Update on Sonoma citrus grafts

Back in April I posted about grafting various citrus onto the orange tree at my parents' place: https://hydrophiliapow.blogspot.com/2020/04/pandemic-stuck-in-sonoma-twiddling.html
A week ago I returned and pretty much rushed through greeting my dad in my eagerness to see the results. After cutting back some of the lush growth from the existing tree, I found satisfactory results... for a first time citrus grafting effort.



Four of the five varieties are still alive. Orlando seems the worst and I do not expect it to survive:. Alas!

Next is Satsuma (branch with rubber band), grown a bit over a foot and looking healthy. 

Then comes the blood orange graft, grown nearly four feet over the summer! See how nicely it is connecting to the old branch!

All the rest of the good grafts are Cara Cara navel oranges. Three of these are healthy and all have grown nearly four feet. 

We will want to be careful to prevent too many fruit too soon as this may break off the grafts at the slightly weaker junction. We also want to prevent the base tree from competing too much on those branches as most trees prefer to support themselves rather than transplanted varieties, so we will need to keep shoots pruned back. 

Over all, I'm satisfied and have hopes for blossoms in the spring and fruit a year after that. Just a year and a half to go!