You should be cutting any rootstock growth immediately.

Yep. With hardy deciduous kinds like orchard apples there is never a time after the grafting when the stock is supposed to have leaves.

Then how come the nursery I bought from hadn't trimmed the rootstock down when I received it @ 1-2 yrs of age?

So, do I trim it right down to the graph point? Do I trim off all the branches?

Correction: *graft* !

STOP. Wait a minute!

We need a better picture but I don't see any rootstock with leaves.

Take a closeup of the trunk including the graft area and a closeup of a leaf that you think is "valencia" and a leaf that you think is "rootstock".

This post was edited by GregBradley on Mon, Feb 17, 14 at 18:39

You say it is a dwarf; but the leaves of the tallest part don't look like any rootstock commonly used for dwarfing character. Best guess is that the tallest parts are what is known as water sprouts, if so, just trim them back to the level of the others and they should revert back to "normal".

Look for the graft or bud union; it should be fairly obvious somewhere near the bottom of the tree; anything that grows out below that is rootstock and should be cut off; anything that grows out above that is your scion (Valencia)

I **assumed** the rootstock was the stuff on the right in this picture with the bigger leaves and long, long thorns. I **assumed** the stuff on the left was the Valencia, with smaller leaves and less growth, not really shown much on this pic. I'll take more if you need.

Although that would mean the main stalk was Valencia, not rootstock. Am I wrong here?

Thanks for raising the question, Greg. I was about to start trimming!

Lora

I thought this side (leftmost) was the Valencia side of the tree. True?

Looks like the big thorny branch comes out below the bud union and should be cut at the trunk. I still don't recognize it as dwarfing rootstock, unless you have an interstock (too complicated for your issue). As for why the nursery didn't cut that branch, they either didn't know or didn't care. Cut it now; and your Valencia side should start growing again.

I'm no expert but John is. Can you confirm that the Graft Line is at the blue line I drew in the picture below?

Never should have left a nursery with suckers below the graft.

Grafted/trimmed like a Dwarf but what could that rootstock be?

OK--

To be clear: Are we agreed that I should cut everything off at the big thorny branch, from the V-shape? To me it looks like it was grafted onto the Valencia, but why?

I bought through Amazon (I'm on island). The vendor was called Lemon Citrus Tree, so I assumed they might know what they were doing.

When it arrived in July 2013, both sides (thorny one and smaller one) were approximately the same height/size.

Is there consensus about what I should do? I could contact the vendor, as it supposedly has 3 year warranty.

Lora

The seller is ignorant or uncaring. contacting them will cost you grief and accomplish little... Cut off the growth from below the budline and move on.

OK. Makes me a bit nervous cuz I'll lose over half the volume of the tree. So, I should cut the big branch at the V--taking off everything on the right of the V in the last picture?

Lora

Ok--done. Thanks so much both Greg and John for helping me on this.

Lora

Lora, that thorny branch was not grafted. It sprouted. And, if you can send another photo at a different angle, taking a photo of where Greg thinks the graft line to be, we can tell you better if that is, indeed, the graft, and thus the sprout below would be rootstock. As John mentioned, we'd expect the rootstock to be a trifoliate, if it is is a dwarfing/semi-dwarfing rootstock (leaves of three), which it clearly is not. Water sprouts can be wickedly thorny, and they are NOT from the rootstock, but from the scion. I cannot clearly tell by your photos where your graft line is. It is possible it is under the soil. A better photo at a different angle (without leaves obscuring it) where Greg has the blue line would be helpful. And, rootstock shoots are not unusual. Growers sometimes miss them when they have hundreds of small trees in stock.

Patty S.

Lora,
I think you did the right thing cutting that off. John and I both initially guessed the thorny branch was a waterspout based on the first picture. Your second picture had the face of a leaf covering the best picture of the graft, or should I say what John says is the graft and I am pretty sure is the graft. Since John has lots more experience than I do, I was looking for confirmation. I think Patty is now looking for better pictures like we were then.

The leaves above my blue line are Valencia leaves according to my Valencias and http://idtools.org/id/citrus/citrusid/factsheet.php?name=Valencia.

The leaves on the big branch that John said to cut off are clearly not Valencia. They sure aren't the normal rootstock people expect. I'm sure someone can suggest a grower that can ship to you that is legitimate if you buy more citrus in the future.

It will be interesting to see how fast this Valencia grows now that it can put its energy into growing the tree instead of rootstock.

As a test, crush a leaf from the rootstock branch. Does it smell like lemon?

This post was edited by GregBradley on Tue, Feb 18, 14 at 12:13

Cut the BIG thing.
It is not what you want, it is taking energy from your wanted plant. Cut the thing which is sprouting under the graft line.
I did that for my trees when this happened.

Patty--

Here is a photo of the graft (and the now-cut branch). You're right--it was wickedly thorny. And it was there when I received the plant. It was about the same size as the Valencia side.

It's kind of a big wound for the plant. I have some fertilizer in the soil but this would probably be a good time to add more?

I'm sure it will grow more once that honkin' big thing is gone and not hogging the light and energy of the tree.

Thank you all for your expertise and patience.

Lora

Good job. You probably should wax or paint the open "wound" to protect it against entry of critters or diseases. It will heal quickly, but at the moment it is going to be an open "sore".

John--

Paint? Regular housepaint? Or is there something else for plants? And wax--like what kind of wax?

Sorry to be clueless. Yes, I would like to protect it a bit.

Lora

grafting wax available at most garden stores, applied per label directions. I usually only paint with cheap white latex paint thinned 1 to 1 with water... or sometimes full strength for larger wounds.

I've heard folks also put a dab of woodglue over the cuts.
Never tried it myself.

Josh