Hi guys,

At the moment I am currently growing a lemon seed (hopefully true), in Australia. I would like to know what graft to use to have the best performance. I would also like to graft a meyer lemon cutting onto the main trunk of my plant (grown from seed). And I would like to know when I should graft it (what season and how large or old it should be) and what type of graft to use?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

William

When the stock is about pencil size it will be big enough. T-Bud is the easiest and probably most used on citrus--especially for small seed stock.
Any lemon or pretty much any citrus will work on your lemon stock, however some say rough lemon stock used for oranges will increase juice, but reduce quality. I have a Hamlin orange on Lisbon lemon interstock and it is very sweet.

Time for T-budding is when the bark is slipping (tree actively growing) and the daily highs are between 70 -85F.

Use any mature budwood. You can add other varieties later.

hi try to get some meyer lemon bud wood,the seed is said not to come true,look at the t bud grafting on this forum! artie.

Thanks skeeter and artie10 for your helpful replies.

I have decided to t-bud my 4 seedlings. I have a rough idea of t-budding, but are there any links that are a good guide for t-budding? And also once the union has healed is it right that the main trunk must be removed by cutting it off?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks again
William

If the T-bud takes, you have 4 options for forcing--cut the top, bend the top down, break the top, or knotch the stem about 1 inch above the bud.
Removal is the most common, but I have used all of them and all of them will work.


I would disagree with the statement that your lemon seed is not true--unless you used a Meyer lemon.

As for tutorials, Lazz posted one here --it should be under the propagation forum. There are also some links to T-buding.

Here's the link to the tutorial:

link

Two points: First, I believe Artie's post above was asking about a Meyer lemon seedling not being true from seed. I don't think he was talking about a true lemon. Second, in wwfe's original post the poster writes....." graft a Meyer lemon cutting onto the main trunk of my plant (grown from seed)....... If wwfe's seedling Meyer Lemon is still an immature cutting, it would not do him/her any good (fruit wise) to graft it onto his root stock, as it would not produce fruit any faster then if left alone due to it immaturity. - Millet (964-)

I mentioned mature budwood--If you don't know, that means wood from the part of a tree that has already produced fruit. Mature wood will fruit within a few years after grafting. If you use wood from a seedling that has not fruited, it could take 7-10 yrs before it fruits.

Skeet, sorry if any confusion. I was not referring to any of your responses, which certainly gave great advice, as all your post do. I was referring only to the one sentence in wwfe's original post concerning the fact that his cutting was from a seedling Meyer. - Millet (964-)

I think this might be a case of a sentence that can be read two different ways. I think the original poster meant his rootstock was grown from seed, not the scion but the sentence can be read the other way too.

hi ,all sorry if i added to the confusion,the original lemon from seed for the root stock,no problems there,the meyer lemon for the scion,also from seed might not be true,also no gain to graft this,i think you would be better off geting mature bud wood,and have fruit in a few years time.artie

Thanks Skeeter, artie10, MarcV, Millet and jrb for your replies. I have decided to t-bud my 4 plants (with a meyer lemon bud) and once attached plan, to remove the top of the plant. Hopefully my plan will succeed.

Many thanks again.

http://img218.imageshack.us/i/img0619hm.jpg/

Here is a picture of my seedlings. Do they look possible for t-budding citrus onto (obviously when they are about pencil size)?

William

i would say you need to wait. they are very small thickness. i believe the usual time to t-bud is one or more years of growth.

You learn many things from here. I have learned and grafted onto pencil thickness rootstock. I have also started grafting smaller rootstock , as soon as your technique and steediness of your hand increase. I have noticed that is very easy to t bud as soon as the rootstock starts getting dark streaks in it.
Gl on grafting
p.s. That rootstock needs a long way to go to graft but your idea is right.
Only use mature budwood also