Grafting Advice?

[TNAndy]

I've got a Meyer Lemon, a Key Lime, and a Citrus rootstock.  When I bought the rootstock, it had a navel orange twig grafted onto the top, but the twig didn't make it and the rootstock sprouted new branches below the graft.  I'm going to prune both the lemon and lime before I bring them inside for the winter, so I'll have some new twigs I could graft onto the rootstock.  The branches on the rootstock are a little under half an inch in diameter.

I've read some articles on citrus grafting, but I've never actually done it before.  Do any of you have any advice?  A technique that reliably works for you?  A grafting product (wax, tape, etc.) you can recommend?  How about any gotchas I need to avoid?

[TropicalFruitHunters]

I've found citrus to be very easy to graft.  Simple wedge/cleft grafts should work just fine.  Keep several of the branches on the rootstock and graft yourself up a cocktail tree.

[TNAndy]

Lemon... Lime...  I figured I'd call it a 7UP or Sprite Tree.   

[Pancrazio]

I've found citrus to be very easy to graft.  Simple wedge/cleft grafts should work just fine.  Keep several of the branches on the rootstock and graft yourself up a cocktail tree.

I attempted two graft on citrus about a month ago but both failed. It must be the heat wave we were experiencing, the bad quality of the scions (there were from a lemong bought at the grocery sotre), or maybe, the fact that i'm complelty a newbie regarding lemon grafts.
Anyway something is still unclear to me: how can you tell when the rootstock is ready? I'm assuming that the scion's vegetative state isn't the key for succesful citrus grafts.
I grafed onto some twigs that were actively growing, and basically i cutted the twigs on a random spot.  But on a twig that is actively growing, there are many "zones": where the wood is tender, where is hard, where it is increasing its girth; how do you tell "where" you should cut, to do your cleft graft?

[jcaldeira]

....
I've read some articles on citrus grafting, but I've never actually done it before.  Do any of you have any advice?  A technique that reliably works for you?  A grafting product (wax, tape, etc.) you can recommend?  How about any gotchas I need to avoid?

I've had good success cleft grafting citrus.  Be sure not to let the scion dry out after grafting.  My best success has been with green wood and green wood with grey streaks.  Older grey wood seems to have less healing power.   Budding success requires the bark to be slipping, so timing is more important than with cleft grafting.

There are some great grafting tutorials on the Citrus Forum:
http://citrus.forumup.org/viewforum.php?f=18&mforum=citrus

This is one particularly good one: http://citrus.forumup.org/viewtopic.php?t=4122&mforum=citrus

John

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Hi Andy,
Citrus are very easy to graft ain't rocket science. Citrus and other fruit trees like mango, prefer to be grafted in summer, when the plant is fully active. I use approach-saddle graft(this method is used approach graft on a tree), Shield-budding(my favorite and is very quick to heal and sprout) and Cleft graft. When I use the cleft method...i bag the plant, to keep the humidity high. Good Luck