Hi everyone so question can you also prune tree lemon tree that is in pot's, I bought 1 3years ago and another one 2 years ago and the 2nd no fruit,the first i got 2 lemons last year and2 this year, so brind then inside for the winter, i was wondering i should prune them? It's the 27th of January ?
The first time I have pruned my trees it was a heat wave in February and they barely survived and did not give any yield, of course. Then, I read that citrus trees store energies in their leaves not in their roots to face Winter and grow again in Spring. So, if you prune them in late Autumn or Winter they will suffer and get to Spring in very bad shape. Now that I have pruned them in Spring they are lushy and very productive. This in Southern Italy. Maybe in your climate thay can stand a late year pruning.
A heat wave in February? How warm can it get at 36N latitude in Feb? I'm actually further south than the southernmost point of Italy, and I don't think it's ever gotten above 80F (27C) here in February. February seems *very* late to prune, because citrus often flower in March and April at our latitude. I think you pruned too late for the spring flush, and as a result the trees missed that critical budding. I would give it a try in November like I am pruning. It generally is still mild, and it gives the tree all winter to slowly recover and prepare for flowering.
@@TheMillennialGardener Well, I was going to prune them in April like everybody else in my area (even early June is ok for lemons), but that very unusual temperature (25C instead of 15C!) pushed me to prune all my trees early because I thought it was ok, but it turned into a real disaster indeed for my tangerines, because they may have their own phases that are only partially influenced by temperature and, so, they almost ran out of energies before their time and started to lose lots of leaves as a consequence. Nobody here would prune citrus trees in November for the reason I have explained in my first comment, but we could do that for many other fruit trees that store energies in their roots, since frosts are very unlikely here. It looks like your climate lets you do thing we cannot do. We have as very hot and long Summers as in Florida, but Winters are cold enough (4 to 15C) and last from mid-November to mid-March. Instead, I could not agree more about your way to prune citrus trees. It is very similar to the one taught by Vito Vitelli, an important Italian expert. In addition, he suggests that watershoots above your belt should never be removed but shorten to something between 10 cm (the lower ones) to 30 cm (the higher ones). He has a channel on UA-cam with lots of videos in Italian. The one called "CORSO DI POTATURA AGRUMI a cura dell'Agronomo Vito Vitelli" is quite comprehensive, if you want to see more.
Thanks for all your citrus tips. I'm about an 45 mins north in Jacksonville. I got an Owari Satsumi and a red grapefruit in 2020. I got about 15 mandarin oranges this year and have about 8 grapefruits. Best fruit I have ever eaten! I got a Key lime and a Meyer lemon last year so looking forward to them producing this coming year. I never would have thought it possible to grow citrus here.
Southern Maryland Zone 7b here. You're the reason I'm growing citrus 😊 My citrus is spending the winter in my small greenhouse. I actually have a dozen key limes ripening. You give such outstanding and practical advice! Thanks for all the videos...and give Dale a treat!
Yes, yes, yes! This is exactly why I make these videos. Every time I hear someone is growing something new because I inspired them to do so, it gives me a reason to keep putting in all this effort. This makes me SO HAPPY to hear I can't even explain it to you! That's awesome.
@@TheMillennialGardenerit’s why I just brought one of each in the uk. They only 4/5 inches high atm and I moved them into bigger pots when they arrived as they were nearly out the bottom of one of them. It’s coz of you that I’ve done it. Coz I want to try to do more then I have done before and things like these need care yes but they don’t take the time and effort growing from seed does. So I’m going giving them their food and water and pruning and over wintering them will be good things for me and not take the mental energy it takes doing seeds that don’t grow or get eaten etc etc can Only try. The apple trees in the garden just do their own thing I’ve never done anything for them, as they already here when I moved in but I do plan to mulch with manure or something to feed them this year as I feel I should and can do something to help them do better.
I just bought a lemon tree today, it is a patio variety. I will be keeping it in a container, because it does it below freezing here around the Triad area.
Like your channel very much. Zone 10. Bought lemon and orange trees from lowes, but no grows for two years. It's amazing that your lemon tree grew so much from a cutting.
I just got my first citrus tree and I must say your channel is clearly the best I've found on this topic. You provide extremely helpful and useful info, presented very clearly efficiently, in a manner that's easy to digest. Thank you!
First and foremost id like to thank you for everything that you do. The content you provide is practical and easy to watch which believe it or not is hard to come by. I do have a question that I would love for you to answer if you have the time. I live in zone 6a/5b, I have a potted meyer lemon and a kaffir lime tree both about 2 years old. For some reason when I bring them in for the winter and put them under my grow light they start to flower, should I prune the branches back that are flowering or should I let them flower? Neither tree is over 2 1/2 feet tall and I was kinda hoping to get a little more vertical growth out of them this year. I dont know if flowering now will stunt their growth, or what I should do to encourage vertical growth. Hmmm that one question kinda turned into 2 at the end lol sorry for that, again I appreciate the work you put into your channel.
Thank you. I try to make videos that I would enjoy watching and not drone on forever, though some still think I talk too much 😂 My guess is the reason why they are flowering is because you're tricking their day-length with your grow lights. During winter, days only give you somewhere between 6-10 hours of daylight, with only 3-5 hours of that being at decent intensity depending on where you live. When you stick them under grow lights, you're probably giving them what, 16 hours of light? Suddenly, you're throwing off their calendar into long days, so they probably think it's spring when days are long and it's time to flower. My guess is if you cut the light duration, or figured out a way to overwinter them with window light, they may stop doing that so early. Unfortunately, if you prune them back after they flower, they *may not* flower again for another year and you'll go through a fruitless year. What you probably need to do is prune them *before* you bring them inside, so if they decide to flower you won't be stuck in this pickle. To encourage vertical growth, you'll want to fertilize them with a fertilizer with a strong nitrogen component throughout late spring and summer. That will encourage vegetative growth.
Thankyou! We’re in zone eight at 5500 feet so our lemons and limes are in the greenhouse as it gets 18 degrees a few times and snows at least once in January. So far so good.
Good lesson today, thank you . I'm in zone 9 and I'm finally going to have meyer lemons after almost three years of blossoms only. I'm really excited about it . I did remove about half if them to give the lemons space .
Awesome info here...and I too forget to wear my gloves and regret it many times (I am getting better at wearing them now), and yes, I too have cut a wrong branch a few times too .... Have to be So Careful when cutting...I always say its not a race and just take your time and not get carried away in the moment. I just planted a new Meyer lemon this week (zone 9 here)...hopefully it will go as good as the ones I have grown in the past. Thanks for this great video, you did a great job!
Sounds like more great advice - as you usually have. Most of our citrus are still in their first year so likely not much pruning to be done this year but surely in years to come - IF they make it of course. So thanks for the advice. We'll probably be needing it more in future years.
Thank you again for your knowledge sharing…it’s helping me revive my neglected trees. I have a blood orange tree that produced oranges last winter. The wood that produced oranges is now brown(think driftwood) without leaves, no green stripes in the wood, and no leaves. It also fails the “scratch test”. The rest of the tree appears healthy with new growth. Should I remove this wood that appears to be dead???? the limb is about 2 inches in diameter and the largest on my tree.
Thank you for another detailed explanation! I've been learning so much from your channel! I haven't started my adventure with citrus yet, but I really hope to soon. We are in a zone 8b climate, so I'm really optimistic about using your methods to get some great fruit going. We had a really terrible ice storm here a year ago, so I hope we are in the clear for a while.
Love the tips you give us with your very easy-to-understand vid's! I have asked several citrus nurseries/gardeners (local & online) how to resolve an issue I have with my citrus trees (Meyer Lemon, Owari Satsuma & kumquat). I live in zone 8b (almost 9a) in coastal AL. A few yrs ago we had a severe winter that killed my graft. They were covered but winds blew off the sheets I had covering them. I didn't know I had lost the graft as the trees put on new growth and began growing again. Last year I noticed these HORRIBLY long thorns on my trees plus the fact they had never bloomed nor produced fruit except the 2nd yr after they were planted. Nothing since the cold that got the graft. I researched and found that the excessively long thorns were from the actual root stock growth. I know I need to regraft and my question is, HOW FAR BACK DO I HAVE TO PRUNE MY 7 ft tall trees in order to regraft? Can I prune them back to some of the larger lower limbs and regraft scions to those? WHEN DO I GRAFT in my zone? WHERE DO I FIND SCIONS for regrafting? I'm 65 yrs old and want to see fruits on my 10 yr old trees before I leave this old world. The more years that pass, the chances of this happening are slim to none. I don't know why I can't get anyone to answer these questions for me. I pruned back all of them a few weeks ago since they were over 10 ft tall and I wish to keep them short and more managable for my age. I know I need to prune them even more but didn't want to over stress them with a drastic prune until I found out exactly where I need to graft to these citrus trees and also where I could find scions. In my area there are citrus farms that grow acres of these citrus trees but I can never find anyone around to ask to get some scion cuttings. I plan to make a more permanent structure for their winter protection (very similar to what you have). The root stock trees that are growing are very healthy, dark green but are worthless since I lost the graft. Some of those massive thorns are 3-4 inches long but there are branches that have small thorns 1/4-1/2" MAX) so I'm totally confused as to what is going on with these trees. Is ALL of the growth from the root stock or could some of the graft possibly have survived to have the mature branches with the smaller thorns? ANY suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated as to what I need to do. I did purchase 2 new Meyer Lemon Trees last week but they have no branches big enough to use as scions right now. I'm going tomorrow to see if I can find SOMEONE in the Owari Satsuma orchards locally to see if I can get a few cuttings for scions. I have even thought of making a citrus COCTAIL tree since one of the trees I'm not sure if it is a lemon or satsuma as I lost the tag when I relocated them to a more sunny location 3 yrs ago. I'm also confused on when & how often to fertilize them and what to use. My old brain is giving me fits some days as I grow & propagate fig trees (LOVE your vid's on these and have helped me TREMENDOUSLY in establishing my beautiful fig orchard!!) I also have some avocado trees that need grafting that were given to me last year from someone on FB Marketplace that didn't want to fool with the constant moving the trees inside for winter & back out for spring plus they didn't know they HAD to be grafted to produce quality fruit. I was given 6- (4-6ft tall avocado trees they had grown from seed/pit). I have kept them in my greenhouse (which is now heated with the cold we have been having) along with my ginger, turmeric, dragon fruit, papaya & baby fig trees. I hope to build my much larger TROPICAL greenhouse/high tunnel combo (my design) in the next couple of weeks to grow my tropical/citrus trees in PERMANENTLY to free up the space needed in my smaller greenhouse for my veggie garden seed starting needs. It will be heated, vented and have roll up sides for summer high heat/humidity here. I would have sent this info/questions to you via email but couldn't find one in the description so I apologize for the lengthy comment & numerous questions. Seems no one wants to help people answer questions especially at nurseries unless you buy ALL your plants from them. BTW: I used your Christmas tree light heating method last winter on some eggplant I had growing in one of my raised beds and had eggplant ALL winter long (Black Beauty). Took lots of lights THICK MULCH, heavy mil plastic with a hoop to cover but IT WORKED!!!! I have satellite internet with limited bandwidth usage so I can't spend hours watching YT vid's to find answers to my questions, IF there are any out there specifically addressing my questions. Give Dale a belly rub for me. He is a precious fur baby just like my Baylee (A Yorkie) that can hear a plastic cheese wrapper open when he is in a deep sleep & I'm quiet as a mouse opening it!! He knows that sound and LOVES his little cheese snacks. He is also my FIG TASTER and loves figs as much as I do. I don't have as many varieties of figs as you do but I'm slowly branching out with my newest being a Yellow Long Neck, Peter's Honey, Hilda's Green Honey & Grandpa Simens (a variety that came from Italy YEARS ago as a family heirloom fig tree. I got cuttings from Hilda's Green Honey & Grandpa Simens from a friend in California and they have sprouted roots, I've up-potted & plan to plant this spring. The Yellow Long Neck is in the ground and already 4 ft tall. I also have Chicago Hardy and TONS of Brown Turkey, which is the common fig grown in our area of the south. I propagate alot of the cuttings from my prunings to give to others especially those less fortunate in my area.
Yes, what you're describing is the rootstock taking over, which is probably trifoliate or a trifoliate hybrid based on the description. You will want to cut the tree down to be about 6 inches tall to perform the graft. The graft should be close to the ground. That's going to make it tricky, because the trunk is going to be large and your budwood small. You can either cut the tree down, wait for it to send new shoots from below the cut, and graft onto one of those, or you can use a method like JSacadura does: ua-cam.com/video/sn3FvLk2pj0/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/4p_DKv9lM2A/v-deo.html You are going to want to watch some of his videos to find out the ideal technique for your situation. You are going to want to graft in spring after all chance of frost has passed. Don't wait until it gets too hot. As soon as you're sure frosts are done, graft. If you are going to want to make a cocktail tree, you will have to take a different approach and graft onto limbs. Just be aware that the higher you graft, the more likely the graft will be destroyed by a freeze. That's why I recommend grafting lower. However, if you think it'll be too difficult to graft low, you'll have to do the best that you can. One problem is that you have to be sure that the tree grows evenly if you graft multiple things. You can't let one branch get large and the others stunted. You have to balance them with pruning and keep everything at equal length. I am not a big grafting expert. I recommend you look at JSacadura's videos to get a better idea.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you so very much for this valuable information! On most of the citrus trees, I need to regraft, there are smaller branches down low. Can I graft some budwood/ scions to those smaller branches as well as to the trunk? I think I will wait on making a fruit cocktail tree until I successfully have new grafts growing this next spring. I will watch the videos of JSacadura and see if I can gather additional info. I also got some hay & have some spare black plastic drums I am going to use to make a warm enclosure for my citrus trees as I saw in one of your last videos. You are truly a wealth of information and I ALWAYS learn new ways of doing things from your videos AND THEY WORK!! Blessings to you & yours and I wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS & a PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!
Always impressed with the quality of your content. Patiently awaiting your next video. I picked up some dwarf citrus today to grow in containers and some incandescent lights for my other trees.
OK, I've been watching and learning for a while. Questions. I'm in 9A. Bought my dwarf Meyer this past spring. She's in a self watering container to maintain water here in summer. Tree has 3 main stems from the stock. Changed liquid fert to Jobe's citrus spikes bc her leaves are not the true green they should be. 1. It's more than doubled in size. As of today [Dec 19, 2022], I have I have loads of flowers on many stems; many are already fruiting. Groupings of 8 fruits for the most part. I love it but is this healthy for her? 2. It's winter here now so she came inside this week for the next 6 weeks or so. Should I cut prune some of the flowers off since she's so young? Now or wait? 3. One stem put of 3 new stems, and those 3 put out more stems. She's not acting like a dwarf! When and how should these be pruned?4. She's balanced but not shapely [some stems are longer than others]. Prune when and where? Any guidance will be appreciated.
This is a great tutorial. Though mine are in containers and come inside for the winter, I can apply many of your principles. Thanks so much. I'm always up for additional information.
Do your citrus bear fruit after being indoors for the winter. I started 3 citrus this past spring in pots and I wondering if the6 need a cold spell to fruit. Thanks
@@vickimoseley7434 scientifically, I don't know their cold requirements. I'm zone 7 in Delaware. My citrus stay outside until overnight temps are 40°. Calamondin and Meyer bloom nearly year round. Others seem more motivated by fertilizer. I fertilize lightly (half strength) all the time, heavier when they are in bloom and/or carrying fruit. I have Calamondin, Meyer and Key lime. Younger Yuzu and Kaffir lime probably wont bloom until next year. Hope this helps.
Glad it was helpful! The timing and style of pruning will remain the same regardless if they're in-ground or in containers. Most of these lessons should apply across the spectrum of varieties and growing styles 😀
Thank you! I've considered it, but I'm always wary to give health advice for people's pets, because it's more than making one change. Think about this: why do we have a thing called "dog food?" We don't have a thing called "human food." If you fed human beings the exact same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner their entire lives, not only would they go insane (after about 5 days in a row let alone 12-15 years), but they would develop nutrient deficiencies and toxicity of other nutrients. The same thing happens with pets if all you feed them is the same dry, lifeless, shelf-stable dog food every day. We cook a lot of Dale's food, we rotate in different organ meats, beef, chicken, pork, different vegetables, etc., so Dale eats a very varied diet of real food. Dale eats like a bodybuilder: protein, offal, white rice, vegetables, carrots, bone broth, etc., as well as a daily multivitamin, and we supplement his diet with small batch dry kibble here and there to ensure he gets some of the added nutrients the pet food companies add in so he never gets any deficiencies.
@@TheMillennialGardenerthat’s probably the difference is you feed him like that. And reading it how you say I would agree but wouldn’t know where to start.
I bought a citrus lime tree in a pot, about 2 years old. It is being grafted on a Volkam, and the graft is 40 cm above the ground. It is about 1, 40 cm in height, with a very slender trunk. At its top, it has 3 short branches only, and 5 small fruits. I keep it in a balcony. I consider to prune it, and keep it semi-dwarf in size. When is the better time to do it (it is mid November), and where exactly to make the cut. Thank you.
I did not. That probably isn't a bad idea. I haven't spread them around my tree yet. They're in a pile drying out in the sun still. It probably isn't a bad idea to spray them down with pyrethrin first to ensure the leaf miner is dead.
I live in North Florida I have a couple of citrus trees that have fruit on them now is it a good time for me to start pruning back after watching your video my trees are pretty crowded
That's very difficult to answer. It would depend on what the trees are grafted on. You'd have to know all the rootstocks. All mine are grafted onto trifoliate hybrid rootstock, and I still give each tree 24 square feet of growing space (6x4) minimum. You'd be giving each tree less than 10. That sounds very tight to me even on a highly dwarfing rootstock. On standard rootstock, that would only be enough for one tree...
I have an orange tree that gives less fruit, but yearly because I planted a lychee, a gauva and a lemon bush too close to it. Have had it for 10 years now and never pruned it before. I live in Islamabad, Pakistan. I will now prune it after winter/before spring. Hope this helps
New Suscriber... You are very good at describing the various techniques! Thanks! Ps... You seem to have a lot of fun with Dale & are a very good dog Dad... 🐾❤️🐾
I’ve had my Meyer, Wa Navel and Tangelo now a year and a half in pots and when purchased from the nursery they were 30 or 40” already. They all have fruit on them now for the first time and from what I’ve read they ripen mid Nov-mid Feb. I have a few fruit that are still really small, should I take them off to help the large ones fully ripen now? Also, the nursery had me get the jacks citrus blend and it only says how often to water and not what times of the year to not water, any advice? I did also take a few cuts from the Meyer mid summer to sharpen it and a couple rooted, I just have them all in a greenhouse (do you think the cuts will survive winter in the greenhouse? I’m in 8A PNW Thank you for your content and looking forward to your mentioned up coming videos
Some say you want to remove all fruits the first couple seasons. I think you can leave 1 fruit per branch and it'll still do alright. For you at that age, that's probably something like 3-4 fruits. I wouldn't go any longer, or you can stunt the tree. This video will help you for fertilizing citrus: ua-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/v-deo.html When you grow in containers, the tree is confined to the nutrients in that pot. It doesn't have feeder roots to seek out nutrition. Therefore, you need to fertilize regularly, something like every 2-4 weeks or so. I just fed my trees yesterday with some soluble 18-18-21. Citrus are evergreen and don't go dormant, so they need to stay well fed.
My potted Meyer lemon always flowers a ton within a few weeks to a month after a hard prune. It's like pruning gets it revved up to flower. Great video.
Citrus flower based on stress. Cold stress induces flowering in spring, and pruning stress may do it as well. I've heard of commercial growers that whack the trunks with sticks to produce light injury - enough to injure the plant, but not hard enough that the tree can't repair itself - to induce fruiting.
I have my lemon growing in a barrel planter like a tree and it currently has fruit for the first time. Would I need to prune after collecting the fruit?
Hi ML! You are such a great explainerator and have helped me so much!! (Doing fig cuttings soon so I’ve watched most of your fig vids). I have a question...I’m in 9B and was planning on pruning after the oranges are ripe and picked in a couple of weeks. However, now the tree has blossoms on it as well as the ripening fruit. I don’t know if I should prune as planned, As I will be cutting of the blossoms. It’s never done this before....do you have any advice on this? Would appreciate!
That’s a tough call. If you prune, you’ll have to sacrifice the blossoms. Technically, it should flower again in early spring. This may be a false flush of some type. But my personal opinion is, if the tree is young, you really want to focus on form, even at the expense of some fruit. If it is a large, well established tree, maybe you can skip a season. But citrus should be pruned annually, in general.
I have a container Meyer lemon that was planted last March. It took some damage during the Christmas freeze here in NC, so most of the leaves dropped. I didn't prune it in the fall, and it isn't very symmetrical and has some very long branches. Should I do some light pruning now before spring budding or rather wait until fall?
@@TheMillennialGardener Well we send him hugs from the uk from me and my pack of labs, Lilly and her sisters Freda and maya. Who so far are not bothered by the cold here we are having but I am lol they are only 25 months and Lilly is 18 months now. Wow, that happens yesterday she turned 18 months bless her give her a biscuit in the morning. They all cuddled up on my single bed with me… no I have no cover as they keep me warm enough lol. Bless them tho I never thought I’d have more then Lilly but when I was asked to look after the girls for awhile I was like we will try. And it’s been a strange 5 months but they love it living with me. I’m home all the time and have large garden. When it’s time to go back I think it will be hard for them, and me, but I know I can’t keep them all. Money wise for 1 and 2nd I can’t walk them all so that’s been our hardest issue but they run round the garden like there’s no tomorrow so I know they are getting enough excersisereally, seen as Freda has lost 7kg since being here, doing something right! She was 40kg tho and she still needs to loose more, wish I could do more stuff with them but my disability get in the way. They don’t know that as know no difference thankfully, I do tho. Any how’s. Catch ya tomorrow I’m sure night to you and dale. Zzzzz said all the girls lol
Thanks for the video. I have an issue with pruning my orange tree. Whenever I cut off a part of a branch, entire branch dies back (leaves fall off, branch gets dry and brown). Why is that?
When you pruning diseased/buggy branches, do you trash rather than compost? Do you know if bokashi fermented pre-compost would kill pests? I may have to experiment. Thanks.
That's very difficult. I am biased towards Owari, because that's my oldest and largest tree. I don't think I can truly compare the two for another few years so the Brown Select can catch up. I can say the cooler your climate, the better Brown Select is, because it is earlier. Owari is significantly later, so you need to have decently warm Novembers to ripen the fruits.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks for response, I wish I could get some from McKenzy Nursery but being In Houston Texas they probably won’t allow for shipment. Will try to get Brown Select from Local Nursery.
I still remove conflicting inward growth, but satsuma's tend to have a "weeping" habit instead of an upright habit. I let the branches weep down. They don't grow as inward as most orange trees will, like a navel orange or blood orange.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks MG! Do you mulch around the base to keep weed pressure down? Do you have a favorite fertilizer for Satsumas? (sorry to take a mile when you give an inch)
I agree with Jonathan below. They may be dropping the fruits due to drought stress. The BIGGEST things you can do to ensure your trees do not dry out are: 1. Mulch layer, mulch layer, mulch layer. Your citrus should have a 4-6 inch mulch layer. MORE is better. They absolutely love heavy mulch and to send surface roots through the mulch. 2. Drip irrigation if you live in a dry climate, like California, Arizona and much of Texas, or you have wicked dry seasons like Florida.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have two loaded Myers Lemon trees in a "Pop up tent green house" in the back yard facing South east and they have survived nearly 6 years in 50 gallon containers. I haven't seen a video that shows me exactly what you are doing and I really needed it. About half of my lemons are yellow and the rest are yellow-light green. Hoping the recent frost doesn't get them but I surrounded the insides of the tents with water-filled Lowe's 5 gallon buckets. The day temp is right around 80F and it has been as low as 35F but does not seem to have had any effect on the trees. I take the tents down after Easter and cart them to their Southern exposures. Thank you again, and I hope to pick some NC raised Myers lemons in about a week. Two questions: 1. Do you ever try to root the lemon cuttings? 2. I haven;t seen anything on Figbid for cuttings, is that coming soon?
You're welcome. I haven't been able to find a true comprehensive citrus pruning video on UA-cam. They're all too short and not very detailed, or they're so slow that they won't hold your attention. I tried to make the video that I was looking for, so hopefully it was successful. 35F is no threat to a Meyer lemon. They can survive down to somewhere around 20F, but it's good to be conservative. The fruit can be destroyed if it freezes through, though, so around 28F is the "danger zone" for the fruit to get injured. I am going to have a big video next week on protecting trees with water barrels. It is a GAME CHANGER. I do not root citrus cuttings. Because my yard it small, they all must be grafted onto trifoliate rootstock to keep the trees very small. The only exception are naturally dwarfing trees like Meyer lemons and Key limes, but of course, a Key lime is impossible here in-ground. This Meyer will be the only tree I ever grow on its own roots because they're so small, and if it gets killed to the roots, it'll come back. The only other tree I'd ever consider growing on its own roots is a kumquat for the same reason. My current kumquat is grafted, but if it dies, I'd consider a rooted cutting so it regenerates if it dies back.
I’ve watched half a dozen lemon/citrus pruning videos and have yet to find an answer to this: what type of wood do lemons grown on? Example I have lots of other fruit trees where the fruits only grown on year old wood, others on just the tips of last seasons wood, ect.
Citrus are not deciduous trees, so they aren't classified as "new year's wood" and "previous year's wood" like deciduous trees are, because there isn't that defined break in years like you get with deciduous trees. The answer to your question is that citrus fruits on new growth that is several months old. So, if I were to prune my satsuma trees in, say, December, the wood that grows from the heading/tipping cuts will probably flower around April/May, and that wood will probably be something like 4-6 months old. Now, if I pruned my citrus trees in March, they may not have enough time to grow back new fruiting wood in time to flower in the spring, so it may take until the following year for that wood to flower. Does that make sense?
Make sure you remove the thorns if you are going to use the cuttings as mulch. I had a thorn go through my shoe after stepping on a branch I missed under my trifoliate orange ...big ouch lol
That sounds awful. I had one stuck in my flip flop. Went straight through, but the sole was thick enough to save my foot. What you can do is run them over with your lawnmower with the bag on, then dump the bag.
If the tree is small and heavily bearing fruit, it may be stunting its growth. The tree should be thinned every year so it isn't carrying too many fruits, because too many fruits will lead to: 1. Small, low quality fruit. 2. A less vigorous tree. 3. The weight could snap the branches. 4. It could trigger an "alternate bearing" cycle, where it skips an entire year between fruiting cycles. Thinning your tree to keep it bearing within reason, and annual pruning, will overall help the tree's vigor and fruit quality in the long run.
I recently purchased a myer lemon tree, and I don't like the shape. Is a long trunk that is bending because the fruits are on the top. I will love to make this tree a bush. Help anyone on how to do it?
I've never rooted citrus cuttings before, but I imagine it's similar to figs. Take a small, thin, green cutting, dip it in rooting hormone, place it in a soil block, keep it moist in high humidity in a sheltered location around 70-80 degrees F and let it root for 4-6 weeks. Ensure the soil never tries out, but don't keep it wet. It has to be that perfect moisture level. Like I said, I've never done it before, but this is how I'd try it.
Opening the cheese could wake Dale from a coma. It is astounding. We will never know what it's like to have any sense that's that powerful. It's like telepathy or something 😂
Yes, it will flower its normal time in late March/early April. The flowers on citrus form on the new "flushes" of growth, which is typically part of the "Spring Flush" that I define at 2:38. The tree will produce its normal flush in March/April, and that will have the flowers.
I'm going to prune my citrus tomorrow we brought it inside. It's probably 9 feet tall and a very heavy plant. It still hasn't flowered. I think you said it might bloom year seven. It was grown from seed. To be honest I don't know what my daughter's planted.
Generally, seed grown citrus trees will take around 7-10 years to produce their first blooms. Year 7 is a possibility, though they often can take longer. One of the risks with seed-grown citrus is you don't always know what you're going to get, and varieties that do not grow true to type may never fruit. I would recommend giving it a pretty significant pruning of 25% or so of its volume now, and after the new year, give it a nice feeding of a fertilizer high in phosphorous (like MiracleGro Bloom Booster 15-30-15) and another feeding in late February. Between the cold stress of winter, the stress of the pruning, and a couple doses of a higher phosphorous feed, it may encourage it to bloom if it's ready. If it doesn't bloom this spring, keep repeating the strategy year after year. It should eventually flower.
I discuss this in detail at 6:10. The tree is only 18 months old. Those are the original branches of the tree, which could not be removed at planting. Because they are the original branches, they were the first to fruit and are currently ripening lemons. The lowest branches will be removed after the fruit ripens.
People underestimate how vigorous citrus is. If it ever isn't doing well, cut it back hard and give it lots of nitrogen and it'll become new again. Don't you wish people were like that? If we get old, prune us back, give us a big meal and we grow new limbs? 😂 Plants are amazing!
I don't find citrus cuttings to be very valuable. They are also small and green, so the won't ship well, unlike, say, a hardwood fig cutting for rooting. This Meyer lemon was a rooted cutting from Briteleaf.
Seed grown citrus takes 10+ years to fruit in many cases. Growing citrus from seed is usually a bad idea for that reason. Also, many citrus varieties will not grow true to type, so planting a citrus seed has a high probability of giving you a very seedy, poor tasting fruit. Imagine waiting over 10 years to find out your fruit tree isn't worth eating 😕 Grafted citrus trees fruit usually within 1-2 years, so they are almost always the correct way to go.
Very good vid mate but there are just a few things i dont go for and ive been growing 30 years....1...Those branches touching the ground should be removed.....nothing should be touching the ground a) it encourages ants etc up your tree and along with it aphids...sooty mould and all sorts.....so the lower branches should be removed as soon as possible down low.......keeping clear of the soil.......2...I have a lot of trees and most are the shape you are creating...i find when closer to the ground.....they fruit better but i suggest you use a new tool = HEDGETRIMMER .....That would be all over in 2 mins .....dont need to get too technical about it...although i agree with the airflow in the centre and removing inward growing branches.....a lot of what you said was spot on....what do you use to treat the citrus leafminer ?.......here in perth wa...its the worst pest we have for citrus....but also gail wasp.......its terrible and crucifies young trees.......i have found a few things that can combat it........i mix eco oil with neem oil and my first spray is just before end of winter.....the clm lay their eggs there waiting for temps to rise so they can feed on the new leaf candy......the eco oil is a surfactant...so makes it hard for the clm to penetrate the leaf......the neem actually soaks into the leaf and kills the grub......so its vital to make sure the nutrients are there ready towards end of winter....so the spring flush has access to them before the clm come alooking after temps heat up.......so personally i have my food in there in winter so it has winter rains to help break down the organics and its available come spring burst.........CLM love urea as do citrus ! ...so if you can get that in early that helps...as does a foliar spray 2 to 3 weeks before spring with something high in urea.....This really boosts the number of blooms........but through summer and especially autumn when another growth flush will come......its very important to avoid urea at this time and if you are prone to clm..Yhats what they are looking for !....i wouldnt feed in autumn to encourage growth or it will just get monstered by CLM......they are a pain in the arse and even with regular spraying every 10-14 days you wont fully control them but it will help.....established trees will handle it but young ones can be ruined by it....pay special attention to young new growth from 4mm(both sides of leaf) and never spray on open flowers(been there/dont that....flower death).....dont feed whilst flowering as it slows the plant movement....hold off until peas are established......overall a good vid bro ...just those bottom branches shouldnt be touching the ground and save yourself the sweat and use a hedge trimmer.....been doing that for years mate.
