I got curious and couldn’t find Citation rootstock for sale anywhere by itself at a retail nursery so I did a Google search and found that the patent for Citation expired on April 29, 2002, see the links below. Is Citation rootstock being sold under a different name because “Citation” is a registered trademark? Do you know of any nurseries that are selling Citation rootstock?
I don’t think zaiger/dwn got into the registered trademark game until well after citation was released in the 80s. if you really want it then you could try propagating from root cuttings(this is possible with some rootstocks, dunno about citation) or chop off a grafted tree below the graft and grow it out for cutting propagation. it’s known to not sucker much or at all. some members here seem to have trees with failed grafts that they have grown out that they can use for cuttings. I’ve found publications from the 90s that have it for sale as rootstock back then so maybe they were able to get some before it fell out of retail circulation. Maybe you could get hardwood cuttings from someone with a citation bush they keep?
z0r, thank you for sharing that 1995 Bee Line newsletter. I admire the density of text and information on those 28 pages. I especially like the rootstock pricing, 16 years later I feel those are now appropriate wholesale prices!
Yes, I agree with you, the best way to obtain Citation rootstock is to buy a tree and remove the grafted variety. I was at the nursery earlier this week and Dave Wilson trees with Citation are at least $50, hard to justify, but perhaps as the weather warms my wallet will be less resistant, as happens every growing season!
I was watching the Dave Wilson YouTube channel and they discuss the red leaves of the Citation rootstock in contrast to the green leaved grafted variety. That will be a good tell if I can come across a discounted and failing tree at the nursery late in the season. Here is the link: Nursery Field Tour 3/7/2017 Dave Wilson Nursery YouTube Channel
In the meantime, I ordered a number of Krymsk 1 plum rootstock from Raintree Nursery to tide me over. I’ve read that K1 is also very dwarfing and precocious and as an added benefit, is not as susceptible to drought as Citation is.
Do we know if Citation will grow from a root cutting? I have a Candy Heart on order from Burnt Ridge. It may go into a container for later planting. It would be easy enough to harvest a root cutting. Perhaps I can stimulate a sucker with keiki paste?
I haven’t seen a report. I actually stuck a citation root cutting just two days ago to try it. I used the protocol from this gisela 5 root cutting paper which is: late february cutting, 15cm length, 10-12mm diameter, stuck into medium on bottom heat 17-20°C with 4-6cm exposed. I used promix HP. I wrapped the proximal end (exposed end) with wax tape and I’m keeping it under a humidity dome. I’ll update this thread in a month or two when it takes or dies (I only did one). The paper tried various levels of BAP and found that no BAP was the best so I didn’t use anything
"Methods to propagate the cherry rootstock Gisela 5 by using root cuttings and application of micrografting" E. Exadaktylou et al 2009
That sounds like an interesting experiment z0r. Looking forward to your results! I am hoping to find a multi grafted pluot tree from one of the local nurseries in the next couple of weeks, if I do, I’ll also try a root cutting if it’s Citation and give you guys an update. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
I took two broken roots from a 5 in 1 euro plum I planted today and cut them into 6" lengths. I then wrapped the upper cut sections with buddy tape and planted them into a one gallon pot filled with old potting soil with the buddy taped tops poking out just a little bit. There is no DWN tag on the tree and the rootstock is unnamed, but the label says the estimated height of the tree is 10’ to 12’ and the receipt says it is a DWN product so odds are that is is Citation, or at the very least it is a very dwarfing rootstock.
I just moved my Black Ice plum today, and I have some root cuttings of Mustang ( Prunus x jefchum) rootstock. I will see if they produce suckers. It is also a rootstock I don’t see for sale.
Kokpopelli5A, do you know of any sources online for red leaf plum rootstock? Thanks for the hint! I tried searching Google but couldn’t find any sources. Thanks!
it didn’t make it, I think it rooted but no shoots. I’ll try again this spring I have a bunch of stuff on citation so I’ll dig for new cuttings. was hoping for a sucker but nothing suckered this year
update, I ended up getting citation suckers from something last summer and I stuck them but nothing happened. I thought they died last year but I left them on my mist bench anyway and they just sprouted leaves. I don’t know if they’re rooting, I think they are but I can’t see any at the edge of the pot and I don’t want to disturb them to look
my g5 root cutting started last year is also leafing out right now
it’ll probably be a couple years before I can start taking the 10-20 cuttings/year from each that I’ll want to do. but it’s been surprising easy so far
