Citrus > Citrus General Discussion

How long for a lemon graft to die?

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gnappi:
My GF's granddaughter sent her a small lemon seedling which she wanted to see fruit sooner than the (unknown cultivar) seedling would. So, she went to Lowes and snipped off a Meyer cutting (bad girl) and asked me to graft it onto the seedling. I used a cleft and the tree and scion were perfectly matched in thickness. It's been two weeks and the cutting is still as green as when I grafted it and the tree stem has sprouted several new branches under the graft, and I have not uncovered the scion yet.

My Q's.

1. I've grafted Mango before and know when a graft took or not but since the scion is still bright green I do not know if it should wither and die if the graft did not take.

2. Should I clip the new branches that have erupted under the graft to send more resources to the grafted scion?

3. Assuming the graft took, when should I remove the wrap from the scion? After new growth sprouts?

  Thanks

brian:
Yes, if the scion is green it is stil alive and should grow.  If the graft is failed the scion will becomeobviously brown. Don't give up until it turns brown. 

I always remove new growth from the rootstock if the scion survives the first few weeks of healing.  I'm not sure if this is a usual recommendation, though.

If you are using parafilm you don't really ever have to remove it, growth will burst through.  I would think it is safe to remove it after a month, if you choose.

When I graft I don't use parafilm I just put plastic baggies over the graft, and I remove it after a few weeks

pagnr:
My GF's granddaughter sent her a small lemon seedling which she wanted to see fruit sooner, so, she went to Lowes and snipped off a Meyer cutting, and asked me to graft it onto the seedling.

Good luck to her for her figuring that out by herself. I think it is a great plan, and no harm done. Hope she continues on a plant growing journey.

Please tell her a bit about Botanical and Horticultural history, and how most of what we eat and drink was 'snipped' from someone else and moved across the world to be grown.

Recently heard about Robert Fortune who dressed up in Chinese Robes and posed as a Mandarin, to collect the propagation material so the British could grow tea in Sri Lanka. The Chinese tea growers had never seen a Mandarin Official before, so assumed his unusual Western appearance in Chinese Robes was what a Court Mandarin looked like, and gave him the Tea plants.

I did also wonder why he posed as a Mandarin, and not a Kumquat ( Fortunella ).
Sorry about that one, couldn't resist.

gnappi:
Thanks all. That's pretty much my experience with grafting mango. I suspected I should clip the new growth and I'll do it tomorrow. 

gnappi:
Good news! The scion took and it's green as well as pushing new growth all along its length.  It's been around 6 weeks so I unwrapped it except where I made the graft. This was my  first  (and likely last) citrus graft as I prefer tropical fruits at my house but my GF and her granddaughter are overjoyed! Now for the waiting game to get fruit. 

Thanks all for the advice.

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