I agree the branches on the ground should be removed in theory, but those are the branches that have the lemons on them in the process of ripening, so they cannot be removed yet. I mention that in this video - they will be removed after the fruits are harvested. Because this tree was planted as a very tiny rooted cutting 18 months ago, they were the original branches that couldn't be pruned at the time, and since they were the original branches, they were the first to fruit. I don't want to use electric tools for two reasons: cost and quality of cuts. I enjoy doing it by hand, so I don't need to spend the money. I also don't like the cuts electric tools make, because hand cuts are more precise and less prone to causing injury to the tree. This video was meant to be a "complete guide" for growing citrus that can generically cover almost all growers, no matter where they're located. Some tips won't be applicable to all growers, because not all growers will face the same problems. Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener Fair enough on your reasons for pruning the way you do......i hear you .....I dont know what time of year it is where you are now but you are running a big risk with those low branches.........A lady asked me to prune her tree recently and when i got there it was infested with ant colonies and with that it had scale all over the tree plus aphids(ants farm them)......you dont want ants making their home in your tree just for the sake of harvesting a few fruits!!!.........i strongly suggest you remove lower branches from your meyer lemon asap ......meyer fruit all year round and are vigorous flower producers as well......for the long term health of your tree...keep branches off the floor and ants out of your canopy...because once they get established ...they will live in the root zone as well ....seen it all before mate.......thats a nice looking tree...Thing long term health of that tree and all citrus for that matter.
@@TheMillennialGardener I'm with you on manual pruning. Hedge trimmers just invariably make a shredded cut, which unlike a clean cut, invites pests. Honestly, it doesn't take that much more time to make precise cuts.
You can simply use the pruning shears to chop them up. This tree is still young enough that I didn't need the Japanese saw since none of the branches were thick yet. Cutting them up into 6-10 inch pieces is fine.
Incredible. I made a pruning video 2 months ago here if you want to see it: ua-cam.com/video/ygnk_ydeVsg/v-deo.html On my second channel, I'm publishing a video this evening (4PM EST) that'll feature it in a garden tour. You can find that later today here: ua-cam.com/users/2MinuteGardenTips
If you see presence of leaf miner or swollen branches, I suggest disposing of the wood or burning it. If the branches are not showing disease or pest damage, it makes fine mulch. Alternatively, you can burn and branches and spread the ash, or chop them up with a lawnmower or mulcher.
My potted Meyer lemon always flowers a ton within a few weeks to a month after a hard prune. It's like pruning gets it revved up to flower. Great video.
The stress reaction often causes a fight-or-flight stress response to reproduce. Citrus trees often respond to stress by fruiting. Just whatever you do, don't put them into drought stress once they're holding fruit, or you may encourage fruit drop.
@@TheMillennialGardener yes- I've definitely had that happen before. I've had drought stress cause ALL of my lemon babies to drop. It was so disappointing!
Are you growing citrus trees? Where do you grow them, and how often do you prune? Let us know in the comments below!
Sorry but your citrus pruning is completely wrong
@@pumelo1 why?
@@yvette.3075 he cut it like a hedge and not a fruit tree, it is no longer worth commenting on
@@pumelo1 I think it looks good like a bush/hedge
Hi everyone so question can you also prune tree lemon tree that is in pot's, I bought 1 3years ago and another one 2 years ago and the 2nd no fruit,the first i got 2 lemons last year and2 this year, so brind then inside for the winter, i was wondering i should prune them? It's the 27th of January ?
The first time I have pruned my trees it was a heat wave in February and they barely survived and did not give any yield, of course. Then, I read that citrus trees store energies in their leaves not in their roots to face Winter and grow again in Spring. So, if you prune them in late Autumn or Winter they will suffer and get to Spring in very bad shape. Now that I have pruned them in Spring they are lushy and very productive. This in Southern Italy. Maybe in your climate thay can stand a late year pruning.
A heat wave in February? How warm can it get at 36N latitude in Feb? I'm actually further south than the southernmost point of Italy, and I don't think it's ever gotten above 80F (27C) here in February. February seems *very* late to prune, because citrus often flower in March and April at our latitude. I think you pruned too late for the spring flush, and as a result the trees missed that critical budding. I would give it a try in November like I am pruning. It generally is still mild, and it gives the tree all winter to slowly recover and prepare for flowering.
@@TheMillennialGardener Well, I was going to prune them in April like everybody else in my area (even early June is ok for lemons), but that very unusual temperature (25C instead of 15C!) pushed me to prune all my trees early because I thought it was ok, but it turned into a real disaster indeed for my tangerines, because they may have their own phases that are only partially influenced by temperature and, so, they almost ran out of energies before their time and started to lose lots of leaves as a consequence. Nobody here would prune citrus trees in November for the reason I have explained in my first comment, but we could do that for many other fruit trees that store energies in their roots, since frosts are very unlikely here. It looks like your climate lets you do thing we cannot do. We have as very hot and long Summers as in Florida, but Winters are cold enough (4 to 15C) and last from mid-November to mid-March. Instead, I could not agree more about your way to prune citrus trees. It is very similar to the one taught by Vito Vitelli, an important Italian expert. In addition, he suggests that watershoots above your belt should never be removed but shorten to something between 10 cm (the lower ones) to 30 cm (the higher ones). He has a channel on UA-cam with lots of videos in Italian. The one called "CORSO DI POTATURA AGRUMI a cura dell'Agronomo Vito Vitelli" is quite comprehensive, if you want to see more.
My citrus tree produces oranges that are too dry inside. They are not juicy but dry. How can I help this tree for better oranges?
Thanks for all your citrus tips. I'm about an 45 mins north in Jacksonville. I got an Owari Satsumi and a red grapefruit in 2020. I got about 15 mandarin oranges this year and have about 8 grapefruits. Best fruit I have ever eaten! I got a Key lime and a Meyer lemon last year so looking forward to them producing this coming year. I never would have thought it possible to grow citrus here.
Southern Maryland Zone 7b here. You're the reason I'm growing citrus 😊 My citrus is spending the winter in my small greenhouse. I actually have a dozen key limes ripening. You give such outstanding and practical advice! Thanks for all the videos...and give Dale a treat!
Yes, yes, yes! This is exactly why I make these videos. Every time I hear someone is growing something new because I inspired them to do so, it gives me a reason to keep putting in all this effort. This makes me SO HAPPY to hear I can't even explain it to you! That's awesome.
@@TheMillennialGardenerit’s why I just brought one of each in the uk. They only 4/5 inches high atm and I moved them into bigger pots when they arrived as they were nearly out the bottom of one of them.
It’s coz of you that I’ve done it. Coz I want to try to do more then I have done before and things like these need care yes but they don’t take the time and effort growing from seed does. So I’m going giving them their food and water and pruning and over wintering them will be good things for me and not take the mental energy it takes doing seeds that don’t grow or get eaten etc etc can
Only try.
The apple trees in the garden just do their own thing I’ve never done anything for them, as they already here when I moved in but I do plan to mulch with manure or something to feed them this year as I feel I should and can do something to help them do better.
I just bought a lemon tree today, it is a patio variety. I will be keeping it in a container, because it does it below freezing here around the Triad area.
Like your channel very much.
Zone 10. Bought lemon and orange trees from lowes, but no grows for two years. It's amazing that your lemon tree grew so much from a cutting.
I just got my first citrus tree and I must say your channel is clearly the best I've found on this topic. You provide extremely helpful and useful info, presented very clearly efficiently, in a manner that's easy to digest. Thank you!
First and foremost id like to thank you for everything that you do. The content you provide is practical and easy to watch which believe it or not is hard to come by. I do have a question that I would love for you to answer if you have the time. I live in zone 6a/5b, I have a potted meyer lemon and a kaffir lime tree both about 2 years old. For some reason when I bring them in for the winter and put them under my grow light they start to flower, should I prune the branches back that are flowering or should I let them flower? Neither tree is over 2 1/2 feet tall and I was kinda hoping to get a little more vertical growth out of them this year. I dont know if flowering now will stunt their growth, or what I should do to encourage vertical growth. Hmmm that one question kinda turned into 2 at the end lol sorry for that, again I appreciate the work you put into your channel.
Thank you. I try to make videos that I would enjoy watching and not drone on forever, though some still think I talk too much 😂 My guess is the reason why they are flowering is because you're tricking their day-length with your grow lights. During winter, days only give you somewhere between 6-10 hours of daylight, with only 3-5 hours of that being at decent intensity depending on where you live. When you stick them under grow lights, you're probably giving them what, 16 hours of light? Suddenly, you're throwing off their calendar into long days, so they probably think it's spring when days are long and it's time to flower. My guess is if you cut the light duration, or figured out a way to overwinter them with window light, they may stop doing that so early.
Unfortunately, if you prune them back after they flower, they *may not* flower again for another year and you'll go through a fruitless year. What you probably need to do is prune them *before* you bring them inside, so if they decide to flower you won't be stuck in this pickle.
To encourage vertical growth, you'll want to fertilize them with a fertilizer with a strong nitrogen component throughout late spring and summer. That will encourage vegetative growth.
Thankyou! We’re in zone eight at 5500 feet so our lemons and limes are in the greenhouse as it gets 18 degrees a few times and snows at least once in January. So far so good.
Excellent! I'm working on a new method of passive heating that adds 10 degrees to warm fruit trees. Total gamechange. I hope to have it up next week.
@@TheMillennialGardenerI can't wait. Please drop a teaser.
Good lesson today, thank you . I'm in zone 9 and I'm finally going to have meyer lemons after almost three years of blossoms only. I'm really excited about it . I did remove about half if them to give the lemons space .
Excellent! They are such good fruits. So versatile.
Do you re-use for mulch the pruned branches with leaf miners on the leaves or toss those out & keep them separate from the useful mulching pile?
One of the best pruning videos I have seen. Superb demonstration and information. Master Gardener
Thank you! I tried to make it as complete as possible without being too long.
Dale knows his kitchen sounds!
Thank you for the very informative video.
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
I'm really getting value on tree pruning. Thank you
Awesome info here...and I too forget to wear my gloves and regret it many times (I am getting better at wearing them now), and yes, I too have cut a wrong branch a few times too .... Have to be So Careful when cutting...I always say its not a race and just take your time and not get carried away in the moment. I just planted a new Meyer lemon this week (zone 9 here)...hopefully it will go as good as the ones I have grown in the past. Thanks for this great video, you did a great job!
Sounds like more great advice - as you usually have. Most of our citrus are still in their first year so likely not much pruning to be done this year but surely in years to come - IF they make it of course. So thanks for the advice. We'll probably be needing it more in future years.
Usually, they need a pruning the 2nd or 3rd year. The first year or two, you just want to let them grow. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for all of your knowledge. Have ever tried to root any of the cuttings
I always look forward to your videos. So satisfying! ( would love to see another video about how and when to promote blooming on fruit trees)
Thank you! I will have videos dedicated to that in the spring in advance of the "spring flush." That's when they tend to flower most.
Thank you again for your knowledge sharing…it’s helping me revive my neglected trees. I have a blood orange tree that produced oranges last winter. The wood that produced oranges is now brown(think driftwood) without leaves, no green stripes in the wood, and no leaves. It also fails the “scratch test”. The rest of the tree appears healthy with new growth. Should I remove this wood that appears to be dead???? the limb is about 2 inches in diameter and the largest on my tree.
Thank you for another detailed explanation! I've been learning so much from your channel! I haven't started my adventure with citrus yet, but I really hope to soon. We are in a zone 8b climate, so I'm really optimistic about using your methods to get some great fruit going. We had a really terrible ice storm here a year ago, so I hope we are in the clear for a while.
i live in zone 9a, my lime trees have hundreds of blooms right now. can i prune them at this time before the first frost? thank you love your videos.
Thanks for the very helpful hints on this video.
Great information, very much appreciate it.
