venturabananas

The classic book on pruning "How to prune fruit trees" by R. Sanford Martin basically says you don't need to prune young citrus trees. Remove dead wood, crossing limbs, and suckers. If that leaves you with a shape you don't like, shape it as you wish. What happens in the lemon orchards around my house is that tall growth gets removed to keep fruit in reach and the centers get opened to let in light.

In short, prune it if you want to, but it probably isn't necessary.

__________________

Richard

Great answer. Citrus bark is sensitive to sunlight, and as a wonderful consequence they naturally form a "ball" shape. If you do want to control some wayward branch, follow the pruning mantra "thin, don't trim".

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

sunfish

CITRUS PROPAGATION AND ROOTSTOCKS

Richard

What a great article.

Although most citrus fruits contain polyembryonic seed, they also contain monoembryonic seeds in characteristic locations. If you want to grow citrus from seed and be true to type, check a seed or two from each area of seed formation. Generally, the polyembryonic seeds are fatter.

You might have trouble locating seeds in navel oranges.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

Want Them All

I have a bunch of citrus growing, what I really like also is when they bloom. I could stand around that area and just take in the fragrance.

__________________

Darkman

I'm still enjoying the fragrance from my trees as a few still are in bloom. My large (close to twenty feet tall and fifteen feet wide) spread it's heavenly aroma over fifty feet away.

__________________
Darkman in Pensacola

AS ALWAYS IMHO AND YOUR MILEAGE MAY DIFFER!!!!!!!!

Life - Some assembly required, As is no warranty, Batteries not included, Instructions shipped separately and are frequently wrong!

Kentucky Bourbon - It may not solve the problem but it helps to make it tolerable!

Statistics - Data that analyst twist to support the insane opinions of those that pay them.

Want Them All

__________________

venturabananas

Yes, that great scent really travels. We have a small orange orchard on our campus and you can smell the flowers hundreds of yards away if you are downwind. A nice way to take your mind off work for a few moments.

__________________

Richard

The scent of Citrus in bloom is one of my favorites. As a child my home in Redlands CA was in the middle of 200 square miles of citrus orchards. Nowadays the orchards have mostly been planted over with houses, there are about 15 square miles of Citrus remaining in the Mentone area.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

SoBe Musa

Hello,
What do people think are the best Mandarin varieties for growing in containers?
Pls, all advises, suggestions and photos are very welcome..Thanks.

__________________
[IMG][/IMG]
http://weather.weatherbug.com/FL/Miami-weather.html

Dalmatiansoap

I personaly dont know Emily and I hope that somebody will help you soon. What Im wondering is how to root citrus branches?? Maybe google allmighty knows more about that?

__________________
https://abnb.me/AXJty518xib

Richard

Same as you would choose for growing in the ground, but grafted on a non-aggressive (so-called dwarfing) rootstock.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

sunfish

Lime roots pretty good just like you did the passion vine

Dalmatiansoap

But what I read somewhere one can only root tips not the whole stems?

__________________
https://abnb.me/AXJty518xib

sunfish

Don't know about that.I just took a cutting and stuck it in soil and it rooted.Maybe you should get some seedlings going and then graft on to them.

Richard

Semi-hardwood cuttings from Citrus are easy to root. Trifoliate rootstock is often propagated by cutting.

Grafting onto 2-3 year-old seedlings works great too.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

bananimal

When pruning to open up the center of a tree it is good to leave growth that sprouts on the main scaffold branches for shading the bark. But trim those to 6 inches or the tree center will just fill up again.

I saw first hand the results of this practice when my rare fruit tree club had a tour of Premier Grove orchards in Ft Pierce this year. Three hundred acres of cancerized citrus were converted to low chill Florida peach production. Saw the packing house and one of the chilling rooms -- everything very professional.

Now I understand stuff like why the main trunk on young trees is pruned to 30" for some varieties and 15" for others. Growing the main scaffolds low to the ground controls tree height. Varieties like Tropic Beauty that tend to grow more upright need the shorter trim.

sunfish

barnetmill

Does any one here grow Bergamot orange.
I would like to try growing it from seed if someone here has the seeds and also if the seedlings grow true to the original type.

venturabananas

Bummer! I guess it was only a matter of time.

__________________