Gardening With Tony
Grafting Fact And Fiction
By Tony Tomeo
Nov 21, 2012 - 8:29:25 AM


Yet, I and others of my generation have always heard that avocado trees need to be grafted to produce fruit. (Grafting is the union of two or more compatible, but different plants. The 'scion' is the upper portion that forms a trunk, branches and foliage. The 'rootstock' is the lower portion that provides roots). Well, this is obviously not true, but does make us wonder about the advantages of grafted trees.

The myth of seed grown trees being unproductive probably originates from the tendency for seed grown avocado trees to be unproductive for the first few years during the juvenile stage. Scions of grafted trees are taken from adult growth that is ready to bloom and fruit immediately; although even grafted trees need a few years to grow large enough to produce more than just a few avocados.

Yaupon, a few colorful winter berries.


The primary advantage of grafting fruit trees though, is keeping the many different cultivars (cultivated varieties) 'true to type,' since many seed grown plants exhibit at least some degree of genetic variation from their parents. For example, avocados from seed grown (ungrafted) trees tend to be much larger, but often less flavorful than the fruit that the original seed came from. No one really knows what the fruit will be like until it actually develops. Some seed grown peaches are indistinguishable from their parents, but most are very different. However, most pecans and chestnuts are actually produced from ungrafted seed grown trees.


Berries of the Week: Yaupon.


Hedged yaupon can eventually get up to the eaves of a single story. Unshorn plants can reach the eaves of a second story, and might display showy red berries about an eighth of an inch wide. The small and often randomly serrate leaves are only about half to an inch long, and maybe half an inch wide.

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