as well as for cooking and I am currently making a batch of hard lemonade.

They do say that lemon as a rootstock will increase juice quantity but lower quality--I have not found that, but my lemon is just an interstock.

When the subject of grafting, or budding onto a lemon root stock comes up, the lemon rootstock in question is almost always Rough Lemon (Citrus jambhiri), and not Eureka or Lisbon Lemons (Citrus limon). It is certainly true that when Rough Lemon is used as a root stock, it produces high early yields, but fruit of low quality. However, this might not be the case for true lemon varieties such a Eureka and Lisbon (Citrus limon). As Skeeter wrote, the fruit he has budded onto his Lemon tree is producing quality tasting fruit. - Millet (1,066-)

That is great news! Well could be, at least. This website rocks, I can't believe how simple you make things look for grafting and budding! Now that I look at my lemon tree again, it may be the PERFECT tree for this -- it has a short trunk, with a wide open-center coming off 7 major scaffolds. Each of those limbs would be perfect for grafting/budding onto and keeping the varieties apart from each other for easier harvesting.

Someone looking at the tree now will think I murdered it, but I know it too well as the roots go out 50 feet from the drip line and it regrows twice what I prune -- within one year. I left a large nurse branch as well, just in case.

Got lots more reading to do - thanks again.

Bark grafting is the best technique when top working on large limbs. Take a look at the tutorial on the propagation page.

We don't make grafting look easy --it is easy.