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Citrus Cocktail Trees

16 years ago

There is an online company called GrowQuest that sells dwarf citrus trees with multiple varieties (2, 3 and 5) of citrus available on one tree. The trees are pricey but might be interesting and fun to try to grow. Do any of you have any knowledge on citrus cocktail trees and/or GrowQuest that you could share with readers of this forum? Just curious about these unique trees...

Jerry

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Comments (6)

mrtexas
16 years ago
You get a very lopsided tree as the varieties all have different vigor, different even within the same variety. I found Miho satsuma much more vigorous than Frost Owari satsuma. I had a sunquat tree grafted with changshou kumquat on one side and fairchild mandarin on the other. The kumquat far outgrew the mandarin. I still have multigraft trees as I don't want to plant more citrus trees having 25 in the ground already.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas
birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Jerry, do NOT order from Growquest..Please don't do it. They are a rip off nursery, he owes several thousands of dollars to customers..
Go to www.gardenwatchdog.com Click on 'G' then scroll down to Growquest..they are being sued by everyone..Government agencies are even involved since he took ppl's money, (one guy over 2000.00) and ppl never were shipped plants or reimbursed.
The owner, Chris, has even changed the name of his company which Gardenwatchdog.com keeps track and has the other names listed.
Chris has lied to everyone, comes up w/stories about his home life, which is the reason he was giving ppl when they didn't receive plants, then said his wife was ill, even though they divorced, he's now remarried..LOL.
So, please Jerry, do a thorough check before ordering from GrowQuest.

Someone here on Citrus had a fruit cocktail tree..How I'd love one..I think she bought it locally.
I once ordered a FC tree from a nursery, www.directgardening.com (Bloomington, IL) what they sent were 5, 4" seedlings..LOL..what a rip off..the price was over 20.00..and citrus died within a wk. Plus they weren't grafted..what a farce! The seedlings looked NOTHING like the picture which displayed a fully grown tree w/fruit..yeah right. This is another nursery to check on Gardenwatchdog.com They're also contracted w/other nurseries like Owens, etc..They list each name on GWD.
So be careful where you buy..it's best checking out GWD before purchasing online. Toni
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bfreeman, I was going to say that. Currently on my 30-in-1 citrus tree I have these general citrus categories: 1) Pink and regular lemons 2) Orange x Lemon hybrid (so they say, but you can guess this popular "lemon" fruit) 3) Pummelos 4) Grapefruits 5) Pummelo x Grapefruit hybrids 6) Navels 7) Valencias 8) Acidless oranges (some are green skinned even when ripe) 9) Pigmented oranges (ie, Moro Blood, Sanuginelli) Mandarins (counting all "tangerines" in this category) Mandarin x Pummelo hybrids (Tangelos and Tangors) Limes I would have easily grafted others like Calamondins, Sour Oranges, Limequats, Mandarinquats, Sunquat, Yuzu (considered outside the citrus genus in some literature), Ugli fruit (considered to look the same as the Yuzu and mistakenly grouped the same by some people), Kumquats, Sudachi but it wouldn't make my tree well balanced nor look good. These smallish fruits will be out of place and they have more of a columnar habit of growth. Not counting the various rootstock type. Still there are other various other hybrids between pummelos and oranges, kumquats, lemons, mandarins and limes. And the resulting hybrids can be grafted easily together. some hybrids are complex when they are back crossed, but usually are grouped according to the dominant taste or look. Anyway, that's 12 fruit categories right now, and 11 if you count Meyer in the pure lemon group. And if you go with how US market will group this, probably it would be like this: Valencias, Navels, Mandarins, Tangerines, Tangelos, Pummelos, Grapefruits, Blood, Lemons, Limes, Exotics. So I would still have 11 types. Anyway, categories are tentative and subjctive, they are always debatable depending upon whom you talk to. I myself may have miscategorized some of my citruses as the literature themselves are conflicting. Not surprisingly, California marketing is very good at confusing the markets by introducing the term tangerines when technically it would have only been mandarins. And the same mis-information is spread by the same US growers calling all non-astringent persimmons as Fuyu and the astringent ones as Hachiyas!!!
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Key Limes would be one of the quickest to bear fruits from seeds. There are others trifoliate types which can also bear much fruits even earlier than key limes but they are used as rootstocks or ornamentals but not for palatable fruit use. Fortunella hybrids that include hybrids of kumquats such as Calamondins, limequats, lemonquats, mandarinquats, sunquats would often come true to type from seeds and they also bear fruit early. Perhaps the longest to bear fruit from seeds are the pummelos and their hybrids like the grapefruits. The oranges come intermediate when it comes to bearing fruits from seeds. Grafted or not, but very often, the first few fruits from your citrus tree would be lousy tasting and of poor quality. It usually improves with tree age, with the quality starting to peak and stabilize after about three to four seasons from first fruiting. So don't chop off your tree when the first fruits do not compare with the ones you buy from the stores. The vigorous sour orange most probably came from rootstocks used way back in 1872. Here's short history: Before 1880's, most of California Citrus groves were composed of seedling trees. Most popular are lemons and oranges planted in the missions and haciendas of Southern California. Around 1872, the almost seedless Washington navels became so popular that there were not enough seeds to plant more navel trees, and so rootstocks became a necessity. First rootstock used was sweet orange (C. sinensis) and used until the 1940's. The next more popular rootstock starting around 1890's was the sour orange (C. aurantium) which tolerated phyhtopthora gummoosis and produced high-quality fruit. Then the rough lemon (C. jambhiri) was introduced around 1900's as rootstock for lemons and grapefruits where it achieved high yields even in sandy desert areas, but alas, due to poor fruit quality and susceptibility to cold limited its use. Then Cleopatra mandarin (C. reticulata) was used when trying to find tristeza-tolerant rootstocks. Its value was discovered in saline soils. It produced excellent quality grapefruits, but alas, it is susceptible to foot rot and also lost its popularity. All the above rootstocks were popularly used in commercial citrus industry of California until the 1940's. Around the 1940's a big event happened in California. Tristeza virus was discovered to be causing devastation of most citrus groves on sour orange rootstocks. This has lead to various works on rootstock development and changed the rootstock usage in California todate. Thus it ended the use of sour oranges and the hybrids of Sweet x Trifoliate oranges (Troyer and Carrizo) were introduced. Lately, there is a resurgence Citrus Tristeza Virus in Southern California which could mean that citruses on sour orange rootstocks and the sour oranges themselves would face another bout of devastation. As to the ultimate multi-grafted citrus, I currently have a 61-n-1 citrus tree. Tomorrow, I'm grafting 4 more cultivars unto it. Here's the tree when it was still 50-n-1: Fruits from 50-n-1 citrus tree And here's the best technique to add a cultivar when your tree is already mature. Budding is good for younger trees, but bark grafting have better success rates when multi-grafting to a mature tree. Citrus Bark Grafting Demo Here is a link that might be useful: Citrus Rootstock History
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jerry_d
Original Author
16 years ago
Toni, thanks for the scoop on Growquest. I have been suspicious because I contacted Growquest a couple of times but never had any response. Plus I did see a letter on the Growquest web site to customers from the owner explaining that service has been poor due to the fact that the main Growquest office is in the process of being moved to Ventura County, CA.

