Cherries are tricky in Southern California. Only a few varieties will fruit here with our relatively warm winters.
Six winters ago, I planted two cherry trees for my mom in her backyard. The two needed each other in order to fruit. The flowers of Minnie Royal could pollenize the flowers of Royal Lee, and vice versa, but either tree on its own would be useless.
After a couple years, the trees started pollenizing each other and making cherries. How cool! Cherries in Southern California — right next to avocados . . . until one of the cherry trees began to decline in health. It had a large crown gall; it soon died. The remaining cherry tree was now a mere ornamental.
“Should we cut it down, Mom?”
“Oh, but those cherries were so good.”
“Should we plant a new cherry to pollenize it?”
“Is there room, with that avocado getting so big?”
“Then, how about I graft in a branch from another cherry that will pollenize it?”
Grafting saves space and money
Doing this would, in fact, be like returning a favor to my mom. In 2015, in my own yard, I planted a Dapple Dandy pluot tree, a tree which needs another tree to pollenize it just like the cherry has its pollenizer need, and I took a branch from my mom’s Burgundy plum to graft in and do the job. It worked swimmingly. (Also see the videos at the end of this post.)
But why didn’t I just buy and plant a Burgundy plum tree near my Dapple Dandy pluot? Unlike in my mom’s yard, I had the space. For me at the time, it was mostly because I didn’t have the money to buy an additional tree.
Maybe you don’t want the pollenizer’s fruit
In other cases where I’ve grafted pollenizer branches into fruit trees, it has been because I didn’t want an entire tree’s worth of that particular variety’s fruit. For example, I grafted a branch of Pinkerton avocado into my Fuerte tree. I already had a Pinkerton tree on the other side of my yard. I didn’t need another Pinkerton tree; I just needed some of its flowers to pollenize the Fuerte.
(Please don’t miss the video at the end of this post showing the unintended fruitset results on this Fuerte/Pinkerton tree for 2019!)
So there you have three reasons to graft pollenizer branches into fruit trees: One, it saves space compared to planting a full pollenizer tree. Two, it saves money. And three, you may not want the fruit of the pollenizer tree, just the pollen, thank you very much.
Which kinds of fruit trees need pollenizers?
And there you have three different kinds of trees which can benefit from having pollenizer branches being grafted in: cherry, pluot, and avocado. There are others: apples and pears, for instance.
However, not all cherry varieties need pollenizers — same with apples and pears. Avocados never need pollenizers to produce a crop, only to bump up production. And there are some types of trees that have absolutely no use for a pollenizer: peaches, nectarines, and citrus come to mind.
But if you have a tree that can benefit from a pollenizer branch being grafted in, how do you go about it? The actual grafting techniques are beyond the scope of this post though I will share some links to help with that at the end. Here I’ll just share my experiences with choosing a pollenizer variety, possible sources for finding a pollenizer branch (scion wood), and which part of the tree to graft it into.
Choosing a pollenizer variety for your fruit tree
For cherries, pluots, plums, apples, and pears, find a variety that will pollenize your tree by referring to the tag that came with the tree and look up the page for your specific tree on the Dave Wilson Nursery website (growers of most of these trees sold in Southern California).
For example, if you have a Flavor Grenade pluot, you read on the tree’s tag, “Pollinate with a Japanese plum.” And the Flavor Grenade’s webpage at Dave Wilson says, “Pollenized by Flavor King Pluot, Dapple Dandy Pluot, Emerald Drop Pluot or Santa Rosa plum.”
That’s actually a bit confusing, isn’t it? Often, you’ll find somewhat different information about pollenizer varieties from different sources. Unfortunately, I’m not aware of a single authoritative resource on this subject. But in addition to the tag and Dave Wilson site, I’d refer to the Sunset Western Garden Book.
Similarly, for avocados there is no great single resource to help with choosing pollenizer varieties. In general though, you want to choose a variety of the opposite flower type and one that blooms most synchronously with your tree. With my Fuerte, for example, I chose Pinkerton because it is an ‘A’ while Fuerte is a ‘B’, and they are both somewhat early bloomers relative to other avocado varieties.
(If you don’t know if your tree is an ‘A’ or a ‘B’, refer to this database of avocado varieties. If you’re unsure if it’s an early, mid, or late bloomer, ask me in the comments section below.)
