by c.j.
(terrell tx.)
If I have an apple tree and I graft an orange tree limb to it, what kind of fruit will the orange limb produce? A. oranges B. Apples C.half orange/half apple. D. something else.
It won’t take. The trees have to be related, as in, from a genus that will be compatible. That’s why you can graft crab apples or apples to a Malus rootstock, and any kind of pear to a Pyrus rootstock, but generally, you can’t graft any apple to any pear. Citrus can only be grafted to Citrus, so you can graft a Meyer lemon to a lime tree, or an orange tree, but not to any other genus (that I know of).
For the fruit, you would get whatever the scion (the branch that you graft onto the stock) is; that’s why we graft desirable new types or varieties onto root stock in the first place.
The only thing that will change is the size of the actual tree – dwarfing rootstock will make the tree smaller, but it won’t affect anything about the actual fruit.
It’s a hard concept to wrap your head around, isn’t it?!
Hope that helps,
Jacki
