DON'T PRUNE YOUR CITRUS TREES like you do your Deciduous Fruit Trees! How to Prune Citrus
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- Опубліковано 15 лип 2024
- Citrus trees differ from your deciduous trees in many ways. As a subtropical tree, it doesn't go dormant, doesn't lose its leaves, it can have a months long fruit harvest season, etc. This impacts the way you prune citrus, compared to pruning your peach trees, apple trees, plum trees, etc. You DON'T prune citrus as an open center "vase shape" because the inner bark will easily burn without the foliage.
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00:00 - Intro
01:54 - Pruning for Balance
03:11 - Pruning off Pest Damage
04:09 - Why I Let My Citrus Grow Taller
06:02 - Pros of Citrus
06:39 - Pruning Example (Tangelo and Grapefuit Cocktail)
08:17 - Conclusion
Pruning citrus differs from pruning deciduous fruit trees in that you can easily prune citrus as a hedge. When you prune citrus trees, you want to let the "skirt" go down low on the tree. Citrus grows as more of a hedge or bush, so don't worry about training it as a tree with an open canopy. A dense canopy will protect the interior of the tree from sunburn. Fruiting on citrus happens primarily on the bottom 2/3 of the tree, so don't be too aggressive in pruning the lower half. - Навчання та стиль
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LmfAoo i joined & subscribed!!
I'm really enjoying watching some of your back video content, Cameron. 😊 This was an excellent video on pruning citrus! I agree with you - citrus are such wonderful, easy fruit trees to grow! I'm enjoying learning how to help them thrive, and my young Meyer Lemon - which is hardy down to 20F - gave me over 200 fabulous lemons this season! Made tons of lemon zest, lemon extract, and lemon juice (froze that!), and now enjoying all sorts of lemon baked goods for the holidays. My dad gave me a Buddha's Hand Citron tree for my birthday recently, so can't wait to see that fruiting next year! 😊
Citrus is one of those things thaty those in colder climates wish they could grow. We're spoiled!
I live in a very warm state (zone 8b) that is moderate for a few months (spring), crazy hot for a few months (most of summer, a bit of fall) and has random, wicked winters with occasional crazy freezes. I have to put shade cloth on my citrus and persimmons in the summer and greenhouse tents (Aldis $20) over the citrus in the winter, tree jackets on the rest of the fruit in the winter. I also have lovely, red clay soil 😅. All in all, we are blessed with fresh fruit from our own trees. Your information contributes greatly by encouraging us and providing fabulous info. Thank you.
I've never been more comfortable with pruning my citrus trees. Thanks for doing this!!
You are so welcome! I'm glad it helped. If you're wondering about the cut, just make the cut. 😂
@@TheBusyGardener honestly I always have second thoughts with it but I think I got it now lol.
Hi
I am a new gardener due to working from home. I wish I had started years ago. After watching your videos I started planting my backyard orchard. I am in the Northern California Bay Area. Thanks for being my inspiration and I love your videos and good to see a man of faith. Cedric
YES! I'm excited for you Cedric! You'll probably, like me, have your share of disappointments, but I think you'll love the journey. Thanks for letting me be a part of it!
Thanks so much for this video. It really helps me to understand that growing citrus is more like an evergreen bush not a deciduous tree.
Glad it was helpful, Monica!
You are the best!
Awesome video and information on the citrus trees! Well done!!! 🙋♀️✌😊
Thanks so much! I appreciate the encouragement :)
Phenomenal video and exactly the education I was after. Thank you so much!
Glad it helped. Thanks for watching! 😊
Thank you! Came here after seeing you on Epic Gardening, and now I'm super inspired to start a citrus hedge. We live in AZ and already have a few mature tangerine and lemon trees that just don't give us the same quality fruit that they used to. After watching this, I feel much more confident now giving them a good pruning to see if it helps!
I'm so you glad you found us! Pruning is scary, but does so much good. Give it a shot!
I’m curious the response.... I just bought a house with established orange and grapefruit that are 15’ tall...
Citrus are heavy feeders. Need to fertilize at the right time. -Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt, maybe a few teaspoons to a gallon of water) helps with the Magnesium and the sulfate turns to an acid which helps with the 5.5-6.5 ph (slightly acidic) you should have. Also the more sunlight and heat the better. Get a ph meter $10. High nitrogen fertilizer, bone meal etc.
pretty awesome dude thankyou
I'll prune my lime tree as you showed in this video, thanks
Great! Glad it helped :)
Thanks. That was very helpful.
Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching
Congrats on 5k subs. Great channel.
Thanks so much! It's fun journeying with you all
What does your citrus pruning routine look like? Any citrus pruning tips that have worked well for you? Check out my other pruning videos here:
ua-cam.com/video/Ey_j0Dtw3Nc/v-deo.html
Why do you just toss the infested branches to one side? Doesn't that endanger further infestation? Curious.
@@slukky Good question! We take the branches out of the orchard. Shouldn't be an issue for the time it's on the ground.
Thank for the video, Cameron. Nice citrus there. I’m in a great cities growing area too, similar to north Cal - Western Australia - zone 11
Thanks, mate! Citrus is a winner anywhere it can grow well, IMO
Thanks for this Cameron!...I have to say that I Love the idea of just clipping off the leaves with leaf miner damage...I never thought I could just do that but now I know I can and wow how easy is that!...This is a great video and you explain things really well...and yes, I also let my tree grow as a big shrub, as it likes to. To me the less you trim off of citrus the more natural it is.
Thanks, Dennis! Leaf miner is conveniently easy to treat like that if you don't have a large infestation. Glad it helped!
@@TheBusyGardener hi Cameron what would you use if you did have to spray the tree?
Love watching your video😀
Thank you! 🤗
Great video. Like the blues guitar.
Rock on! Thanks, Deborah :)
Well done 👌👏
Thanks! 😊
Thanks for letting me know citrus is different from deciduous. I was told you can grow them in a hedge but I saw huge lemon and orange trees. After seeing huge trees I doubted myself I could grow so many so close in my backyard but I went off the word of my UA-cam gardners and grew them close together. I’m sure I can manage 6 semi-dwarfs into a nice hegde. Thanks
I'm glad you're going for it!
Great video
I appreciate it! 🙏
I am enjoying your video .what can I do about my orange tree ? The leaves are turning yellow .
Best boos
I have that same t-shirt.. great burgers!
Yesssss! Fun fact: My wife and I got married at a vineyard in Helvetia!
I just planted improved meyer lemon small 3 gallon already giving fruit should I thin out fruit? Or keep it there? Thnkx!!
I like your tip of leaving the bush hang low. Sure, weeding may be difficult, but low fruit may mean less snapping of over burdened branches.
I try to open my citrus up to provide light and airflow though.
In our hot climate, thinning out a citrus tree can allow for sunburn through the opening in the canopy. Citrus seems to do well without manual thinning, thankfully!
...and it shades the trunk. In hot climates this really helps. In windy areas, keep it shorter.
What causes like a black soot or mould and how to fix it on orages
I mived into a house that has muktiple lemon trees. Back in the day they grew so many, the owner used to give them out in 5 gallon buckets. The original trees doed but theres so many that still grew and are growing. But thwy dont produce feuit. Any ideas why.
How are your groupings doing? Any regrets about doing the close multi plant holes?
I have a lot of persa seedless lemons and they are 2 years old and and so full of lemons that the limbs are breaking. I pruned but that seemed to make them go wild if i prune now even brken limbs and main limbs are packed with fruit. suggestions?
Hi. Can I still prune my 2-3 yo potted calamondin tree in Sept? I live in the Baltics, around 15-17°c nowadays(almost fall).
When I bought it 2-3 years ago, it was around a foot and bearing lots of fruits. It had some fruits again at least twice after that. The last one didn't mature though and the small fruits fell off. I repotted my plant also twice(July/mid-August) for some reasons(1 a bigger pot 2 a soil meant for citrus)
Thanks for the info! I feel great about pruning citrus trees(bushes) now! This info will be helpful to people for years to come. I’m in Zone 8a some majority of citrus plants must be grown in containers or if planted in ground; lights and/or cold weather covers are recommended.... Anyway! All of mine are in containers and I’ve found that they love a mixture of chelated iron/zinc, tablespoon of Epsom Salt and a splash of fish emulsion. Keep the leaves green and plant vigor.
Hello, thanks for the info. How often do you feed your tree with this mixture? And when is the best time to do it?
