compact lemon options

[brian]

Right now I have Eureka, Lisbon, St Teresa, Meyer, and Sunquat.   Only the meyer and sunquat are anything close to compact but they don't have the true lemon taste.  I bought the Lisbon to try grafting onto Flying Dragon, but the parent plant looks so vigorous that I'm doubtful that even the dwarfing rootstock will keep it tame. 

this site seems to suggest Lisbon-on-Flying-Dragon is workable:
https://boutiquecitrus.com.au/finger-lime-recipes-and-ideas/

and here's a picture of what I am guessing is Lisbon-on-Flying-Dragon:

I guess I will have to try it and see.

[poncirsguy]

Go for it.  I have 2 Fukushu kumquats on Flying dragon and it is more compact than the Fukushu on C35 or on its own roots

[sc4001992]

Yes, if you graft lemon on FD it will not grow much. I grafted Lisbon & Yuzu, and both are slow growing on this tree.

[brian]

Good to hear.  Is yuzu normally very vigorous?  I don't know much about it but I intend to get one when I can find it.

[sc4001992]

Yuzu has not been a vigorous grower for me. I hear some people have problems trying to keep it growing well, not sure why.  I had my grafted Yuzu on FD for over 10 years and it grew only 3 ft with some side branches. I do get fruits on it but not much. I plan to graft it on another rootstock (macrophylla) and get some more Yuzu cuttings from CCPP in case I got a dud the first time.

[poncirsguy]

Your twig is not a dud.  Use the scion of your current tree and graft.  I give my flying dragon 16 hours of light from September till June

[sc4001992]

poncirsguy, I will do that as well, but I also want to try new budwood cuttings because it is always good to try to get it from a few different trees. I had similar experience with my NZ lemon cuttings, the first ones I grafted hardly grew (12" long) in 2 years, then I grafted a few new budwood and it had many fruits and grew 3 ft in one year. For all my fruit trees, I always like to get a few different sources or cuttings from different trees for the same variety I'm trying to grow and get fruits. I do this (multiple sources) for all my loquats, mulberry, citrus, persimmon, figs, etc.

I really don't use any of my Yuzu fruits, only give them away but recently more friends/relatives wanted the fruit so I guess I will need to get the grafts to grow faster/more fruits.

[brian]

Four years later, I have my compact lemon.  I did two cleft grafts and a t-bud of Lisbon lemon on Flying Dragon rootstock and they all took.  I had put the tree in a corner and forgotten about it since Fall and today I noticed it has a couple lemons on it, one nearly ripe.  I think I gave away the parent Lisbon (from FourWinds, unknown rootstock) to my neighbor over the summer when I saw the grafts took on the replacement. 

[kulasa]

a lemon ( I forgot which one) I grafted onto an FD last spring

[brian]

kulasa your picture isn't showing up, if you posted one

[kulasa]

Thank you, Brian.  Is it showing now?

[brian]

Yes I see, looks very nice!

[kulasa]

Yes I see, looks very nice!

Thank you.  Are the lemons on your tree regular sized or are they abit smaller because of the rootstock?  Do rootstocks affect fruit size?  I remember FD influencing yield positively, I am not sure about the fruit size though.

[brian]

Fruit are normal sized on dwarfing rootstocks.  I think most rootstocks have little effect on fruit size.  There are some tables you can find online  showing the details.  My recollection is that a few like rough lemon produce larger but poorer fruit, and the rest are pretty much "normal size"

[kulasa]

Thanks!

[Radoslav]

I read study about rootstock for ornamental citruses in pot  and the result was, that the best rootstock is volkameriana, especially for lemons. It gaves compact crown and intense flowering. Oscar Tintori nursery uses exclusively volkameriana for lemons and mandarins.

[Tortuga]

Harvey lemon is my favorite lemony taste and it’s an ornamental bush in my landscape. Massive harvests too. It’s on flying dragon rootstock

[kulasa]

Harvey lemon is my favorite lemony taste and it’s an ornamental bush in my landscape. Massive harvests too. It’s on flying dragon rootstock

I like Harvey as well. Mine is grafted onto a grapefruit tho, so you can imagine how vigorous it is lol.

[poncirsguy]

This is the same Fukushu kumquat on flying dragon posted here in July 24, 2021, 12:40:36 PM.  It is 3 year 8 months old now.

[kulasa]

This is the same Fukushu kumquat on flying dragon posted here in July 24, 2021, 12:40:36 PM.  It is 3 year 8 months old now.

I don't see any picture if you posted any?

[brian]

I read study about rootstock for ornamental citruses in pot  and the result was, that the best rootstock is volkameriana, especially for lemons. It gaves compact crown and intense flowering. Oscar Tintori nursery uses exclusively volkameriana for lemons and mandarins.

Radoslav, I had never heard of volkameriana so I looked it up.  The first overview I found describes it as being highly vigorous, like rough lemon, and producing large but poor quality fruit.  Are you sure this is being used for compact lemons?  It sounds like a bad candidate for that given the vigorous description.

[poncirsguy]

Volkameriana is EASY to graft,  VERY productive, and produces LARGE fruits.  Lemon taste like battery acid so quality is not important.  Sales and Profit is.

[Radoslav]

I heard about poor quality fruits on volkameriana in the past, and everybody told me it, when I bought Avana apireno from italian nursery on volkameriana. It was in bag, for farm growing, but I was sure that italians know what they do, and time proved my thoughs. Avanas on this tree are in top 3 of my mandarins. So, I think that volkameriana does not devalve fruit taste. As I said Oscar Tintori is number one in the market of ornamental citruses in pots in Italy and they use volkameriana.

[Millet]

Most citrus organizations say  Volkameriana as a rootstock is just fair.  Does best when growing on sandy soils.  Scions grafted upon Volk generally produce fruit with 2% less sugar content.

[brian]

Thanks, Radoslav.  It is nice to hear direct experience from somebody who has tasted this scion/rootstock combination.