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I always found grafting fascinating, and I am now picking this again. I was wondering about which trees I can do grafting/combine.

Is there a table that I can refer to?

Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL
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nsn
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  • Any tree you want can be grafted. The main purpose is to put a species that doesn't do so well in lower zones on top of roots that survive the winter. The other reason is to put trees that are normally found to be pronate or crawling on the ground up on a taller trunk to become a 'weeping' something or other. Or to be able to graft different species on one tree or trunk, such as different apples on one espalier. What is it that you are imagining to create? – stormy Apr 20 '17 at 21:25
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    @stormy - yeah, but I think the OP is asking more along the lines of whether completely different species, as opposed to different strains, can be grafted. Oak tree onto cactus (to exaggerate), as opposed to different types of apples. I know that, since peaches and almonds are closely related, grafting between those to form combination trees is pretty common. – PoloHoleSet Apr 20 '17 at 21:29
  • @stormy you've missed probably the most common commercial reasons: to be able to produce a particular cultivar quickly or to control vigour/improve fruitfulness (i.e. in every commercial orchard on the planet!). Improve cold hardiness is not such a common reason, but certainly useful for some, *Citrus* spring to mind. Family trees are a whole different ball game and not usually that successful in the long term. – George of all trades Apr 20 '17 at 21:31
  • Compatibility tends to be linked by how closely related the rootstock and scion are. Different cultivars onto the same species is usually fine. Different species within a genus often works. There are a few odd balls - *Syringa* have been grafted onto *Ligustrum* commercially which are only related at family level and are very different. Not sure further than family level has ever worked. – George of all trades Apr 20 '17 at 21:36
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    @Georgeofalltrades - sounds like you have an answer dying to come out. – PoloHoleSet Apr 20 '17 at 21:38
  • Alas, I don't know if anyone has ever produced a table of known compatibilities. – George of all trades Apr 20 '17 at 21:39
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    @stormy as PoloHole refered, I am more intersted in knowing the odd combination (what I can combine) than why it is done. I know apple tree in apple tree is trivial. Lemon and orange also trivial, but becoming more intersting... – nsn Apr 20 '17 at 21:50
  • In other words you are pushing the envelope. If I were you I'd start smaller, take specialized classes, experiment. It takes time to truly learn a thing. How much background in gardening do you have? What have you tried? I have an aversion to reinventing the wheel but I make sure I know how a wheel is made...that kind of thing. Your background, your experience and what combination you are considering? – stormy Apr 21 '17 at 00:38
  • @Georgeofalltrades Why do you think a plant would be more vigorous and fruitful when grafted to a rootstock? They use a tough, hardy rootstock that is able to withstand environmental pressures these more tender varieties can not. Is there a benefit to grafting other than that? Why would they eliminate the rootstock of a plant it was born with to stick it on a rootstock where the vegetative part is not wanted? How can grafting enhance more fruit or more vigor than the plant would have with its own rootstock? How is this more commercially viable. Guess I am missing something... – stormy Apr 21 '17 at 16:44
  • Citrus is an option. – takintoolong Apr 22 '17 at 03:02
  • @stormy commercial orchards use dwarfing rootstocks, to reduce the vigour of the tree. There are many reasons - the first reason is smaller trees allow for increased mechanisation within the orchard (an apple on M27 will grow to 1.5m - 2m, whereas an M25 will grow over 5m), or even just easier handpicking without ladders. The second is that a dwarfing rootstock works by starving the top part of the tree, and triggers earlier flowering (and thus fruiting) because the tree knows it's not got so long to live. – George of all trades Apr 22 '17 at 13:32
  • A commercial apple will be producing a harvest in the 3rd year from grafting onto M9 and may well be grubbed out after its 8th harvest. A seedling apple might have only been fruiting for two years after this time! So your orchard is productive earlier. The other advantage is, that you can keep producing rootstocks for when you need them, but you can choose the variety with only a 3 year lead time to fruiting, allowing you to react more quickly to changes in the market. – George of all trades Apr 22 '17 at 13:34
  • The following https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/articles/fruit-tree-rootstock-tree-sizes goes into details of commercial rootstocks which might be of interest here - of note is that many pear (*Pyrus communis*) rootstocks are in fact quinces (*Cydonia oblonga*). – George of all trades Apr 22 '17 at 13:50
  • @Georgeofalltrades You must be an orchardist! Excellent answer for me...I certainly have learned more about orchards/grafting from your few sentences, George. Cydonia must be from the same 'branch' as Pyrus? In the family sense? Interesting!! Thank you! – stormy Apr 22 '17 at 16:42
  • One quick question; tried to find how close cydonia was to pyrus and came across pseudocydonia and asian pears. Is that the root stock they use? That is in the rose family...? – stormy Apr 22 '17 at 16:44
  • Nope, it is *Cydonia* they graft onto, although the ones in my orchard are mostly on seedling *Pyrus communis* because I'm after a traditional orchard effect. One thing that springs to mind is the degree of compatibility effects the vigour of the plant. Quince is compatible enough but not quite as compatible as seedling pear rootstock and so restricts vigour. I suspect this holds true with any combination. – George of all trades Apr 24 '17 at 07:23
  • As for how related they are, they are all in Family: Rosaceae; Subfamily: Amygdoloideae; Tribe: Maleae; Subtribe: Malinae. Along with many others, including: *Chaenomeles* which I think have occasionally been used and *Malus* which is not usually recommended for pears. The wiki entry for *Malinae* [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinae) throws up some surprising relations *Photinia* for example, which suggest that there is considerable (genetic) distance between members of the subtribe. – George of all trades Apr 24 '17 at 07:31

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So far as I'm aware, there is no complete table displaying which plants can be grafted onto which plants. It's a bit of a broad question for such a specialist area, but broadly, most plants need to be grafted onto something within their own Species, or, less common but possible, within their own Genus, and for a few, something in the same Family will work. It's probably fair to say that not all possible combinations of plants will have been tried - breeders and growers generally use grafting to produce a plant for market for a specific purpose, such as dwarfing, increased fruiting, increased vigour at a smaller size, and so on, and this ultimate aim would, to some degree, have restricted the plant choices they made.

This link gives general advice on grafting and some guidance on the subject of your question under 'How to Graft' https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=443

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