Finding a pollenizer branch for grafting
Now you need to get your hands on a branch of this pollenizer tree. Here are five possible sources:
-Your own fruit trees
-Friends, relatives, and neighbors
-Nearby garden club members
-Nearby chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers, who have a scion exchange each winter
-Members of an online forum such as Tropical Fruit Forum
Where to place the pollenizer branch
If your fruit tree is small, say in its first year or two in the ground, then you can likely graft the pollenizer branch into any quadrant or level of the tree and get successful long-term results. I grafted Burgundy plum into my Dapple Dandy pluot tree during the very winter that I planted the small tree. I grafted the Burgundy plum branch in a low spot on the east side of the tree, and it has flowered well and therefore pollenized well, as seen in the abundant pluots I’ve had to thin.
Incidentally, the Burgundy plum branch itself has fruited a little too profusely.
(See my post, “Oh the mistakes I’ve made: Not thinning enough fruit from a plum tree.”)
In my experience, having a pollenizer branch within the main tree seems to engender better pollination even compared to planting a pollenizer tree nearby, let alone relying on the pollen of a neighbor’s tree. If you watch how bees fly (especially honeybees), this will make sense. They like to feed on the flowers of one tree at a time, for the most part, rather than flitting from one tree to another.
Bob Bergh, an avocado breeder with the University of California, grafted branches of various avocado varieties into Fuerte trees in a grove in Pauma Valley back in the 1960s and found significantly increased yield. (See Table 1 in Bergh’s paper, “Reasons for Low Yields of Avocados.”)
My own Fuerte avocado tree was already large when I grafted in the Pinkerton branch so I placed it at eye level on the south side of the canopy. I did this because I wanted to make sure the Pinkerton branch got ample sunshine. The north side or very bottom of the canopy of a large tree would not be good locations to graft in a pollenizer branch because they are the shadiest. Remember that you need this branch to flower abundantly in order to provide pollen to the flowers of the main tree, and the grafted branch will only flower abundantly if it gets sufficient sunshine.
If you’re trying to keep your main tree pruned to a limited size, then you may also want to avoid grafting in the pollenizer branch at the extreme outside of the canopy. This branch will need to grow a couple feet in order to produce flowers for pollination. Don’t place it where you can’t allow it to expand like this.
Over the years, you will need to maintain the pollenizer branch’s access to sunlight. This may require pruning back some branches of the main variety if they grow over and smother the pollenizer branch. I’ve had to do this a bit with my Dapple Dandy branches since Dapple Dandy is a more vigorous grower than Burgundy plum.
Does the idea of grafting intimidate you? No problem, provide pollen for your tree in other ways, such as by planting an entire pollenizer tree. You can also buy multi-grafted trees, of course.
Resources to learn grafting
Does the idea or utility of grafting fascinate you? Then here are some resources that I’ve found helpful.
For grafting deciduous fruit trees, see these resources by Chuck Ingels. He wrote and edited the book, The Home Orchard, which has an excellent chapter on grafting that is full of photos. Also see this slideshow on grafting that Ingels made.
For grafting avocados, the best resource is Propagating Avocados.
Videos
Here is a video showing the overlapping bloom — and therefore, cross-pollination potential — of my Dapple Dandy pluot with the Burgundy plum grafted in:
And here is a follow-up video showing the actual fruitset from this Dapple Dandy tree along with an adjacent Flavor King pluot tree:
Finally, here is a video of the Pinkerton avocado branches grafted into the Fuerte tree shot just after the flowering finished in spring of 2019. The Pinkerton branches were meant to be the pollenizers, they were meant to create more Fuerte fruit, but . . .
You might also like to read my posts:
Cross-pollination of avocados, or Why I planted a Hass next to my Fuerte
Great article! 5 years ago I grafted to both the Minnie Royal and Royal Lee. I just planted a Royal Crimson cherry because it is self fertile. 6 years ago I bought a Hood Pear and a Florda-home pear and grafted those to each other as well for the very reason you stated, so if either tree dies I still get fruit. A large Fuerte that hardly produced anything had about 120 large avocados this year along with Hass and Reed that I grafted to it due to the better pollination. So, I absolutely validate your article for those reading here. I’m in Del Cerro and my Pluots are not doing well here. They bloom during the winter and then in spring the buds are mostly gone. I planted 5 varieties in a big hole, so that their limbs cross each other, but when the buds open too early the fruit is not happening. I love Pluots! Your production in Ramona is amazing in the picture you put up! Flavor Queen Pluots have been on one of my trees now for a couple months and are the size of marbles and will just fall off. If you have a solution I would love to hear it. I have Flavor King, Flavor granade, Emerald drop, Dapple Supreme, Flavor Queen, and my Dapple dandy died, so it is gone.
