Radovan- Congratulations on your t-buds. And, it's not too late for cleft, whip and tongue, and so forth now if your scions are still dormant. I don't know what Ontario's climate is like, but I'm a little south of you (Missoula, MT) and we're "twig" grafting right now. (Not that I do a lot of them, but it's time and will be for another week or two, no problem. And Karen, it might not be too late for you if you can find anybody who can get dormant scions to you right away. And, you have to start sometime, might as well practice this year and perform next, if it comes to that. Good luck all! :-)M ps- Flemish Beauty is a delicious pear, IMHO, but do watch closely for fireblight.

Congratulations Gene! Those grafts look nice, it appears that they have taken (99% sure). Do you have any bud above the graft? I would keep only one bud above the graft, no more. If you keep several buds above the graft, it will keep dormant. If you remove all the buds above the graft it probably will sprouts but it is a bit risky. Sometimes the sap "forgets" the graft and it retires until the next bud below the graft, if that occurs, the graft dries and dies. The best scenario for sprouting is one bud above the graft and no leafs, sprouts or figs below the graft, they steal sap to the graft. Once the graft sprouts, you can cut 1 inch above the upper zone of the chip bud. The trunk above the graft will dry in the next weeks or months. At this point, you definitively can cut at an angle just above the graft, somewhat like this (you can see the dried zone where the sap doesn't arrive): If you prefer, you also can put off this operations until the next spring. Good luck!

Well, much to my surprise, some of the grafts that I put on last year grew fruit spurs, and flowered this spring. Some others grew longer, with no spurs. Maybe those were what the buds were intended for all along, and they just now came out. Anyways, a few flowers on last year's grafts is interesting. This year's grafts have started to really take off. I think I did a much better job of it this year than last. I have a few more scions on the way, so I hope to get those on this weekend, and harvest a few apples in a few years. This winter, I'll try to bring this tree back down to size. BTW - it must've overproduced year before last, then been stunted last year. This year, it is totally covered in flowers. If those turn to apples, I'll have to do a lot of thinning. Fun stuff - thanks for the help everyone.

Bob, most citrus varieties from seed have a long 'juvenile period'. This means, for many years, the plant is incapable of blooming. The plants have to grow 'up'. Lemons, oranges and grapefruit often have to grow for 10 years or so before the growth finally achieves adequate maturity to form blooms. That usually means growing to a height of 8 to 15 feet in height. Then the topmost growth (furthest distance from the seed) will bloom. You can Google 'citrus node count' to find out more. You have to stop shearing the top of your tree, or it will never achieve that maturity up there. OR, 1) you can take a bud from one of the topmost branches (this is likely the closest to becoming mature growth) and graft it lower down onto the same tree, or to another rootstock (say another small lemon seedling). OR 2) You can take a cutting from the topmost portion of the plant and root it. It 'remembers' its maturity level and will continue to grow and mature until it finally reaches that magical 'node count' where it is capable of blooming and bearing -- hopefully at a much smaller size. Here's a way to keep the size down by continuously taking cuttings and grow them until the growth gets mature: Here's a diagram I did about node counts: