Citrus Growers Forum

g000n · Posted: Sat 05 Mar, 2011 4:04 pm

I've been reading up on citrus grafting and all I seem to hear about is bud grafting. Is there some reason why joining similar diameter rootstock and scion wood with a cleft graft is not mentioned? It seems to work well for apples, pears and other fruit.

Thanks.

Laaz · Posted: Sat 05 Mar, 2011 9:18 pm

link

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g000n · Posted: Sun 06 Mar, 2011 2:53 am

Thanks Lazz for the link.

I've been reading a lot about citrus grafting from ag colleges and various other sources, just rarely if ever did they mention grafting the entire scion. Mostly they just talk about bud grafting. Glad that it looks like a pretty successful method, since to me this seems to be the easiest.

jcaldeira · Posted: Wed 14 Nov, 2012 8:22 pm

I use cleft grafts almost exclusively for starting young citrus trees. Its one big advantage over budding is that it does not require the bark to be slipping to be successful. It will work almost any time of the year (in the tropics, at least).

The rate of success is improved if the scion is taken during a period of growth, but it is not necessary.

John

hoosierquilt · Posted: Wed 14 Nov, 2012 9:16 pm

Nice photo, John. Do you graft more than one bud to the rootstock? By the photos it looks like you do.

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Patty S.

buddinman · Posted: Wed 14 Nov, 2012 9:32 pm

Budding is easier and faster.

hoosierquilt · Posted: Wed 14 Nov, 2012 9:47 pm

UC Riverside Extension will be conducting a Citrus Grafting class this spring, so I'm planning on attending. I can learn on my own since I already am a pretty good cleft grafter with stone fruit, BUT, this gives me access to the CCPP screenhouse (note evil grin inserted here Twisted Evil

). That way, I can graft up some of the varieties I've been wanting, like Xie Shan, and maybe a few cool Italian lemon varieties as well. I just secretly want to see the CCPP, so it's a win-win-win for me. Confirm my citrus grafting skills, get the citrus grafted that I want, and maybe a tour of the CCPP.

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Patty S.

jcaldeira · Posted: Thu 15 Nov, 2012 1:39 am

hoosierquilt wrote:

Nice photo, John. Do you graft more than one bud to the rootstock? By the photos it looks like you do.

I graft one scion stick that contains approximately 4 buds. Sometimes only one bud pushes, while others can have three or four early sprouts.

Biddinman, you may be right that budding is easier, but cleft grafting has been more successful for me. One difference between the tropics and sub-tropics on citrus is that in the tropics the trees are less consistent on when they have slipping bark. In the tropics, at any one time some trees will have bark slipping while others don't. They are more consistent shortly after a drought and then a good rain, but budding is more difficult here than in the subtropics where you can almost put 'slipping bark' on the calendar.

John

hoosierquilt · Posted: Thu 15 Nov, 2012 1:44 am

Oh, I see. I couldn't make the photo larger, but I see now you're cleft grafting! Okay, that makes more sense.

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Patty S.

hoosierquilt · Posted: Thu 15 Nov, 2012 1:46 am

Okay, I will ask the novice question - so, when would that date on the calendar be for us in the sub-tropics, as to when bark slips? Spring sometime? And, why?

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Patty S.

mrtexas · Posted: Thu 15 Nov, 2012 2:29 am

jcaldeira wrote:

I use cleft grafts almost exclusively for starting young citrus trees. Its one big advantage over budding is that it does not require the bark to be slipping to be successful. It will work almost any time of the year (in the tropics, at least).

The rate of success is improved if the scion is taken during a period of growth, but it is not necessary.

John

I'd suggest chip budding. Uses only one bud and I have had success with it equal to t budding. You will have better luck with either chip budding or cleft grafting if the trees are growing vigorously. Come to think of it, if they are growing vigorously then you could t bud them..

igor.fogarasi · Posted: Thu 15 Nov, 2012 8:09 am

I completely agree with mrtexas. Chip budding is much better when the bark is not slipping well. By the way, nice cleft-grafts John!

Laaz · Posted: Thu 15 Nov, 2012 11:10 am

Patty the bark slips when the tree is in growth mode & the sap is flowing.

I have near 100% takes with budding, percentages are quite a bit lower with cleft grafting.

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hoosierquilt · Posted: Thu 15 Nov, 2012 12:05 pm

Okay, that makes sense. I went back through your bud grafting section in the forum, I watched that YouTube video you recommended of the very adept Indian gentleman t-budding so fast! And, Texas A&M has a nice step by step article, too. I think I can do this.

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Patty S.

Sanguinello · Gest

I like cleft grafting and chipping better for buds are so tiny and I always loose grip of them ... Rolling Eyes

Patty, you have a link for that step by step article ?