Awesome feedback, Rick. Thank you for this.
As you know, it’s colder on winter nights here in Ramona compared to Del Cerro. So when I have to protect my avocados this time of year, I try to console myself with thoughts of the pluots, etc. that this chill helps provide.
We need a fruit transfer tube so you can send a few Fuertes up this way, and I’ll send some Dapple Dandys your way.
Truth is, last year was a bust for my pluots too. Production was pretty low. Last winter was extremely warm, which was the main cause, I think. I got fruit, but nothing like normal. I only have three varieties though: Flavor King, Dapple Dandy, and Flavor Grenade. The best producer last year was Flavor Grenade. It seems to me that Flavor Grenade produces with less chill than the others based on this, plus the fact that my mom’s Flavor Grenade tree does very well and her yard is warmer in winter than mine (L.A. County, Sunset Zone 21).
I’ll go back to some notes I took on pluots a while back, and I’ll ask around to people I know who grow them throughout Southern California, and I’ll update this comment thread as soon as I can. Maybe we need a full post on growing pluots in Southern California. They are so amazingly delicious!
Is anyone else reading this able to contribute their experience growing different pluot varieties?
9 varieties of pluot here by SDSU. My 4-1 (splash, geo pride, emerald drop, flavor grenade) hasn’t produced much in a few years. The flavor grenade branch always stayed small so I cut the whole thing back to let it start over and force it to equalize. Last year we planted a 4-1 (flavor queen, king, supreme, dapple dandy) to see what would happen. You can’t find that combination in San Diego due to high chill hours but I didn’t care and wanted to see what would happen. The 9th pluot is a flavor finale (another high chill hour variety). It’s got some tiny buds on it this year so let’s see what happens. The typically warm January set a lot of my early stone fruits into bloom (I’ll be thinning Florida prince peaches and desert dawn nectarines soon) but the pluots are barely waking up. Hopefully some of them provide fruit this year as they’re my wife’s favorite, especially the Emerald Drop.
Thanks so much for that, Bob.
I’ve only had Emerald Drop from a farmer’s market vendor, which is like having never tasted one at all! I knew this because the vendor’s pluots of varieties that I grow in my yard were also not very good — not good like I know they can be. I guessed they were all picked prematurely. But I really liked the color of Emerald Drop. May have to plant a whole tree if you and your wife like the flavor a lot.
You don’t have any plums in your yard, do you?
The Flavor Grenade trees I know (including my own) are also not vigorous compared to, say, Dapple Dandy or Splash. For me, Flavor King is another slow growing one like Flavor Grenade.
My pluots are all still barely waking too, except the Dapple Dandy has a handful of early open flowers.
Have you noticed (or do you notice this year) a general order of bloom in your different pluot varieties, especially if one is always earlier or later than the others?
I’ve got a Santa Rosa, Burgundy, and Satsuma plum (all sound asleep). The Emerald is in full bloom and the Geo Pride and Queen are swelling. All of the other pluots are sleeping in. I used to keep good notes of bloom times but don’t anymore but have noticed that there are definite early risers while some flower much later. That being said, some of my peaches and nectarines are past flowers and have set fruit but other varieties are either dormant, swelling, or full bloom; and there’s good leaf growth on some of the earliest varieties. I agree that pluots are good, however, one of the best tasting stone fruits we have over here is definitely the Arctic Star white nectarine (comes in mid to late June). These trees are all backyard pruned to what I can reach and aren’t too far from each other. We’ve never had a problem with pollination in large part due to the fact that my neighbor and I don’t care that there’s a feral bee hive in the fence.
Hi Bob,
Sounds like you’ve got an abundance of pollenizer and pollinator options going. And I’m jealous of the feral bee colony you’ve got there!
