Monday, January 25, 2016

What is a cocktail tree? Grafting Different Fruit on the Same Tree

Different varieties of the same species can be grafted together. This is often done to extend the harvest period. As an example, if the Kahaluu variety of avocado were grafted onto a Sharwil avocado, the fall/winter picking season for Kahaluu would be extended into the spring by the Sharwil (winter/spring).

In addition, two varieties can be grafted on one tree in order to save space, especially, if a second variety is needed as a pollinator. In general, plants with the same genus, but of a different species, can be grafted together. Among citrus species, lemon, orange, grapefruit can be put on one tree. One word of caution, lemons are a vigorous growing tree. When lemons are put together with a slower growing citrus, care must be taken to prune the lemon graft, or else it will quickly out grow the other species.

Many deciduous fruit trees can be grafted together.  Peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots can all be harvested from one tree.

Plants belonging to different genera are less successfully grafted, although there are some cases where this is possible. For example, quince, genus Cydonia, may be used as a dwarfing rootstock for pear, genus Pyrus. Plants of different families cannot be grafted successfully, such as orange on a peach.

For more detailed information on budding and grafting avocados, citrus or deciduous fruit trees, the University of California website has excellent information: