Grafting Nagami Kumquat to small Tangelo seedlings

[jibro]

I germinated some seeds from a big mandarine fruit from grocery store, most likely some Tangelo variety. Last year I tried to use these small 1 year old Tangelo seedlings as a rootstock for Kumquat Nagami, after one year from grafting these small grafted plants start flowering.

The graft union looks good and I may have even one graft chimera because there is one branch originated very close to graft union with different leaves than kumquat, it may be pure Tangelo, but I am hoping that it may have some kumquat cells too. It will be nice to have Tangelo size fruit with tasty Kumquat rind but with my luck I will get Kumquat size fruit with Tangelo rind or this still may be pure Tangelo from rootstock...

[sc4001992]

I liked your second prediction (ha ha). I should look closer at my mandarin grafts on my trees. I have one satsuma grafted branch that seems to consistently give very sweet (with just a little tartness) flavor and it has slight bumpy skin. This mandarin doesn't look like any of my other varieties from UCR CPP budwood that I have purchased for my grafts so it might be chimera. You photo shows a very good view of the graft union branch, thanks for posting it.

It would be very nice if you end up getting a chimera branch with fruits that are larger than kumquat with tasty kumquat rind. I like to eat both the nagami and meiwa.

[jibro]

If your satsuma branch is not growing directly from the border of graft union it still may be a bud mutation or plant sport mutation, there are many citrus varieties with this origins, I was not sure about difference between bud and plant or limb sport, there is some explanation:

The term plant sport is the variation of the whole plant, and a bud sport is the variation of only a single branch.

Plant Sport Mutations – What Does It Mean When A Plant “Throws A Sport” www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/plant-sport-mutations.htm

Some years ago I found 3 variegated leaves on my C. Hystrix Kaffir Lime, but this mutation was not stable and the rest of the branch had only green leaves, so it was not possible to save this mutation, I tried to cut rest of the green branch to stimulate growing of buds close to variegated leaves but there was no new variegated leaves..

 

[sc4001992]

That's a nice looking variegation on the Kaffir lime, to bad it did not make it. I also had a nice looking lemon that I grafted and one of the new growth came out variegated but eventually it reverted back to green leaves. Here's my grafted lemon branch.

[poncirusguy]

I was not aware that a shoot growing from the boundary of a graft could be a half and half from each subspecies

[jibro]

It happened in the past, the Prague is most likely a graft chimera Trifoliate + Satsuma, there are another two varieties from former Soviet Union that supposed to be a graft chimera. Slava Micurina = Orange + Trifoliate and Dioscuria = Lemon + Trifoliate, but these two does not show any Trifoliate influence. There is also old varietty Bizzaria that have fruits - half lemon, half Sour Orange.

elizapples.com/2019/09/08/behold-the-graft-chimera/

[poncirusguy]

I have had a lot of new shoots coming out of the rift between the scion and rootstocks.  So far, no chimeras.

[Sylvain]

jibro, it is very hard to conclude anything because we don't have pictures of the root-stock leaves.

[jibro]

I agree it is soon for the conclusion. Unfortunately I don't have any of these Tangelo seedlings for comparison anymore, but I will keep this branch grow and time will tell if this is a chimera or just Tangelo.