wrote in message
...
Hello,

I bought a mandarin orange plant and a grapefruit plant in the summer.
Unfortunately when I went away, they were either over watered or under
watered, because when I came back, they dropped their leaves. After a
little dormant period, they have started to shoot again. I looked
closer today and see that they are shooting from the bottom of the
"trunk".

Now I should explain that I am new to all this (if that wasn't obvious
already). Three quarters of the way up the trunk there is a faint
diagonal line, so I am wondering if this is the graft? I have read
some books and they say when repotting citrus, to make sure the graft
is above soil level. Reading that made me think the graft was quite
low, so I'm not sure; these are a foot high. Does the graft rise as
the plant grows?

I know apples for example are grafted. I hadn't realised citrus was.
The thing is, these new shoots are below, what I think may be the
graft. Without waiting months for them to flower and fruit, do you
think that what I am growing is not what I am expecting? What are
citrus grafted onto (and why?).

Is this the best place to ask citrus questions? I saw a couple of UK
gardening groups in Usenet but this seemed the biggest. I thought I
would ask here before posting to the international rec.gardening
group. I visited yahoo groups but that found 120 groups matching
"citrus" though most seemed to have nothing to do with fruit! The ones
that did had only 5-7 members!

Thanks for your help.

I have been in contact with my brother in South Africa, one of whose
friends, Ferdi Esselen, owns what is said to be the largest citrus nursery
in the world, at Mamalene, Mpumalanga.

According to him, the general practice nowadays is not to graft, but to bud
all citrus trees. The stock is cut off flat at about 15 cm above ground
level, and is budded at that level. The bud-level does rise very slowly
over time by a matter of centimetres only.

I wonder if the OP's trees were deliberately budded or (unlikely?) grafted
high up specifically to make specimen standards.

Franz

wrote in message
...
Hello,

I bought a mandarin orange plant and a grapefruit plant in the summer.
Unfortunately when I went away, they were either over watered or under
watered, because when I came back, they dropped their leaves. After a
little dormant period, they have started to shoot again. I looked
closer today and see that they are shooting from the bottom of the
"trunk".

Now I should explain that I am new to all this (if that wasn't obvious
already). Three quarters of the way up the trunk there is a faint
diagonal line, so I am wondering if this is the graft? I have read
some books and they say when repotting citrus, to make sure the graft
is above soil level. Reading that made me think the graft was quite
low, so I'm not sure; these are a foot high. Does the graft rise as
the plant grows?

I know apples for example are grafted. I hadn't realised citrus was.
The thing is, these new shoots are below, what I think may be the
graft. Without waiting months for them to flower and fruit, do you
think that what I am growing is not what I am expecting? What are
citrus grafted onto (and why?).

Is this the best place to ask citrus questions? I saw a couple of UK
gardening groups in Usenet but this seemed the biggest. I thought I
would ask here before posting to the international rec.gardening
group. I visited yahoo groups but that found 120 groups matching
"citrus" though most seemed to have nothing to do with fruit! The ones
that did had only 5-7 members!

Thanks for your help.

I have been in contact with my brother in South Africa, one of whose
friends, Ferdi Esselen, owns what is said to be the largest citrus nursery
in the world, at Mamalene, Mpumalanga.

According to him, the general practice nowadays is not to graft, but to bud
all citrus trees. The stock is cut off flat at about 15 cm above ground
level, and is budded at that level. The bud-level does rise very slowly
over time by a matter of centimetres only.

I wonder if the OP's trees were deliberately budded or (unlikely?) grafted
high up specifically to make specimen standards.

Franz

On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 22:09:02 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

I wonder if the OP's trees were deliberately budded or (unlikely?) grafted
high up specifically to make specimen standards.

Hi. I was the OP. I do not think they were grafted anymore because
there is not a bulge like there is on say, an apple tree, which
grafted. Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to this, what is budding?

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 10:10:03 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:

I bought a citrus mitis in flower from Ikea last year. As the small
fruit developed I found a lemon forming on a twig from just below the
obvious graft.

What did the graft look like? I'm trying to tell if I have one.

On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 22:09:02 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

I wonder if the OP's trees were deliberately budded or (unlikely?) grafted
high up specifically to make specimen standards.

Hi. I was the OP. I do not think they were grafted anymore because
there is not a bulge like there is on say, an apple tree, which
grafted. Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to this, what is budding?

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 10:10:03 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:

I bought a citrus mitis in flower from Ikea last year. As the small
fruit developed I found a lemon forming on a twig from just below the
obvious graft.

What did the graft look like? I'm trying to tell if I have one.

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 22:09:02 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

I wonder if the OP's trees were deliberately budded or (unlikely?)
grafted
high up specifically to make specimen standards.

Hi. I was the OP. I do not think they were grafted anymore because
there is not a bulge like there is on say, an apple tree, which
grafted. Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to this, what is budding?

Prune the stock (The plant whose roots you want to utilise) right off.
Usually 1" or so above the ground in the case of a rose, and about 6" in the
case of a citrus plant. Slice off a few healthy growing buds from the
desired plant, including a heel. Make "T" incisions in the bark of the
stock, gently peel back the bark and insert the bud. Repeat for as many
buds as you want to put in, and bandage the wound with raffia or suchlike.
Make sure there are no growth buds of the stock left below the point at
which the desired buds were inserted.

