Why Grafted Fruit Tree Seedlings?

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Grafting is the process of bringing together the tree with the strongest roots, and marrying it to the one with the best quality fruit.A piece of the tree with known good “upper” characteristics (i.e. good fruit, leaves, flowers etc.) is physically joined to a selected seedling (with a strong healthy root-system). Grafted fruit have the following advantages;

Quality Fruit

With a tree seedling, you never know what you are going to get. A seedling may be like its parent, or may be a kickback to some earlier set of genes provided by a grandparent.

Grafted fruit trees that are well taken care of, always produce consistent quantities of high quality fruit with excellent flavour, texture, keeping quality, and other desirable characteristics. If you have limited space, do consider planting grafted fruit trees.

Highly Productive

Most farmersplant grafted trees for a reason. It is hard to make good profits if your trees are not bearing to their full potential. Grafted trees can produce more kilograms per hectare than those propagated from seeds and make more sense from a profitability standpoint.

Grafted fruit Starts Fruiting Earlier

A grafted fruit tree will start to bear fruit about 3-5 years earlier than a seedling. Most grafted trees fruit after 1-4 years. On the other hand, most seedlings bear after 3-10 years plus. For instance, avocado seedlings can take anywhere up to 12 years or longer to begin fruiting and some may never fruit at all. In comparison, grafted avocados bear after 2-4 years. Grafted Citrus often fruits in it’s first season after planting.

Disease Resistant

In addition to strong root systems, the rootstock can also confer immunity against various soil-borne diseases that would otherwise affect a seedling plant.

Adaptable to Different Soil Types

The rootstock can also be better adapted to varying soil conditions. This can be a major advantage for a grafted trees survival.

In most cases, grafted fruit trees are generally a better choice than seedlings. Seed propagated seedlings can sometimes be hardier in marginal climates, and can be useful for making selections from. However, on most occasions you are better off with a grafted plant for the quality of the fruit is guaranteed to be a winner. Grafted trees may cost over twice as much as a seedling to buy, but they are well worth the investment. You get what you pay for.

At oxfarmorganic we propagate high quality seedlings that are worth your investment.