Grafting is a technique used in agriculture to speed up the growth of crops and plants. In the case of the orange tree, using a graft is an excellent way to grow different types of oranges from the same root. In addition, the advantage offered by this technique is that grafts can be made on all citrus trees. Grafting the orange tree can be somewhat complicated if you do not know the proper techniques for it.
Do you want to know how and when you should do an orange tree graft? In this post, we explain everything to you.
Orange tree grafting season
The first thing you have to do is wait for the right season for the graft to have the maximum success rate in its development and growth. This season is in spring, when the temperatures begin to be higher and also the precipitations. The best time to cut and insert the grafts is when the tree is at the cusp of the entrance to the active growing season.
Normally, the most successful grafts are usually done between the months of April to September.
T-shaped graft
To begin grafting, you will need to cut a good number of branches that are about 10 to 12 inches long from a healthy tree . You have to make sure that the branches that you cut have grown from the previous year, since the grafts of the current year are not usually successful.
Next you choose the orange tree where you want to place the graft and you have to place it about 25cm away from the ground. The closer it is to the ground, the more water and nutrients it can receive, and therefore the higher the success rate.
Now make a cut of approximately 3.75 cm in the shape of a “T” in the site you have chosen for the graft. Use a sharp knife and do not forget that the cut must be made below the bark, inside the orange tree you have chosen.
Take the branch to make the graft of the orange tree and choose the shoot that is larger. Then make a small cut in the bark where it will be grafted. To do this, lift the bark from the “T” cut and insert the branch into that space. The branch must be fully supported by the bark of the tree.
Once the branch is introduced, cover it with tape below and above the graft to prevent it from moving and losing its ability to integrate into the orange tree.
Now you just have to let nature take its course and wait for it to start growing from there.
Graft of the orange tree by gusset
The gusset is a technique that can be used to graft citrus at certain times of the year. In particular, we can use this technique when the rhizome is actively growing. If we need to do the grafting and the rootstock is not actively growing, we can use the splinter grafting technique. Those that are trotted like the gusset and lateral veneer are quite useful techniques to be able to preserve the buds. As long as others are available, the stem, cleft, cortex graft and Z graft techniques can be used.
Citrus cuttings usually have great potential to spread various diseases that can kill trees. The problem comes when there are diseases whose problem is fatal but there are no easy-to-recognize symptoms. This is when it is important to use citrus buds for grafting.
To maximize the probability that the graft of the orange tree can live once carried out, some actions can be taken to reduce the spread of possible diseases that are transmitted between trees. The most important thing is to sterilize the tools that are going to be used to graft after each graft point.
We start by cutting an inverted T into the rootstock. The cut is usually made a little lower than the original graft. You don’t need to put a lot of pressure on these cuts as the knife will go through the bark easily and then stop at the wood. It is not necessary to cut the wood to make the graft of the orange tree. Then we lift the bark from the knife to be able to graft and peel the bark where the vertical cut has been made . The graft should be inserted under the flaps in the cortex. If the peeling of the bark had been difficult, the splinter grafting technique would have been used.
Splinter graft
Although the T-graft is one of the most common methods for citrus, there are some people who find more advantages in using the bud bud grafting. With the first cut it is important that the bark of the rhizome is slippery at all times and can be peeled back easily. When we use the splinter graft the texture or the condition of the bark is not so important. The splinter bud can be used with a rhizome with a smaller diameter with which it would be impossible to perform the T-grafting technique.
Another point in favor of this technique is that paraffin is all that is needed to wrap the graft . If we did the other technique, a different material would be needed to wrap the graft and apply enough force to prevent the bark from lifting.
Once we have grafted the orange tree, a second bud can be grafted as a safety measure to guarantee success. Although many grafting professionals have managed to perfect their technique and achieve a good success rate when grafting a single bud, it can fail and if the orange tree is commercial it can cause problems. Grafting a second bud can increase the likelihood of success. It is highly recommended for all those people who have not yet mastered the technique well. This technique will be successful if only one of the two buds can survive and grow.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the grafting of the orange tree and the different types that exist.