Hello Henry! I add mulch to keep from watering so frequently. I fertilize once a month between April-September with citrus food. I saturate the leaves with water with the hose and in my gallon sprayer, I add about two tablespoons of chelated iron/zinc then spray on the leaves. I pour the rest in their pots. This keep the leaves green. Finally once a month I put about two tablespoons of Epsom Salt and a few tablespoons of fish emulsion in my 5 gallon bucket with about 3 gallons of water, mix well and pour about 12-16 ounces on each of my plants. I’m very new to citrus, but has been researching. Wish me well on my Winter endeavors. Good luck to you Sir!
Thank you for sharing. I will definitely be using this on my trees. I too am new to citrus trees. Wish you the best of luck. Happy Holidays!
Thanks new friend!
Hello Henry! We've had a several nights that the temperature has dropped below 32 degrees, so I put my citrus trees inside on the first night. Next few times the temp dropped, I put them inside my shed with some solar lights aimed on them. On yesterday I noticed the lemon tree was yellowing so I gave them some iron and Epsom salt. They are looking great and have clusters of buds and looking like they are about to flower. Like I said I'm new and hoping that all goes well through the fall and winter months. Hope your trees are doing well.
different variety, different caring
Yeah...learned my lesson when I did what I thought was a fairly mild prune on my satsuma tree (15 gallon size pot) and then had some major branches die back on me from massive amounts of sunburn. The tree is now recovered and is very bushy. I've noticed that the citrus branching that occurs after pruning isn't as well behaved as a deciduous tree (as you said, they kinda grow they way they want). Seems like the overarching message is to not thin them and just tip them back into a balanced shape, but no more. I'm excited that I'll probably get my first satsuma this winter. I grew up eating fresh mandarins off my grandmother's tree, so I know how insanely tasty they can be.
Bummer when something we do causes damage, but glad to hear your Satsuma is recovering!
nematodes work great for leaf miners.
I saw you cut lot of young tips off a citrus tree, does this cutting weaken the tree? Thank you for your great video. I just start to plant 3 young citrus trees (1 orange, 1 mandarin, and 1 tangelo). Therefore I watch lot of channels to learn how to trim to keep them more healthy. Your video is very special and I love it 💓💓
Cutting young tips off does NOT weaken a Citrus (or any fruit) tree. It allows you to manage size and shape and is totally ok to do. Thanks for watching and for the encouragement!
Quick question for you. Do you find you have to shade young citrus trees? I just planted a 15 gallon Tango Mandarin and this recent heat (90s) seems to be yellowing the tips of many leaves despite moist soil. Would you use shade cloth in this situation? FYI, I'm in southern CA.
In most places in SoCal, you do NOT need to shade your citrus (except for the hottest parts, I suppose). SoCal was a major region for growing citrus commercially, and it should do very well in our climate. This is the time of year that citrus leaves start falling, and you begin seeing new foliage emerge. If anything, it's possible you may be overwatering. Consider giving it a little space to dry a little before watering. Thanks for watching!
Good timing, I've been wondering how to prune my Mandarin, I feel better now about letting it be bushy.. maybe you could do a video on managing the shape and height of deciduous fruit trees, I have several, plum, peach, apricot, and I'd like to keep them topped and trained to an umbrella structure, but I'm anxious about over pruning, and it seems like almost everyone has a different opinion.. when and how drastically should I prune them to achieve this?
Hey James! Have you checked out my other videos on pruning? ua-cam.com/video/Ey_j0Dtw3Nc/v-deo.html
You haven't made videos lately.
I miss the content.
Give us more videos on citrus.
All the best wishes from India 🇮🇳
We're back from the holidays and have weekly vids coming out
Great video. Could you tell me which trees you grow that harvest in the fall and winter ?
Yeah! In Fall, we harvest: Pomegranate, apple, persimmon, jujube. In winter, we harvest our various Citrus
Would you have a recommendation of when I should first prune my baby orange tree? I planted cara cara seeds from an orange 2 years ago. Their about 1 foot tall now and in the spring maybe theyll be a little taller for reference. Thank you
Unless there is some growth going in a direction you really don't want, I'd let them get 2-3 feet before doing any pruning.
Enjoyed the video and got some education from it. How do you get the Tangelo Tree to produce ... Same with the Bearss Lime Trees. April 2017 I planted a Meyer Lemon & Mandarin Orange that really produces, a Key Lime that produced a bunch last summer and nada this summer. Two Bearss Lime Trees 1 and 2 years in the ground and nothing. Been watering every other day, more or less, and fertilizing 3 times a year. Live in Chico, CA, USDA Growing Zone 9. Until today I haven't pruned the trees for about 18 months...been having a lot of 100F+ weather in the Northern Sacramento Valley with Drought Conditions/Water Restrictions. I subscribed; maybe I can find what I'm doing wrong.
Might be overwatering! Citrus like a deep, infrequent watering (like once a week if soil has had a chance to dry out a little. Also, make sure you're encouraging pollinators in your garden. You should be getting some fruit!
@@TheBusyGardener Will cut down on the watering and see what happens. Thanks !!
Do you have any thoughts on thinning your citrus fruit? I have heard its really important to get better sized citrus fruit. I'm having issues with my grapefruits and pummelo's not being as large as I see in some organic grocers. Do you know where I could find info on thinning citrus trees? I do it for my apples, apricots, plums, peaches, etc.
I don't thin my citrus, as citrus usually drop excess fruit on their own.Definitely good to thin if you're experiencing any limb breakage. You can influence the size of your citrus by thinning fruit (and prevent biennial fruiting with one heavy year followed by a light year), but I haven't found it worth my time, personally. I DO thin my deciduous trees, however.
My orange tree has stayed about 36” tall. Lots of flowers, but very slow growth. Will removing the flowers promote growth
Make sure you are fertilizing with a balanced fertilizer (roughly similar NPK numbers), which will give your citrus enough nitrogen to promote growth. You don't need to thin the flowers or fruit on citrus in the same way you do stone fruit and apples. Thanks for watching!
I have an orange tree next to a Myers lemon and it was great. Lemons ware sweeter and oranges have a little tartness that makes them amazing. We recently redid our irrigation and both are getting more water. While our Lime is growing more now, the Orange is dropping fruit before fully orange (some green on them) and flavor isn’t as good. Do you think it’s getting too much water or just early season variations (I live in San Jose) thx
I think it may be too much water. One of the biggest mistakes people make is too much water. I water deeply once (or twice if it's hot like now) a week in decently draining soil.
I have a 2 year old clementine tree. It hasn’t fruited yet. It’s about 6’ tall and just has branches at the top 1/3. All the leaves are healthy and green, with only rare leaves dropping. The overall trunk diameter is about 1/4” wide and has bark.
Is this ok? Any tips?
That sounds ok, so far! Citrus won't necessarily fruit immediately, and that's a pretty young tree. Ensure you're not overwatering, as that's really common with citrus. Let soil dry out a little between waterings. If that's on point, give it some time 😀
Good morning-are you located in Florida? My lemon trees have not produced leaves after the excruciating low temperatures that lat a week. Do you have any suggestions to see if there are any greenery left?
Hey there! We're in Southern California. Leaf drop can happen for lots of stress related reasons. The main way to tell if your tree has died is to scrape a little bit of the bark. If it's green and alive just beneath the surface, you at least have life. Give it some time to push new leaves
So the lemon tree (Meyer, I think) in my yard was overgrown when I bought the house. If I cut it back now, a lot of its low structure will be just bare branches. Will these eventually put on new growth? Or is my only option to replace it?
I *could* bud-graft it to itself on the bare-low branches...
(I'm in Orange County California.)
Hey Matt! Two schools of thought on this: 1) Reduce the tree by no more than 1/3 a year to encourage new growth without shocking your tree, or 2) remove that tree and plant a tree that you're able to get fruit on fairly quickly, while shaping to your desired application. Or try your hand at grafting while also reducing the height - practice pruning and grafting!
Very common around me (might be an Australian thing) to lop the tree right back to where you want it to be. For us around Aug which is late winter. Unless the tree is sick, they have an amazing ability to bounce back really quickly. Few videos around of people doing it.
A couple of things tho, 1) do not expect fruit for at least a year as the tree regrows, and remove any that do form for at least that first year and 2) if in a really hot climate, a wash, or a cover for the trunk will do wonders while it is regrowing its canopy. I generally don't here in Melb, as it takes till late Dec to really get days over 30C often, while friends in the north, QLD do because they get hotter earlier.
I have a very neglected and overgrown meyer lemon tree on the property that we recently purchased. We harvested the lemons (there had to have been at least 150) before winter came through and I'd like to do some pruning to shape this tree (bush). Its currently about 12 ft tall at its tallest point and probably 12 ft wide as well. Any advice to a person that has no experience whatsoever on how to prune this tree back without hurting it? I feel that its growing way too tall and getting awfully droopy at the same time and would like to lighten the load without killing it.
Hi Alicia, Congrats on having a tree already producing for you upon move-in! You can top a citrus, but with a large tree like that, you may need to spread pruning to your desired height over a couple years. You won't want to remove more than about 25% of the overall canopy per year. I think it makes sense to make an initial cut to bring the height down by up to 3 feet a year, as well as cutting back some of the existing branches. Seriously, citrus grows like a hedge, so don't be too worried about this. I just posted a pruning mistakes vid you may want to check out.
What do I do with 6 oranges starting on one branch as a cluster. Do I take some off so the others can grow?
Citrus generally doesn't need to be manually thinned and the tree will self-thin as needed!
I am growing a lime plant in a container. Do I need to use a deep container ? Should it be wide too ?
The bigger the container, the better!
I have a young yuzu with competing branch & not sure if that's a problem with citrus? Or if it's ok to leave it?
Citrus grows more like a shrub or a bush, so if they are branches within the same tree, it's OK. But if you see any that are rubbing or broken or dying or dead, those should be removed
Do any of your citrus trees have thorns? I have a container bound citrus about 8 months old that I grew from a lemon seed. I recently topped it to about a foot and a half, and just noticed that it is growing thorns!
Hey Joe, a couple of my citrus may have thorns, but none I can recall off the top of my head. Maybe my lime? The trifoliate rootstock most are grafted to DOES have thorns. Lots of lemons have thorns, but my "Eureka" is a thornless cultivar
I live in Central Florida. We have purchased Navel, Valencia, Tangerine, Ruby Red Grapefruit, and Meyer Lemon fruit trees from Lowe's and Home Depot. The trees are all growing very good. I've never pruned them to grow like bushes. I've always kept their canopies off the ground and any branches which aim down or flat I prune off. I have waited to allow them to fully fruit. Is there a rule of thumb to start having them fruit out? Should I just let them go? Or have I done wrong to snip their fruit to allow for better growth for several years? Most of their trunks are around 3/4 of an inch. I also fertilize with Alaska Fish Fertilizer and Bat Guano which I harvest from our bat house. Should I just let our trees bush out or keep pruning them? When should I let them fruit out? And how much fruit per tree? Thanks!
With Citrus, let them grow with only basic regard for tree shape (do NOT prune "open center/vase" shape, but let grow as a round bush). You can prune them as a tree with canopy up higher, but much of the fruit develops on the bottom 2/3 of the tree, so you're trading some fruit production for shape. If they're over a year in the ground, you won't need to thin the fruit set. Give it a little time. Our Washington Navel produced almost immediately, while our Valencia took 3 years to produce, and now does so reliably. Good luck!
@@TheBusyGardener Thanks so much for the reply! I'm going to stop all pruning for now and I am looking forward to seeing how much fruit production we can get this year. I cut off all fruit off of the newer fruit trees last season as they were brand new and this year I will like to just let it go literally. My Meyer Lemon and Ruby Red Grapefruit is loaded with baby fruit from its flowering stage. This will be a fun year to see how they do. God bless. I have enjoyed seeing your videos. My Ruby Red Grapefruit has its leaves yellowing a little. I am thinking it was Nitrogen deficient but it also may be more nutrient deficient as well. I have a Sunniland all around Citrus Fertilizer and would like to put that down too. I have fed it 6-1-1 Fish Fertilizer and the trees have really greened up and grown a lot. Thanks again.
Jeff - Sunny Central Florida 😎 🌴 ☀️ 🍊 🍋 🍅
My lime tree has sprouted some new growth from the base. Do I remove that?
Yes! Those are likely suckers and not the same fruit as above. They'll divert needed energy from the part of the tree you DO want to grow
Another citrus question!!! do you pick the flowers and or baby fruit from your citrus trees the first and or second year???
All fruit should come off the first year you've got it in the ground. Feel free to leave fruit on for the second year and on. You'll probably get some better root and plant growth if you remove fruit the second year too, but this is just too much waiting, IMO! 😀
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions...much appreciated...greetings from subtropical Australia...
We inherited a lemon tree that was pruned into a tree shape. It's about 6 ft tall with no branches/growth on the lower 3 ft. Any way to encourage new growth below so that it's more bush shaped? Thanks!
This can feel a little risky, but if you find a node/bud lower on the trunk and put a notch immediately above it, that stops the flow of nutrients through the cambium layer and tells it to put out growth right there as though it's been pruned. It's possible the buds are hardened off on the trunk and it won't work, but it's a better option than chopping off the top of the canopy and hoping for lower growth!
@@TheBusyGardener thanks! This is what I'm trying with some of my younger trees. If it works on them I'll try with the lemon tree!
Cameron do you have a patreon? l I transplanted 3 citrus trees here in California but my gardeners did a so so job and I have a lot of questions!! Maybe I should have planted them. My fig tree is doing great but these citrus 🍊 got SHOCK
Hi! It can be tough for trees when they're first planted. Transplant shock is pretty common. I don't have a Patreon presently, but DO have channel membership which supports the channel and gives answer priority to members.
What about pruning citrus in pots. Any tips?
Hi Joyce, I think it's good practice to keep the canopy pruned to about the width of the container you've got it planted in.
It a bush because of human prunning. To enable many branches= fruits, and for easy reach.
Pruning is huge for this
I just got a small Mexican lime tree, it has flowers on it but they all fell off. I noticed the bees kept knocking them off. Is that normal?
It's normal for a very young or newly planted tree to lose its flowers and/or fruit. If it's still doing that in 2-3 years, that'll be time to look at what may be causing it. Ideally, you should remove all fruit from a new tree so it directs its energy into establishing a good root system and canopy as opposed to fruit development. Good luck!
Hello, we have a huge grapefruit tree in our front yard. We had a recent snowfall in Texas (which was not usual) and it looks really bad. All the leaves are dried up and branches look dead. What can we do to help our tree? Please help.
I'm so sorry to hear it, Stephanie. 😢I know so much plant life in Texas got absolutely walloped with this storm. Here is an article that sums up what I'd recommend. (It's about lemon, but same rules apply for Citrus) homeguides.sfgate.com/frostburned-lemon-tree-59520.html
@@TheBusyGardener thank you!!😭
When would you recommend grafting citrus? Please don't use month use season like early autumn, late spring, mid summer for example because not everyone is on the same hemisphere.
I live in indonesia, there so much citrus in here. Cause it soooo hott 😂 😅
Which month pruning take place?
According to University of Arizona, In warmer regions of North America, anytime between February and April. Cooler areas should wait until late Feb or March.
How do you clean your Pruning shears? Soap or alcohol?
I used to dip in a Lysol solution, but now use Lysol spray on the blades.
What percentage of foliage can I chop off while pruning my lemon tree.
I heard that lemon tree doesn't do very well or doesn't give a lot of fruit after a hard-ish pruning. Is that true? Can I do as much as 50% or no?
I wouldn't do more than 25% per year. You sacrifice some short term fruiting anytime you make a drastic change to your tree, so decide if you want a tree at your desired height and fruiting in a couple years, or a tree that gives you more fruit right now
@@TheBusyGardener thank you so much for your help. Is it the same concept with mulberry tree? I've been hard pruning it thinking maybe the newer shoots will give fruit. But it never does! Am I doing it wrong with mulberry too?
Can you let me know a good organic pest control spray for my new citrus trees. I have a small space garden and just planted dwarf lemon, lime and orange trees. Thank you!!
Congrats on the trees! Is there a specific pest you're trying to control? Here is a vid I did on spraying fruit trees
@@TheBusyGardener we’re new to our zone which is 9, Las Vegas, NV. We get white mites and my local nursery recommended a pesticide that’s not good for fruiting trees. I just want to get on a organic bug control. I saw your vid on just trimming the infested leaves/branches but I’m overthinking just in case.☺️
@@TheBusyGardener Oh and Thank you bunches!!!😃
@@TheBusyGardener where is the video on spraying, I don’t see it.