In the case of roses, I have never discovered any horticultural reason for
budding, except that it means that on a commercial scale, you can produce a
large number off budded plants from one mother plant. I have always had
reasonable success in propagating my roses from cuttings. This might mean a
longer waiting time for first flowering, but it has the advantage that the
plants are on their own roots and there is no bother with unwanted growth
from below a bud or graft.

Franz

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 22:09:02 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

I wonder if the OP's trees were deliberately budded or (unlikely?)
grafted
high up specifically to make specimen standards.

Hi. I was the OP. I do not think they were grafted anymore because
there is not a bulge like there is on say, an apple tree, which
grafted. Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to this, what is budding?

Prune the stock (The plant whose roots you want to utilise) right off.
Usually 1" or so above the ground in the case of a rose, and about 6" in the
case of a citrus plant. Slice off a few healthy growing buds from the
desired plant, including a heel. Make "T" incisions in the bark of the
stock, gently peel back the bark and insert the bud. Repeat for as many
buds as you want to put in, and bandage the wound with raffia or suchlike.
Make sure there are no growth buds of the stock left below the point at
which the desired buds were inserted.

In the case of roses, I have never discovered any horticultural reason for
budding, except that it means that on a commercial scale, you can produce a
large number off budded plants from one mother plant. I have always had
reasonable success in propagating my roses from cuttings. This might mean a
longer waiting time for first flowering, but it has the advantage that the
plants are on their own roots and there is no bother with unwanted growth
from below a bud or graft.

Franz

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 22:09:02 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:

I wonder if the OP's trees were deliberately budded or (unlikely?)
grafted
high up specifically to make specimen standards.

Hi. I was the OP. I do not think they were grafted anymore because
there is not a bulge like there is on say, an apple tree, which
grafted. Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to this, what is budding?

Prune the stock (The plant whose roots you want to utilise) right off.
Usually 1" or so above the ground in the case of a rose, and about 6" in the
case of a citrus plant. Slice off a few healthy growing buds from the
desired plant, including a heel. Make "T" incisions in the bark of the
stock, gently peel back the bark and insert the bud. Repeat for as many
buds as you want to put in, and bandage the wound with raffia or suchlike.
Make sure there are no growth buds of the stock left below the point at
which the desired buds were inserted.

In the case of roses, I have never discovered any horticultural reason for
budding, except that it means that on a commercial scale, you can produce a
large number off budded plants from one mother plant. I have always had
reasonable success in propagating my roses from cuttings. This might mean a
longer waiting time for first flowering, but it has the advantage that the
plants are on their own roots and there is no bother with unwanted growth
from below a bud or graft.

Franz

The message
from contains these words:

Hi. I was the OP. I do not think they were grafted anymore because
there is not a bulge like there is on say, an apple tree, which
grafted. Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to this, what is budding?

A slit is cut in the bark of the host stock. Sometimes this is a
straight cut, other times a 'T'.

A bud is removed from a tree of the desired variety, still attached to a
small piece of bark.

The sliver/square/ellipse of bark is slipped beneath the bark slit, and
the wound bound up with waxed cord or with tape.

The bud grows into a twig and the wood above the budding is removed.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from contains these words:

Hi. I was the OP. I do not think they were grafted anymore because
there is not a bulge like there is on say, an apple tree, which
grafted. Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to this, what is budding?

A slit is cut in the bark of the host stock. Sometimes this is a
straight cut, other times a 'T'.

A bud is removed from a tree of the desired variety, still attached to a
small piece of bark.

The sliver/square/ellipse of bark is slipped beneath the bark slit, and
the wound bound up with waxed cord or with tape.

The bud grows into a twig and the wood above the budding is removed.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from contains these words:

Hi. I was the OP. I do not think they were grafted anymore because
there is not a bulge like there is on say, an apple tree, which
grafted. Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to this, what is budding?

A slit is cut in the bark of the host stock. Sometimes this is a
straight cut, other times a 'T'.

A bud is removed from a tree of the desired variety, still attached to a
small piece of bark.

The sliver/square/ellipse of bark is slipped beneath the bark slit, and
the wound bound up with waxed cord or with tape.

The bud grows into a twig and the wood above the budding is removed.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from contains these words:

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 10:10:03 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:

I bought a citrus mitis in flower from Ikea last year. As the small
fruit developed I found a lemon forming on a twig from just below the
obvious graft.

What did the graft look like? I'm trying to tell if I have one.

Tends to look like | | or | | or sometimes | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|__| | /| |\/|
( ) |/ | | |
|¯¯| | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |

All usually have a scar over where the cut ends join.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from contains these words:

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 10:10:03 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:

I bought a citrus mitis in flower from Ikea last year. As the small
fruit developed I found a lemon forming on a twig from just below the
obvious graft.

What did the graft look like? I'm trying to tell if I have one.

Tends to look like | | or | | or sometimes | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|__| | /| |\/|
( ) |/ | | |
|¯¯| | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |

All usually have a scar over where the cut ends join.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from contains these words:

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 10:10:03 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:

I bought a citrus mitis in flower from Ikea last year. As the small
fruit developed I found a lemon forming on a twig from just below the
obvious graft.

What did the graft look like? I'm trying to tell if I have one.

Tends to look like | | or | | or sometimes | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|__| | /| |\/|
( ) |/ | | |
|¯¯| | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |

All usually have a scar over where the cut ends join.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/