Good to hear your review of the Arctic Star nectarine. It so happens that I grafted a branch of that variety onto one of my peaches last week.
Dude, Rick! I’m in Del Cerro and happened on these old comments today and I hope you see this reply. I just planted a ton of pluots and other stone fruit and I would love to know how yours have done the past 4 years since you wrote this! I’ve got a bunch of Avo’s and citrus over here as well.
Hello Jason, I’m always pleased to hear about people planting fruit trees and I’m always willing to offer whatever I know to help out. I originally put most of my pluots close together so they would pollinate. When the trees were young like a couple years old they produced but not with much vigor. They gradually declined and all but one is dead and the dapple supreme that is still alive is not doing well. About 3 years ago I purchased a 3 in 1 from Anderson nursery and planted it a few feet from where the old ones were. It has a splash emerald drop and I forgot the other one but that tree has been doing great and has been producing every year. This year was very good but once the fruit started ripening it was attacked by bees and fig beetles so I lost a lot of the fruit to the insects. This year I had lots of cotton candy apiums and a reasonable production of cherries. It’s really worth planting pluots because they’re so good. There are many variables, soil, watering, location, rootstock, etc. How did you amend your soil?
Rick, thanks for the reply. I try to avoid amending any soil with anything organic. I learned my lesson with killing avocados with root rot. I use as much native soil as I can and might mix it with other sandy topsoil. I use lots of compost and organic matter/mulch on top of that, and it seems to do the best.
Sorry to hear you lost those pluots, but it’s good to hear we get enough chill for the ones you mentioned to fruit. A couple I purchased may not get enough chill, like flavor finale pluot and flavor punch pluerry but all of my plantings are on a north, facing slope and in the shade all winter.
If you need any budwood, I will be trimming the stuff I just planted ( pluots, a couple pluerry, plums, nectarines) and my older peaches soon.
Jason, thanks for the budwood offer. Since we’re both in del Cerro we should connect and check out each other’s plantings. Send me an email to
info at viewhomerealty dot com
I have a young “Fig” tree (5yrs old), any thing I could graft to it??
PS: The figs are really good.
Hi Leonard,
As far as I know, you can only graft other varieties of fig to a fig tree. But it is a fun idea to have a multi-graft fig tree with many varieties since figs come in so many flavors, colors, and sizes. Do you know which variety yours is?
thanks for this article. i actually ended up having to purchase 2 trees (flavor grenade along with a santa rosa plum tree) since i wasn’t able to acquire any scions around me… and the plan is to plant the FG and graft a SR scion onto it like you described. that’ll help save some room in the backyard and i might then add a FG to the potted SR as a backup.
Smart idea, Johnny. Please let me know how well the Flavor Grenade fruits being pollenized by Santa Rosa plum. It seems it should do very well.
Hi my name is Abdullah Fazal. I’m from Pakistan. I have 350 red bute plum trees of 12 years age. They are very good at blossoms but after pollination period maximum of it turns yellow and then drops. Other varietie trees are less about 8 trees. Is this the problem of pollination or what?
Hi Abdullah,
That does sound like it’s a pollination problem. I don’t grow Red Beaut plums myself, but what I read is that they are self-sterile. I don’t know what varieties are available to you in Pakistan, but according to an excellent publication for California plum growers, the varieties Ambra and Autumn Rosa are the best pollenizers for Red Beaut. The publication also gives advice on number and placement of pollenizer trees. The publication is called “Japanese Plum Pollination” and you can view it here: https://ucanr.edu/sites/fruitreport/files/132874.pdf
Is it possible to allow a rootstock sucker to grow out of the bottom of an avocado tree and graft a compatible different variety onto that sucker? Just wondering as I go around my trees and snip off some newer growth toward the bottoms…
Absolutely, Eric. It so happens that I’m headed to a friend’s house this afternoon to graft a rootstock sucker for him, just as you described.
We recently bought a house in Paradise Hills that came with a gloriously large avocado tree (probably 30ft tall by 20ft wide). I think it is a Reed variety (because of the large, round fruits with very thick skin and yellow flesh). It had nearly a dozen fruits on it when we bought the house in October. But now there are only two avocados on it and no signs of any fall set. If I were to plant a cross pollinator or try to graft a pollinator branch (can I even do that on a tree that established?), what would be the best variety?
