Grafted Citrus Trees and Kilayim

A backyard orchard raises the question of forbidden cross-species grafting — and why citrus gets a pass.

Q. We bought some citrus trees some years ago without paying proper attention to the fact that they are grafted (we live in Israel). The bark of the rootstock below the grafting point looks slightly different from the bark of the upper tree, but it also looks like some type of citrus tree. It is no longer possible to get clear information, whether the grafting was done in a halachically permitted way within one species or if there is a problem with kilyaim (the prohibited grafting of different species). Is it permitted to keep these trees which are possibly kilayim?

Shalom, After checking with a citrus specialist, it turns out that citrus fruit can only be grafted upon other citrus bases. According to the Chazon Ish, all citrus fruits are considered halachically one species regarding grafting, accordingly there are no problem regarding grafting with each other. Even though some poskim disagree with him, most fruit tree nurseries in Israel graft according to the halacha, otherwise the rabbinical supervisors won’t let them sell to any of the orchards which market to Tnuva (which has almost a monopoly on fruit), which would be very counterproductive for them. In short, although one should check out the “history” of a tree before buying it, in your situation, there’s no problem to plant and enjoy the fruit- and as a matter of fact, it’s even a mitzvah to plant, especially fruit trees, in the Land of Israel (Mitzvat Yishuv HaAretz)! With Love of Israel, Rav Ari Shvat