@@Dot850life Here you go! ua-cam.com/video/8Atih4rmu6g/v-deo.html&t
So talk to the person who purchases a one year or two year old citrus tree from a nursery (good quality) and it's a tree shape, about 3 feet tall. How do they encourage the lower 'skirt' ? Also, sometimes a branch will grow from the trunk above the graft and I read these should be taken out, but with your shrub idea, should people leave them? Again, most citrus nurseries grow to sell a 'tree' not a shrub because this is what the public expects. So what to do then? Thanks
I know... the problem is with customers' perception and what they believe is a good value. They want a "TREE", even if that shape isn't the best for them. If someone buys a tree that is too big at the outset, it's possible to encourage lower growth by cutting back the top ogf the tree. In many cases, I recommend just buying a younger tree that has the basic initial structure you're looking for.
My lemon tree is almost 3 years old,do I have to prune it now?
You don't necessarily need to prune it, unless it's getting bigger than you want, or to remove any diseased/damaged/dead wood. Citrus functions more as a hedge as opposed to deciduous trees like apple, peach, etc. who benefit from pruning. Pruning on citrus is entirely optional!
@@TheBusyGardener ok,thank you so much for the advice.
hello i have a big citrus tree about 5 feet tall and it not flowering can you tell me why please.Eddy from Moontreal Canada
Could be lots of stuff. Stress? Overwatering? Underwatering? Fertilizing too little/much? The fact it's in Canada? LOL
@@TheBusyGardener not cool lol but you have a point definitely not a weather for a citrus. thanks for the reply
I don't know, but if not, try muscadine grapes in your climate. By the way, grape leaves are edible and highly nutritious as the Greeks have used for centuries.
May just do it! The space we've got for grapes might go to planting Christmas trees from seedlings this year
If a full-size lemon grows to 12ft tall can you keep trimming or pruning it so that it keeps to a lower height? Do citrus trees need to keep the center of the tree less crowded for airflow to reduce fungi growth?
As for peach and nectarine trees, when fully grown it may be too big for my tiny garden, so again can I keep pruning each year to keep it to a manageable height?
Thanks for watching! You can keep any tree pruned to your desired height, though should NOT thin out citrus and other subtropicals like avocado, mango, etc for airflow/sun. You can maintain your desired height of every fruit tree through pruning. Check out some of my pruning vids here: ua-cam.com/play/PLScRNuJpsSkxX6m7IuTsndsw71PA5aaJD.html
Greetings from New zealand Cameron.
I get white fly on my navel orange which then goes on and affects any tomatoes plants I have with said white fly , I have used a combination of dishwashing liquid water and baking soda to get them under control. Is there any recommendations you could add to that? It works well by the way, used it on my Lemon and navel orange trees (one of each) oh and the bonus with the dishwashing liquid on the leaves was that it washed off the black "soot" the white flies or the ants left behind.
Soap should work. Are you seeing results? You can also use those yellow traps for white fly. Good luck on these pests!
@@TheBusyGardener yup great results actually, also used the concoction on my white flesh peach tree to stop leaf curl worked well. 🍃
The reason your are cutting is only to make tree not more tall or it is for multiple brunches for more fruits?I watched in another video that cutting brunches and leaves at the stem for to make tree a little bit up from ground but i did not see you did so.Why?
Citrus fruits more heavily in the bottom 2/3 of the tree, and grows more as a bush than a tree. I'm trying to preserve the natural habit of the tree for greater productivity, while keeping it at a manageable size.
@@TheBusyGardener thank you for your information.
Hello; my citrus tree is about one year old. But it's grown really tall, I planted it in a pot with a drip.
Can I top off the tree? I don't want to hurt it.
You can safely do that to a younger tree! The key here is then maintaining it at the the height/size you want.
@@TheBusyGardener Awesome; thanks! I was concerned about diminished harvest.
@@Beachcraft48 When you make a pruning cut, this often results in diminished harvest in the ear you prune, but fruit tree pruninmg is for long term results.
I’m a citywide girl and just moved to Escondido CA. We have several citrus trees on our [property. I’m trying to figure out how to take car of them.
Citrus are super easy! Fertilize them and keep them pruned to a size/shape you want and they'll produce well
Wish you had an email so i can send a picture of my citrus tree that I’d have a question on Because it’s a lot easier to explain it if you see it
Find me on Instagram @thebusygardeners and shoot me a picture
Do you worry about crossing branches and how do you water your citrus, do you have a video on watering?