Hi Sarah,
If your tree is a Reed, then it should start flowering sometime around now (early April) and will go into June. Reed is a late bloomer.
I’ve never met a Reed that needs a pollenizer. Reeds set lots of fruit without one. But if I were to choose one for a Reed, I would consider Fuerte since its bloom also usually lasts at least until May.
You can graft in a branch on even the biggest of trees, but it’s best to choose a spot that is sunny, such as on the south side of the canopy.
I’m one of those gardeners who is intimidated by grafting. I have room for one plum tree and I’d like it to be self-fruitful. Can you recommend a plum variety that is delicious, self-fruitful, and will produce well in our mild OC winters? Oh, and it will only get full sun until about 2 pm each day, if that factors into the decision.
Hi Keith,
I really like Burgundy plum. It has a sweet and rich flavor, even while it is still firm in texture. The color is attractive, a deep red. There’s no tart in the skin. It is self-fruitful and very productive. I know of Burgundy plum trees in and near Orange County that do well.
Hi – You have some great posts and super tips! Do you have anything up about how to graft?
We just moved into a house in the Hancock Park part of LA and want to grow a Pluot. I think we want a Flavor King since it seems to be the tastiest. So, even with other flowering trees around we would need a special pollinator? If we do, I guess the Burgundy plum sounds best from your description. Also, we lived around the corner from what we think is a Pluot tree, but it has purple leaves. Is that possible and if so do you know which variety that might be? It did not have fuzz on the skin of the fruit, but it was not shinny and smooth like a plum. The taste was incredible though!
TIA… Steven
Hi Steven,
I don’t think I have any posts about how to graft, no. One reason is because I don’t feel quite good enough to teach it. Another is that there are some excellent articles and videos already out there. Maybe I should write a post that simply links to the resources I have found most helpful. I’ll remember to do that this winter, when it’s nearing the main grafting time.
Most pluots do need a pollenizer, including Flavor King.
I don’t know of any pluots that have purple leaves, but I do know of a variety called SpiceZee that has purple leaves. SpiceZee is a nectaplum. The fruit matches your description, and the leaves are purple at first but then mature to green later. I agree that they taste great.
Thanks Greg!
Ok so I am buying a Flavor King and the main guy at C&S Nursery here in LA is saying that the Flavor King Pluot I am getting does NOT need a pollinator. He said something about the tree being grafted so that is why it does not need one? I am hoping he is right, but fearing he is wrong.
Going to check out a SpiceZee now 🙂
Hi Steven,
I don’t know what kind of fruitset you would get on a Flavor King pluot tree that has no pollenizer nearby. (Even fruit trees that are said to need a pollenizer will often set a little fruit without one.) Mine has always had Dapple Dandy pluot, Flavor Grenade pluot, and Burgundy plum adjacent so I can’t shed light on this.
The propagator of this variety, Dave Wilson Nursery, claims a pollenizer is needed: https://www.davewilson.com/product-information/product/flavor-king-pluot-interspecific-plum
I wouldn’t believe anyone who says otherwise unless they can show you a Flavor King pluot tree that is producing ample fruit without a nearby pollenizer. My Flavor King pluot tree is loaded right now and the fruit is still not quite sweet enough to eat, so such a tree should be on display here at the end of August for you. Ask him to show you the evidence. And I’d love to learn of such evidence because that would make this specific pluot variety more attractive to grow for many people who don’t have a lot of yard space.
The tree being grafted is entirely irrelevant.
Greg – Thanks again. Yes, I am very skeptical as well, which is why I have asked so many times. We do have enough room for a pollinator so maybe that is what we will do. I looked at the SpiceZee and it is not the tree we saw with purple leaves. It must have been some kind of plum rather than a pluot that we thought it was. The flavor was outstanding! What would you recommend, flavor wise, for a pollinator for the Pluot? On the DW site it says we can use:
Pollenized by Flavor Supreme Pluot® or Dapple Dandy Pluot®, Santa Rosa plum or Late Santa Rosa plum. And do any of these trees have purple leaves? – Thanks agin… Steven
Hi Greg,
I am not sure if you remember I had asked about a Pluot tree that had purple leaves? I found what I was looking for and it is not a Pluot. It is a Spice Zee Nectaplum! Purple leaves and not a Pluot, but a cross between a nectarine and a plum. All this time my wife and I thought we had eaten a pluot from the tree around the block from us. I planted a Spice Zee in our yard a few weeks ago. This is a site with a photo of the fruit and leaves: https://steemit.com/gardening/@donkeypong/move-over-pluots-spice-zee-nectaplums-are-my-new-favorite-fruit
BTW it is self pollenating 🙂
I have another question as to which Hygrometer you like for testing the moisture in your garden? I was looking at… https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DM4LS1D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Is this a decent one?
