There are orchards in Tennessee, but no large ones near where I live. I have seen small plantings (10-15) trees around some of the local farms, but would be surprised to find that those growers were "experts". In any event, I don't know any experienced individual fruit growers locally. It seems to me that feedback from multiple sources, such as here on Gardenweb, is one of the best ways to get info. Another good thing is the "peer review" that goes on here. I have talked to the local extension people, but have found that the amount of helpful information from them is definitely limited. I think the combined years of experience here are probably highly useful compared to any single source with which I am familiar. As for planting the graft union right at ground level, from what I read about burying the graft unions to reduce/eliminate burr knots, I'm not sure that planting the graft unions at or just above ground level would work. I think the idea was to plant the trees so that the scion would form its own root system and eventually bypass the 111 rootstock. Has anyone else had good or bad experiences with 111 concerning burr knots? Anyone have any information about how much difference the EMLA (virus free) rootstock makes? How about the tomato ringspot virus issues?

Yes, it is definitely true. The rootstock variety influences the "strength" of the scion fruit flavor, especially the brix content (sugar concentration) and the degree of tartness (acid concentration). It does NOT affect flavor qualitatively -- by that I mean that if it's a mandarin, it will always taste like a mandarin, NOT picking up any flavor of grapefruit, lemon, or whatever roots you put it on. It is also true that grapefruit, used as a stock, tends to give its scion fruits a bland, watered-down flavor. Here's a list of some of the common rootstocks: Very best quality fruit in the scion: sour orange Poncirus trifoliata Excellent quality fruit in the scion: Swingle and some of the other citrumelos Cleopatra, Sun Chu Sha, and other mandarins (good flavor, but may cause some varieties to produce small fruit, which matures later in the season) Decent-good quality: Carrizo, Troyer, and other citranges Poor quality: rough lemon rangpur lime Very poor quality: C. macrophylla Abominable quality: grapefruit

1) Is it the rootstock or the scion that determines whether the tree is a dwarf? Since I'll be growing these inside, I want them to produce fruit at A)It's the scion not the root stock 2) If it is the rootstock that determines whether or not the tree is a dwarf, which rootstocks do you recommend? I've read that Turpentine is often used, but I don't know if it will result in a dwarf tree if I graft a scion onto it. A)Any root stock is fine to graft your Carrie scion onto.(but then again I could be wrong about this,maybe some one will correct me) Turpentine is mostly use in Florida nursery because it grows wild there and is more accustom to their soil. California uses manila(poly) root stock instead. 3) It sounds like polyembryonic varieties are true to seed, whereas monoembryonic ones are not. Therefore, if I want to purchase seeds to grow a tree to use as a rootstock, I'll need to purchase seeds from a polyembryonic variety, right? A)Polyembryonic mango grows true to the parent fruit it came from not the scion type you plan to graft onto. But if you still insist on growing a poly seed the easiest ones to find are the ataulfo mangoes. They are the small yellow kidney shape ones, which are usually found at the ethnic or specialty store. They can be called several names based on which company is marketing them ie: honey, manila, or champagne. The real manila mangoes are not the same as ataulfo. 4) I think I'd like to try using Carrie for the scion. Does this change which rootstock I should choose for grafting to result in a dwarf tree? A)I don't think root stock matters, it's the scion that will determine what kind of mango tree you will get. The're are many more condo/dwarf type to choose from not just Carrie(ie: cogshall, ice cream, pickering,) just to name a few. Make sure you do some research about which kind you would like flavor wise since the're are so many. Pine island nursery have a good variety viewer that gives a good description of the different variety of mangoes including the dwarf, check out their site. 5) If I grow a Carrie and want to propagate it, can I plant a seed from the Carrie to get a rootstock to start with, and then graft a scion from the mature Carrie onto the rootstock to result in a dwarf Carrie? A)Yes, you sure can graft a scion from your mature Carrie onto your Carrie grown seedling and still get a dwarf future plant because you are creating another Carrie and not a seedling plant. But if you grow out that Carrie seed to full mature tree it will no longer be a Carrie, but a Carrie seedling even if it's also a dwarf. check out the link, it might help you more and hopefully some more season fruit nut will come by to give their advise also. Here is a link that might be useful: pine island nursery

Oh, definitely the rootstock, sorry I didn't make that clear. edit: So I grafted the two rootstocks. I think one was a M7, and the other an M26, and I grafted a Gravenstein, and a Honeycrisp. I have no idea what I'm doing, and really just experimenting. I used cleft grafts, and it seemed to go really well. Nice tight cambium layer contact. I think cleft grafts are the beginners graft of choice :-)....well, this beginner anyway. I potted one immediately, and I put the other in my garage in some wet newspaper and a little potting mix. I put the pot outside in the shade. Is the pot ok in the shade, or can I give it some sun?