I've grown from seed a dozen Amalfi lemon trees June 2023. Will I need to graft these onto a rootstock to get fruit? Which rootstock, where to purchase in Canada?
Seedlings fruit on their own roots of course. The difference between those and grafted clonal scions of named horticultural selections is these will fruit younger. Because they are pieces of stock plants that are already sexually mature. So, the main issue instead with your material is likely to be that because they are seedlings rather than clones their fruit characters may differ from the source plant. Perhaps considerably. With apples there are a few cultivar names attached to what are effectively seed strains that tend to come more or less true. But I don't know how often this happens with citrus. Which with - even when cloning is being used to build up orchards of named forms with known desirable traits - there is a recurring problem with unnoticed mutations resulting in plantings containing numbers of trees that produce fruits with thick rinds. Even without variation from seed being involved.
Welcome to the Forums. Lemon seed is polyembryonic so some of them will grow true to the parent. The juvenility period of a lemon seedling is reportedly 2-3 years and grafting onto a rootstock will not shorten this period. However a rootstock such as trifoliate orange will impart other desirable qualities to the tree.
Thanks. I am reading different info saying the grafting does speed up the wait period. Being a beginner I'm confused, sorry. Who in Canada (nursery) would carry these rootstocks.? Can you put several graftings on a root stock? Thanks again for your time. I live in Penticton, BC
You may be able to find small specimens of Citrus trifoliata (Trifoliate Orange), the species or 'Flying Dragon', at a local nursery as these will survive outdoors. The plants may also be sold under the old classification of Poncirus trifoliata. Yes, multiple scions can be grafted onto one rootstock. Found some possibly bad news. Assuming the lemon in question is 'Lunario' (one of the varieties considered to be an Amalfi lemon), according to the article, Reproductive Biology Factors Hampering Lemon [Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f.] Genetic Improvement: This translates into a low probability of getting a clone of 'Lunario' from seed. Reference: Lunario lemon | Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection at UCR
FWIW, a respected member of the citrus community commented on this some years ago in this external thread: Grafting from a young seedling or immature budwood?