You told me about the Spice Zee above. Now I feel really silly…
Thanks again for your help. I am really excited to see this tree leaf out and bloom and can’t wait to taste the fruit!
Hi Steven,
Ha! Well, glad it’s all settled anyway. I hope you enjoy your SpiceZee nectaplums. I really like mine although I have to acknowledge that I might favor some pluot varieties a bit more. I wouldn’t want to be without any of them though.
Regarding soil moisture meters, I’ve never used that particular one that you linked, but I have used others and my experience is that those have not been very reliable. What I mean is that the reading will sometimes say something different than I can feel with my hands when I grab a clump of soil. So I’ve stopped trying to use them. That’s just my experience though; it might be that other soil moisture meters work much better or work better in different soil types although others have told me they’ve experienced unreliability in the readings of their soil moisture meters too.
Hi Greg – yes me too and at some point we do want to get a Flavor Grenade as well 😉 Thanks for your response to the water meters. I will do the hand test and the meter. My soil here in Hancock Park in the middle of LA is very clay. I will check it out for a week or two and see how the reading are.
Best – Steven
Hi,
This is a great thread about pluots.
Anybody from North Carolina piedmont area who has grown pluots? I have been tempting to try the multi grafted pluots from Dave Wilson but haven’t found any reliable information on how they donon the Raleigh, NC area. Plums do well here so I might take a chance. Reading the posts above, it seems like it is worth trying pluots in Raleigh.
Hi Babi,
I know nothing about gardening in the Raleigh area, but if plums do well I think pluots will also. I would give them a try.
Greg, I just got a bunch of avocado scion wood for grafting, when is the best time of year to graft onto avocado trees? I assume it’s in a couple of months, late winter/early spring. If so, what is the best way to store the scions?
Thanks
Hi Eric,
Lucky you! That’s exciting. My favorite time to graft avocados is March. Success can be had almost every month of the year, but March is always most successful for me.
The keys are keeping the scions moist and cool. I keep mine wrapped in moist (not soaking wet) paper towels or newspaper, then inside a plastic bag that is just slightly open. I put the plastic bag of scions in the crisper of my fridge. I’ve had them stay viable in there for a couple months.
Tell me how the grafting turns out.
Well I tried 13 different grafts about 1-2 months ago and to my amazement at least 4 are just now pushing through. Success! (knock on wood) Now my question is should I shade the new graft as it pushes out through the parafin? I’m worried they may get fried or dry out. They are in full sun and its starting to heat up here a bit in Mission Viejo. I’m afraid of losing the hard work I did…honestly I thought I wouldn’t get any of the grafts to take since I’ve never grafted so I’m really excited, plus they are some different varieties (Nishikawa and Nimlioh) which I really wanted in my yard…
Thanks again for the great site you’ve created…
That’s so cool, Eric! It can be tricky to know when and how much to shade new grafts like that. I’m going through these thoughts with some of my grafts too. At the age of your grafts (1-2 months old), I don’t think they should need shade unless the temperatures reach into the upper 70s. At that point, I’d give them a little shade.
I put a paper bag with holes in it over one of my grafts in a lot of sun the other day when it got to 79 degrees. You can also use a wrap of foil, or anything else that will shade. I also paint (diluted white latex) over the parafilm on some of my grafts that are in a lot of sun. I do this right after grafting.
It does look like this next week will get into the 80s so it can’t hurt to shade your grafts on those days. It can only help.
Where can I get a
Dapple Dandy Pluot Scionwood
Hi Dave,
As far as I know, the patent on the Dapply Dandy pluot is expired so you can propagate it at will. Where are you located? You are too late for most scion exchanges at chapters of the California Rare Fruit Growers unless you are up north. The San Luis Obispo chapter’s exchange is on February 22: http://crfg-central.org/scionExchange.html
Greg..I saw grafting videos on youtube where the grafted branch is covered with a misted clear plastic bag and wrapped with foil paper immediately after the graft is performed. Do you do this for your grafted pollenizer branch?