Hi Michaela, Citrus trees aren’t opened up in the same way you do with deciduous trees, nor do you create an open center canopy, as the sunlight can burn the inner branches and trunk of the tree. It truly is treated as a hedge. I don’t have an irrigation video yet, but on the list to produce soon :)
Where are you located geographically?
In the foothills of the East San Gabriel Valley, about an hour east of Los Angeles, CA
@@TheBusyGardener So... you're near Pasadena, my old "stomping grounds" 🙂
(Caltech alumni '78)
🙃
I feel like I'm looking at Grant Cardone's twin brother!
I see it! 😂
Where are you live? And what zone?
Southern California (an hour east of Los Angeles), zone 9b/10a!
I like your banana hat! 🍌🐵
What is a deciduous tree?
Hey Sherrill! Deciduous trees are those that lose all their leaves each winter. Unlike citrus, avocado, etc., that don't drop all their leaves at once.
Never prune citrus only cut dead branches
Sometimes true.
Thank you but next time please consider facing the camera so the background greens (on your fence) will not combine with the green lemon bush you were working on so we see it clearly, it's not easy to distinguish the shape you are talking about when it's all green everywhere
That's really helpful feedback! I'll keep that in mind so it's more clear what I'm doing 😊
@@TheBusyGardener I'm glad, I was hoping you would consider it correctly 🙂
I have a question for you, hope you don't mind and I'm sorry if you have already answered this in one of your other videos because I have not seen all of them yet but have you studied this somewhere or teaching yourself by doing your own research?
@@tanichka85 My own research and experience! I'd love to enter the Master Gardener program through University of California, but they are continually full. In the meantime, I read, watch, and spend time with my plants which has all helped a lot.
@@TheBusyGardener wow that's interesting, your hunger for knowledge on this is admirable. I hope you get into that program and master it wonderfully.
I love working in my garden but purely for myself, and your videos are helpful, I like the details.
Say, do you have anything on Blackberry and Raspberry bushes? Just general information how to and when to prune or replant and in general how to make them and keep them healthier?
I live in California so the sun is pretty warm here, they started out really healthy and grew normally but then something happened and I'm not sure what I did wrong they still give new little sprouts from roots but the new ones don't have the berries no matter how large they grow and the old full of berries branches kind of slightly got fried on the sun, I hung the green shade over it and seems like they became a bit more lively but still don't want to recover. The shade seems like letting through just enough Sun right now but I'm not sure how to revive the old branches, different people suggest different things
@@tanichka85 Thanks for the compliment! I think I've been well served by a strong curiosity.
I DO have a couple vids on blackberries.
ua-cam.com/video/oythL8po7bU/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/2DI6Jp_DaIg/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/GrpP2rW8D_4/v-deo.html
That could have been alot shorter..
Yup
Citrus trees are obviously NOT bushes to me! The way you prune it will make it a bush.
It naturally has more of a "bush habit", with a majority of the fruit growing in the bottom 2/3rds of the tree.
Citrus is not hedge. That’s oversimplification
Perhaps. But it's more a hedge than anything else we grow, and can most easily be trained as such. How would you describe it's "hedgy" nature
Perhaps it's hedgy in your case and certainly for the cultivar you are growing. But to say "citrus", that applies to all other cultivars. For example, pamelo tree can grow up to 10m tall in the tropic and as wide as a house
Please don't do speedy fast forward videos. It's kitchy.
I don't want people to miss the cuts being made. How would you do it? Before and after?
I have a couple citrus trees and they are taking a long time to grow
Yeah, citrus doesn't seem to boom as quickly as stone fruit, I've noticed.
Way way way to long video! I’m here to know how to prune my tangerine tree correctly. You pruned, I couldn’t see where u actually pruned! Below or above a nodule? How far down the branch, etc… Living in Fl, I’ve never seen citrus trees like this, tiny and practically on the ground. I’d like a ‘tree’, but keep it small if possible. But moving along to a video that has pruning info. You just describe tall trees, little trees, bushes etc..
Prune above a node you want to become the new branch. The same principles apply to tall trees. It's a video on how to deal with citrus plant matter. Good luck!