Chaenomeles as rootstock (chimeras for science?)

Updating here to keep track.

I just grafted three Chaenomeles speciosa cv. ‘Victory’ as rootstock with Malus domestica cv. ‘Zabergau Reinette’ as the scion. My apple choice was based on the fact that I had that variety available in the right diameter for good alignment on the Chaenomeles rootstock. However, after grafting I looked up ‘Zabergau Reinette’ on Pomiferous.com to see if there were any interesting notes about the variety and saw that it is noted as a triploid. I haven’t heard of any triploids ever being a contributor to the creation of graft chimeras so this is kind of a wild card. I doubt it will make it any more or less graft compatible, but if a chimera does form I do wonder if the triploid nature of the apple component will cause it to slightly dominate over the normal diploid component of the flowering quince…

Anyways it’s all still just theory until something works. I’ll update if the grafts take.

4 Likes

One of the three apple on Chaenomeles grafts is pushing now. The other two aren’t moving yet, but still look viable.

On a similar note I figured I’d try pear on aronia as well. I know other people have already done that combo for short lived, but precosious dwarf pears. Two of those grafts are pushing now too. I might as well try to produce chimeras from them as well just out of curiosity.

5 Likes

I hadn’t seen this thread when I posted my possible avocado chimera in the grafting thread, but that isn’t inter-genera or even an inter-species chimera:

I do have Chaenomeles runners popping up all over my front yard from the bush my neighbor has next to the fence, so I’ve thought about grafting some of them instead of pulling them up, but wasn’t sure what to try. Since loquat is graft compatible with true quince, I was thinking I might try that. Now I want to try to create a chimera of those two!

2 Likes

That sounds like you could try multiple grafts in that space and then just keep whatever ends up being most compatible. I hope you’ll give it a try.

Here’s the bush I’m referring to, am I remembering correctly that someone on here said this was some Chaenomeles species? Any chance you could offer a species or cultivar-level ID? It flowers like this for a long time each spring, and I’ve never seen any fruit:


You can see the runners coming up around my garden helper, and they also occasionally appear in long lines across my lawn, as a root grows in a straight line sending up shoots:

That is Chaenomeles speciosa. It looks like the same clone I’ve seen growing at many older homes. It is not self fertile, but can set small lemony fruits if pollinated by a different clone.

1 Like

Well now I want to wander the neighborhood in search of other clones to steal their pollen…

The neighbor said it’s the only thing still growing in their yard that was there when they bought the house many years ago, so your “older homes” point makes sense. Our block was first developed in the early 1950s and most of the houses are from then.

I suspect at one point in time either area nurseries just propagated and sold this clone and this one only OR maybe it was simply shared directly from gardener to gardener as a pass along plant. Every single time I see a really old one in a yard it looks like this same clone. I have it in my yard as well and I have not been able to track down if it is a named cultivar because even though I have access to lists of old cultivars, they lack sufficient information needed to confirm id of most found clones.

I actually have lots of clones and am also doing breeding. I have a large batch of seedlings germinating now from a cross between C. speciosa (not your clone though) and C. cathayensis.

1 Like

You might try grafting ‘Toyo Nishiki’ onto some suckers on your side. It makes larger fruit and has multi-colored flowers.

2 Likes

Hello, i just tried to graft Chaenemeles on apple tree this years.
I grafted 2 Chaenomeles speciosa on two M106 apple trees.

Hope to raise them as trees more than bush, ans they seem to be very vigorous ( made 1 and 2 stem about 30 centimetre each)

I grafted them in the “english complicated way” (that’s the french name, i don’t know if it’s the same in england or US) and the scare is melting weel, (used bee wax to glue them with an elastic that i removed two days ago)

Does anyone already tryed it ? I should wait till next year to see if fruit stay the same or if M106 make them bigger.

2 Likes

That’s a great idea for anyone who needs to make sure their Chaenomeles stays single trunked.

1 Like

hello johann,

i would like to know how it looks so far with the apple grafted onto that quince species.
Im currently trying something similar by grafting passiflora caerulea, onto a for its fruits commercially grown passiflora edulis, because i had observed that passiflora edulis rootstock make buds appear on the graft union within a few weeks, if grafted close to a bud.
now im on the stage where buds are visible but no growth, so i will have to wait until that happens.
However i would like to try the same as you, but with prunus.
i will try grafting different prunus onto probably cherry plums (prunus cerasifera) and observe callus formation on the graft union until suckers start appearing.
until you write back my proclaimed chimera could have potentially set growth but until a reply, farawell

2 Likes

My three apple to Chaenomeles grafts this year all failed after initially looking successful. For point of reference though, a bunch of the apple to apple grafts I made this year also failed so there may have been some climactic influences at play and no assumptions should be made yet about the potential viability of the odd graft combo.

I will definitely be interested in any follow ups you have about your chimera attempts. Your Passiflora seems very promising.

how did the multiflora grafts fare? it does sound like a longshot, but hey, this is Rosaceae we’re talking about. Weirdness abounds.

The graft chimera stuff is all fascinating. Chimeras are so bizarre. You think you know something basic like what an organism is, and what differentiates one individual from another- I mean thats pretty elemental stuff- and then you find the exception that turns it all on its head…

1 Like

My grafts on Prunus this year also all failed. My grandma sent me scionwood which was intact to make it clear. Some neighbor which has been grafting for a longer time than me also had failure on apple grafts. Defenitely was something going on there with the climate and rosacea grafts

1 Like

I had a bud formed in the middle of a graft union already but accidentally broke it off. Was a graft of passiflora edulis f. Edulis and passiflora edulis f. Flavicarpa

1 Like

I did not end up trying any this year. Neither time nor ambition presented in sufficient quantity to make it happen.

2 Likes

I am thinking of trying some Chaenomeles grafts, as I have it, and time. I think it’s the same red-flowering quince cultivar pictured in this thread. What is likely to work grafted onto it- any apple? I may be able to scare up Cydonia quince.

1 Like

Not enough research has been done to confirm which varieties of apple would be graft compatible or not, so it’s all an experiment! :slight_smile: