We ordered a 5 in 1 plum and a 5 in 1 peach tree from “fast growing trees.” Unfortunately, the trees that arrived didn’t have any labels whatsoever showing what or where the grafts were (if there were any grafts at all). We never even heard back from the company for refund or replacement.
Will it ever be possible to definitively figure out what the grafts are based on the timing of the flowers, the timing of fruiting and the look and taste of the fruit? Or might some cultivars too similar to tell apart?
Is there a way to narrow down which grafts they are based on industry standards? For example are 5 in 1 peach or plum trees more likely to be of a certain variety?
The whole purpose of trying the 5 in 1 fruit trees was to try varieties we have never eaten before and add more of the best trees. To make matters worse, we like to keep all our trees and perennials properly labelled. Of course it could be a number of years before all the varieties fruit and we can solve this mystery. But any help will be greatly appreciated.
So about your “frankenfruit” trees. If you know the 5 varieties that were supposed to compose each tree, I’d say over time we could figure it out collectively. If not, then we could narrow down the possibilities.
Unfortunately at this time we do not currently even have a narrowed down pool of candidates as to which cultivars they might be. The best I know is that the tree is supposed to be hardy in zone 5. So that narrows it down to cultivars hardy in zone 5. Another customer had a photo with one of the tags from it showing a reliance peach. So that is one possibility. But ours came completely unlabeled. Eventually, I will be able to update in the future with pictures and flowering and ripening times if possible and maybe compare that to ripening charts for those trees. Although that could take years. I think I might be able to guess some of the plums. But a lot of peaches can look pretty similar.
Probably for the peach the fruits are so similar that you may never know how to differentiate to actually pin down their true variety names. Perhaps that’s not so important as long as they produce. Chances are the grafter chose varieties that cross pollinate, so wait and see what each variety does and if you prefer some more that others, you can always top work the undesirable ones with the ones you like.
Plums do fortunately have a lot of characteristics that differ, so when they begin to fruit you can compare the foliage and fruits to other known varieties. Plum growers here often post pics of the fruit on the tree so you can begin to see what resembles your varieties. Hopefully the grafter chose varieties that can cross pollinate and if so your tree should be one that you like.
Dennis
Kent wa
While there are still no leaves on the trees, post some close up pictures of where each scaffold meets the trunk of the tree. As long as the pictures are relatively clear, members should be able to tell you if some or all of the tree’s scaffolds were grafted.
If it looks like none of the trees were actually grafted with multiple varieties then you were definitely defrauded.
How long ago did you purchase these trees?
When did you receive them?
How much did you pay for each tree?
If it hasn’t been too long you may be able to process a charge back from your credit card company for a refund, (assuming you paid online with a major credit card).
Be sure to keep all the communications you’ve sent this company for documentation purposes. Depending on how long ago the trees were purchased, and If the trees were actually grafted, then you may not be able to get a refund from your CC company. Even if a refund seems impossible, threatening to post negative reviews on gardening related sites or applying for a charge back may at least prod the company into replying to your enquiries. As the saying goes, it’s the squeaky wheel that gets greased. At the minimum you can hopefully get a list of which varieties are usually grafted onto their fruit salad trees if you are persistent.
I find that so frustrating. Also based off of my own purchases years ago, they can be quite expensive. A few ideas
You can try and isolate the varieties based off of the visual graft unions. This will at least tell you where to expect different varieties to grow from.
You’ve come to a wonderful site and group of folks who can help you add a graft or two of a known variety to your trees. You will learn how easy it is to graft and enjoy it at the same time! The best part is that you have come at the exact right time to get grafting material free from fellow growers.
I see that growing fruit has a money back guarantee for one year for damage from any source. It even states human damage. You can ask for a refund but it will come as store credit. You could even order two trees for the credit of one multigrafted (I’m guessing) and then graft four more varieties to each yourself. That would double your varieties and you could be selective about what you choose.
I don’t want to sound discouraging. I just had a difficult experience myself. I ordered a 4 in one Asian pear from Starke $$$. Two of the varieties ended up getting fireblight and having to be removed in their entirety. That left me with two varieties of pears I already had. I ended up grafting two new varieties of Asian pears to the same tree. In the end, after knowing what I know now, I would have grafted it myself. A lesson learned but a valuable one so I don’t blame myself. It was the purchase of the tree that lead me to growing fruit and learning a new skill that I absolutely love.
I agree with tbg9b. Before putting energy into identifying the varieties, lets first try to establish whether the tree is grafted at all. If they were so shoddy as to not label the grafts on a multigraft, I’d have little trust that anything else was done honestly or competently.
Thank you for the responses. I have so much respect for all the knowledgeable people on this forum and everyone who has tried to help. Even before signing up recently, I always checked what people on this forum had to say regarding a certain cultivar before we ordered. However, ordering 5-in-one fruit trees was going out on a limb.
The trees branches are currently covered in a nice protective blanket of snow. I will try to take pictures of its main branch unions as soon as I can during a warm spell. I will post them hopefully if I can get some clear pictures.
The trees were planted last fall. They look old enough to where they might flower in spring. But certainly not old enough to where someone would want to leave many fruit on the tree.
At this point, I am not sure we would even expect a replacement any more or help from them in identifying the cultivars. The mystery trees are already in the ground and are part of our tree family. At least they piqued our curiosity.
There were other customers that said their trees were missing some labels, but not missing all specific labels like ours. I guess we were hoping we wouldn’t be one of the unlucky ones. The trees were by no means inexpensive either.
I will say on behalf of “fast growing trees” compared to some mail order plants we’ve ordered from some other companies, the little plum and peach tree look very healthy, and all of their plants always looked healthy with nice flexible branches and living bark, rather than completely dead twigs that some other companies have sent.
I feel sad because for hundreds of years people have basically spent their lives to develop unique cultivars and to kept the lineage of graft lines documented. To lose that erases all the human effort that leads up to that particular fruit.
@Jambalaya
I don’t know if you should defend Fast Growing Tree nursery. The review on the garden watchdog is not that good. This nursery also charges an arm and a leg for their trees.
When people google/search the Internet for tree/plant nurseries, companies that paid a lot for advertisement are listed on top. Unfortunately, many are not that reputable. Some are outright awful including TyTy nursery.
You are better off checking out the forum’s nursery list in the Reference category.
