I have a bush style tree with 7 broomstick sized trunks. I left 2 as is and grafted the other 5 about 3 months ago. All grafts are now growing but at a rate that seems slower than mother tree shoots. I removed all the lower growth on the 5 grafted trunks in hopes that would help the graft grow more robustly. The 2 ungrafted trunks each have 20 or more full sized leaves to make food for the roots.

What about all the smallish new and 1 year old suckers that are growing from the main crown? Should I let these grow or do they "steal" from the nutrients that the grafts would get? I wouldn't mind having them for more grafts next year but if they will considerably slow my current grafts I would choose to remove them.

The ungrafted branches need to be kept in balance with the grafted branches,they'll usually be more vigorous
and could dominate the tree.The cytokinin pathway to the grafts is not as strong as the already established
pathway to the existing branches,pinch them or cut them back.

Same with the root shoots,I'd remove them

Thanks Paul, makes sense to me. I went out and either tip pruned or removed all the suckers.

Congratulations on getting the grafts to take Conrad,that is by no means a given.