Anyway, based on input from Mr. Texas above [thanks, Mr. Texas for your input], I will not order a multigrafted tree as I am not interested in having a lopsided plant in my small townhome... Will stick with my Meyer Lemon and Bearss Lime for now...

Jerry
birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Jerry, the owner, Chris, made poor excuses..If you read feedback on GWD, you'll see what I mean..
Last year, someone started a GrowQuest thread here on Citrus..I don't know if it's still available.
Even if a Fruitcocktail grew lopsided, I'd like one..LOL..I guess it could be pruned if need be. Of course, unlike pics that are posted on citrus sites where each FC tree has abundant, individual fruits of each type are 'probably' touched up, however that's done..Arficial fruit? LOL

You are not the first person who stated they tried contacting someone at GQ and finding it was out of the question..same applies to emails..I'm so happy you started this thread, wouldn't want you going through the agony others are, especially if you paid a small fortune. I feel terrible for those ppl on GWD..many are so upset they've given up hope of ever getting their plant or reimbursed..That's awful.
Someone has to sell this tree..then again, I'm guessing you're no longer interested..LOL..
Good luck w/the two you have..Are thy outdoors? Toni
jerry_d
Original Author
16 years ago
Toni, as you advised, I went on GWD and was shocked by the negative reviews of Growquest. Either the company is very unethical in its business practices or has incompetent employees... either way it is best to avoid such companies. Quite honestly, I don't understand how Growquest can still be in business... Thanks for alerting me to this rip-off nursery.

Both my Meyer Lemon and Bearss Lime are outside. The Meyer Lemon is loaded with buds and just about ready to start blooming. Hopefully, after finishing blooming, it will get some new leaves... The Bearss Lime is quite nice... lush with leaves and compact too...

Jerry
birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Hi Jerry..and you missed the best parts..I think GWD removed them...
There were hundreds of complaints with this nursery. I noticed Chris closed his other two nurseries, or once again changed their names..

Hopefully, after your Meyer's stop blooming they'll get fruit..Good luck, Jerry..Toni

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