I’ve got a Valencia orange tree that I planted a while back. There are 2 main branches coming out near the base. I can’t make out where the graft union is, so I’m not sure what is the main scion and which is the sucker. Need help with this one because my next steps with this tree could be crucial.
Please see pics below. My hunch is that the one on the right is a sucker?
I’m pretty sure the place I bought it from mentioned that all their fruit trees are grafted. I tried digging a bit not make sure graft union wasn’t buried and it doesn’t seem so…
Rootstock is typically more vigorous than the graft if allowed to get going. My hunch is it’s on the left actually, but pretty hard to tell. Which side is blooming? @a_Vivaldi@sharq what do you guys think?
My gut instinct is that the graft is in the ground or higher up. All those young green branches coming out of it look like rootstock branches and they are all coming from the right, but if the left side is the grafted side then that is an insane way to sell grafted oranges.
Does the whole plant have gnarly thorns and do the leaves look the same at the same light intensity (ie outer vs outer and inner vs inner)? They should be slightly different if some of that is the rootstock. If all else fails, when it fruits, if they are ungodly sour, its rootstock. If it has any sweetness, its Valencia.
After looking properly at this Pic, it only makes sense for this to be the graft union.
Bark texture and grain difference
Slight bulge and scarring
Branch angle above the mentioned point
I’m no expert though…
Does anyone agree? If so lll get a right away to removing the rootstock growth.
Definitely appears to be a graft union. The bulge looks like recovered scarring and the bark is misaligned, where as in the fork you posted earlier it all looks like it was naturally grown like that.
Its gonna leave a big wound if you cut that left side out, so make sure you trim it when theres no heavy rainfall coming. Open wounds are vectors for diseases. You might also need to stake it up if you don’t already until it gets used to its new shape.
Honestly, the tree has grown the perfect way to graft another type of citrus on that half, if thats something you are interested in. A nice V shape.
Looks like there’s some rain forecast this week. I’ll wait for it to pass. Winter also coming soon and probably frost in my area. Is this something I need to be wary of?
Interesting take on grafting another citrus tree onto it. How would I go about doing this? Do you mean cutting off the sucker and then grafting on a lemon/clementine or something in its place?
If got in my garden, Meyer lemon and clemcott. What would be the requirements of the scion I select for the grafting? I’m guessing it should at least nearly match the thickness on both sides. In that case, I might need to get a scion from elsewhere… Maybe a Cara Cara orange will go well. Will definitely explore the possibility!
If I choose to just stick with the Valencia, I’ll clean it up and stake it up nice and straight
You might want to wait until it fruits in order to decide what’s going on. Just a few fruit will tell you the true story. Taking something off now vs in a year or two isn’t much difference to the tree. Either way you’ll have resprouting issues from the area of anything removed.
I’ve had it in the ground for about 2 years now and it hasn’t even flowered yet. Perhaps it’s better to be patient, like you say… But what if it doesn’t fruit any time soon?
Would you say though, that the pics above are not conclusively where the graft union is?
What I would do since I can’t be certain as the rootstock isnt a trifoliate (easy to spot a sucker on) I would wait until spring. Then I would say if spring comes and you don’t have any blossoms, then you have a seedling plant. I’m tempted to lean that you have a seedling to begin with, it’s pretty large to be grafted in ground without producing flowers or fruits. But a seedling that wouldn’t shock me one bit.
I wouldn’t graft a foot high, but I do have one or two citrus trees that have grafts that high so it’s not impossible thats the graft union. But I’m leaning towards you have a seedling tree unfortunately.
Thanks. Worth noting though that the place i bought it from sells only fruit trees and specifically mention that all are grafted. Also,to add more context, I dug up the message and can confirm that I bought the tree in a 7l pot back in December 2022… So its been planted in the same spot since then
Look how small the left side used to be at one point too… Everything I’m seeing seems to point to the left being the most probable one to be removed. Right looks older and more established here