Hi James,
I don’t do exactly that with any of my grafts, but that is one way to achieve the goal of preventing the scion from heating up and drying out. The purpose of the plastic bag is to maintain humidity around the scion because without the ability to pull water from a stock it can rapidly dessicate; I wrap the scion in parafilm to achieve this same goal.
The purpose of the foil is to keep the sun from heating up the scion, which will kill it since it can’t yet pull water from the stock to cool itself. I use foil (or something similar like a white paper wrap) if I graft in the late spring or summer, but that’s not necessary in the cooler times of year like right now. And I do most of my grafting in the winter and early spring because it’s so much easier when you’re grafting outdoors like I do (no shadehouse or greenhouse): winter for deciduous trees; late winter or very early spring for avocados.
Hi,
I have a pineapple guava that isn’t producing. I heard it needs another in order to produce. Is that true or is there a way to graft on it?
Hi Mar,
Pineapple guavas do not require cross pollination as an absolute rule, I can say that for sure. I have a single pineapple guava tree and it produces fine on its own. I have eaten from many other lone pineapple guava trees over the years too.
However, I have read that some pineapple guava trees require cross pollination and others will produce more with cross pollination. I don’t know any of this firsthand though.
How old is your tree? Did you buy a grafted, named variety or is it a seedling?
I’ve never grafted pineapple guava, but I’ve read that it is possible using the same basic methods as with other trees.
Hi,
It’s 7 yrs old . It is flowering and the new leaves are being chewed on. I don’t see a graft on the trunk. The first year was prolific. It’s on a drip and it was getting supplemental soaking 1x month.
Hi Mar,
Unless you used to have another pineapple guava nearby, then the fact that it produced that first year suggests that it doesn’t need a pollenizer.
A couple ideas that I can add: One is that we have gotten little fruit from ours in the last couple years because my kids like to eat the flowers so they pick and eat all the flowers within reach, even demanding that I put up a ladder so they can get access to more. (I have heard that some birds also like to eat the flowers, and maybe whatever is chewing the leaves will also chew the flowers?)
Another is that I’ve noticed a clear correlation between how much water my tree gets and how much it flowers and produces fruit. Less water, less fruit. You might bump up the water this spring and summer to see if that helps.
Thanks so much!
Greg: It’s June 2020, How about an update of any fruit set on that grafted avocado.
Thanks
Hi Dal,
Thanks for asking. I actually grafted two branches of Pinkerton on that Fuerte tree in April 2018. In the spring of 2019, each branch flowered and set fruit — three held on one branch and four held on the other. The branches were tiny, only about one foot long. I let the fruit mature and ate them this past spring, 2020.
But it seems that the energy expended by the tiny branches was too much. Neither flowered this spring, and one actually died back. I shouldn’t have allowed them to carry more than a single avocado.
Hi Greg. I appreciate all you have here on your site. About 2 months ago I planted a 5 gallon Hass tree from Home Depot and it so far seems to be doing great. I really want to do what I can to maximize it’s eventual yield so I’m thinking about grafting a pollinator since I don’t have enough room to plant a whole other tree. Should I be just focusing on this tree right now and making sure it establishes itself completely before considering grafting or is it okay to do it early? It’s doing great but I don’t know if any new “branches” are big enough to take a graft.
Hi Joseph,
Good questions. Can I ask where you live approximately? And do any of your neighbors have avocado trees?
The reason I ask is that in most areas, especially close to the beach, Hass trees produce very well on their own. I was just in Carpinteria last week and I observed innumerable Hass trees that were loaded with fruit without B-type avocado trees nearby.
If you do want to graft in a pollenizer, I’d suggest you wait until this winter at least. That way the pollenizer graft grows next year and will possibly flower in the spring of 2022 when your Hass tree has been in the ground for over a year and is ready to hold a little fruit.
The branches on the Hass are surely big enough to be grafted onto now, but there’s no need yet. And you don’t want the pollenizer variety to form too large a part of the canopy. You only want it to provide pollen for the Hass flowers. It doesn’t need to be very big to accomplish this; some people have estimated up to a quarter of the whole canopy at most is plenty.
Thank you for replying. I live in north inland Orange County. I think it’s zone 10A. There are a few avocado trees in my neighborhood. In fact 2 doors down (maybe 100-150 feet?) there’s a tree that’s got to be at least 30 feet tall. The homeowner says it’s a Fuerte and he confirmed it with a botany professor at Fullerton College. I don’t want to second guess the professor but from the ground the fruit sure looks darker and not as smooth as other Fuertes. Regardless, I wasn’t sure if the tree, type A or B, was close enough for bees to cross pollinate with my tree. Thus my interest in grafting.
Hi Joseph,
Regardless of whether that tree is an A or B type, at its proximity there is definitely potential for cross pollination. A tree that big can have around a million flowers, and they will be opening on slightly different schedules on different sides of the tree, and they will attract many bees. On a tree of that size it can sound like a hurricane of bees when bloom is at its peak. Maybe you’ve noticed this. Inevitably, some of those bees or the pollen they collect will make it two doors down to your Hass.
Your area — Yorba Linda, Brea, Fullerton, etc. — is a fine candidate for a Hass tree producing well on its own. Not to discourage you from grafting in the pollenizer, but just know that it’s not necessary for good production.
Do also remember that the pollenizer branch(es) will be taking up space in the tree that would otherwise be filled with more Hass branches. In other words, you’re reducing the size of your Hass tree to fit that pollenizer into it. So you might want to choose a pollenizer variety whose fruit you also like. In fact, if you like the avocados from your neighbor’s tree, you could use it. (Watch the bloom this spring to see if it’s an A or B.)
I’d trust your own judgement over the Fullerton botany professor’s as to whether that tree is a Fuerte. You’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t) by how many “plant experts” get avocado-related things wrong.
Thank you for replying to all of these questions! I have more but they are about different topics so I’ll try to post them on the correct pages.
I appreciate that, Joseph. As does everyone else reading. Thanks.
Hi Greg, I’ve been reading your really helpful website. I bought a house that came with two young avocado trees (a Haas and Jim Bacon) that are from 5 gallon containers. I really don’t have room for two mature trees in my yard and I’m thinking about getting rid of the Jim Bacon since the Haas seems to be flourishing and growing so fast (and I like Haas avocados). Do you think I should graft a branch of the Jim Bacon onto the Haas? I live in Oakland, California. I know there are avocado trees in the area but don’t know what kind…it would be my first time grafting as well. I don’t want to risk messing up the Haas! And can I graft onto a horizontal branch?
Hi Jen,
Might as well give it a try. Here in April is still a good time to graft avocados as long as you can find a branch on the Jim that has buds that haven’t started growing.
You won’t mess up the Hass. Even if the graft fails, you’ll only have cut back one little branch.
Yes, you can graft onto a horizontal branch.
Shoot. I knew about the A/B thing but didn’t think about flowering times. I only planted a hass and a fuerte this past summer. I did just buy a little grafting set though, so I’ll trot off to research what I could graft onto each one that would flower at the right time, once I practice grafting.
Hi Jessica,
You should get enough overlap with your Hass and Fuerte to have good cross-pollination. They won’t have exactly the same bloom season, but no two varieties ever do year in and year out.
Hi Greg, thanks for your article! I too have the Minnie Royal and Royal Lee cherry trees, but my problem is that they do not flower at the same time, even after grafting multiple branches onto each other. Do you have any advice on that? I really want them to pollinate each other, but every year for the past 8 years or so, they have bloomed about 3 weeks apart. Thanks for any words of wisdom!
That is annoying, Emi. I’ve heard of others in this situation although I know some of these pairs of trees that have enough overlap to cross pollinate well. I can’t tell what makes the trees act differently in different places.
For your situation, I would try to get my hands on Royal Crimson and plant it or graft it onto one of your trees. R.C. on its own isn’t very fruitful, but it seems to pollenize Minnie Royal well. At my place, R.C. blooms first and Minnie Royal second, but there is plenty of overlap for cross pollination. My Minnie Royal fruits well with this R.C. tree in bloom nearby (and there are no other cherries in bloom nearby).
Thanks Greg. I have read that RC is a good overlap for bloom time, so I may need to do it. My yard is pretty full though! 🙂