Love the tips you give us with your very easy-to-understand vid's! I have asked several citrus nurseries/gardeners (local & online) how to resolve an issue I have with my citrus trees (Meyer Lemon, Owari Satsuma & kumquat). I live in zone 8b (almost 9a) in coastal AL. A few yrs ago we had a severe winter that killed my graft. They were covered but winds blew off the sheets I had covering them. I didn't know I had lost the graft as the trees put on new growth and began growing again. Last year I noticed these HORRIBLY long thorns on my trees plus the fact they had never bloomed nor produced fruit except the 2nd yr after they were planted. Nothing since the cold that got the graft. I researched and found that the excessively long thorns were from the actual root stock growth. I know I need to regraft and my question is, HOW FAR BACK DO I HAVE TO PRUNE MY 7 ft tall trees in order to regraft? Can I prune them back to some of the larger lower limbs and regraft scions to those? WHEN DO I GRAFT in my zone? WHERE DO I FIND SCIONS for regrafting? I'm 65 yrs old and want to see fruits on my 10 yr old trees before I leave this old world. The more years that pass, the chances of this happening are slim to none. I don't know why I can't get anyone to answer these questions for me. I pruned back all of them a few weeks ago since they were over 10 ft tall and I wish to keep them short and more managable for my age. I know I need to prune them even more but didn't want to over stress them with a drastic prune until I found out exactly where I need to graft to these citrus trees and also where I could find scions. In my area there are citrus farms that grow acres of these citrus trees but I can never find anyone around to ask to get some scion cuttings. I plan to make a more permanent structure for their winter protection (very similar to what you have). The root stock trees that are growing are very healthy, dark green but are worthless since I lost the graft. Some of those massive thorns are 3-4 inches long but there are branches that have small thorns 1/4-1/2" MAX) so I'm totally confused as to what is going on with these trees. Is ALL of the growth from the root stock or could some of the graft possibly have survived to have the mature branches with the smaller thorns? ANY suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated as to what I need to do. I did purchase 2 new Meyer Lemon Trees last week but they have no branches big enough to use as scions right now. I'm going tomorrow to see if I can find SOMEONE in the Owari Satsuma orchards locally to see if I can get a few cuttings for scions. I have even thought of making a citrus COCTAIL tree since one of the trees I'm not sure if it is a lemon or satsuma as I lost the tag when I relocated them to a more sunny location 3 yrs ago. I'm also confused on when & how often to fertilize them and what to use. My old brain is giving me fits some days as I grow & propagate fig trees (LOVE your vid's on these and have helped me TREMENDOUSLY in establishing my beautiful fig orchard!!) I also have some avocado trees that need grafting that were given to me last year from someone on FB Marketplace that didn't want to fool with the constant moving the trees inside for winter & back out for spring plus they didn't know they HAD to be grafted to produce quality fruit. I was given 6- (4-6ft tall avocado trees they had grown from seed/pit). I have kept them in my greenhouse (which is now heated with the cold we have been having) along with my ginger, turmeric, dragon fruit, papaya & baby fig trees. I hope to build my much larger TROPICAL greenhouse/high tunnel combo (my design) in the next couple of weeks to grow my tropical/citrus trees in PERMANENTLY to free up the space needed in my smaller greenhouse for my veggie garden seed starting needs. It will be heated, vented and have roll up sides for summer high heat/humidity here. I would have sent this info/questions to you via email but couldn't find one in the description so I apologize for the lengthy comment & numerous questions. Seems no one wants to help people answer questions especially at nurseries unless you buy ALL your plants from them. BTW: I used your Christmas tree light heating method last winter on some eggplant I had growing in one of my raised beds and had eggplant ALL winter long (Black Beauty). Took lots of lights THICK MULCH, heavy mil plastic with a hoop to cover but IT WORKED!!!! I have satellite internet with limited bandwidth usage so I can't spend hours watching YT vid's to find answers to my questions, IF there are any out there specifically addressing my questions. Give Dale a belly rub for me. He is a precious fur baby just like my Baylee (A Yorkie) that can hear a plastic cheese wrapper open when he is in a deep sleep & I'm quiet as a mouse opening it!! He knows that sound and LOVES his little cheese snacks. He is also my FIG TASTER and loves figs as much as I do. I don't have as many varieties of figs as you do but I'm slowly branching out with my newest being a Yellow Long Neck, Peter's Honey, Hilda's Green Honey & Grandpa Simens (a variety that came from Italy YEARS ago as a family heirloom fig tree. I got cuttings from Hilda's Green Honey & Grandpa Simens from a friend in California and they have sprouted roots, I've up-potted & plan to plant this spring. The Yellow Long Neck is in the ground and already 4 ft tall. I also have Chicago Hardy and TONS of Brown Turkey, which is the common fig grown in our area of the south. I propagate alot of the cuttings from my prunings to give to others especially those less fortunate in my area.
Yes, what you're describing is the rootstock taking over, which is probably trifoliate or a trifoliate hybrid based on the description. You will want to cut the tree down to be about 6 inches tall to perform the graft. The graft should be close to the ground. That's going to make it tricky, because the trunk is going to be large and your budwood small. You can either cut the tree down, wait for it to send new shoots from below the cut, and graft onto one of those, or you can use a method like JSacadura does:
ua-cam.com/video/sn3FvLk2pj0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/4p_DKv9lM2A/v-deo.html
You are going to want to watch some of his videos to find out the ideal technique for your situation.
You are going to want to graft in spring after all chance of frost has passed. Don't wait until it gets too hot. As soon as you're sure frosts are done, graft.
If you are going to want to make a cocktail tree, you will have to take a different approach and graft onto limbs. Just be aware that the higher you graft, the more likely the graft will be destroyed by a freeze. That's why I recommend grafting lower. However, if you think it'll be too difficult to graft low, you'll have to do the best that you can. One problem is that you have to be sure that the tree grows evenly if you graft multiple things. You can't let one branch get large and the others stunted. You have to balance them with pruning and keep everything at equal length.
I am not a big grafting expert. I recommend you look at JSacadura's videos to get a better idea.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you so very much for this valuable information! On most of the citrus trees, I need to regraft, there are smaller branches down low. Can I graft some budwood/ scions to those smaller branches as well as to the trunk? I think I will wait on making a fruit cocktail tree until I successfully have new grafts growing this next spring. I will watch the videos of JSacadura and see if I can gather additional info. I also got some hay & have some spare black plastic drums I am going to use to make a warm enclosure for my citrus trees as I saw in one of your last videos. You are truly a wealth of information and I ALWAYS learn new ways of doing things from your videos AND THEY WORK!! Blessings to you & yours and I wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS & a PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!
Always impressed with the quality of your content. Patiently awaiting your next video. I picked up some dwarf citrus today to grow in containers and some incandescent lights for my other trees.
Thank you. I have a bunch of projects filmed. My next 4-5 videos are going to be pretty significant with a ton of content!
OK, I've been watching and learning for a while. Questions. I'm in 9A. Bought my dwarf Meyer this past spring. She's in a self watering container to maintain water here in summer. Tree has 3 main stems from the stock. Changed liquid fert to Jobe's citrus spikes bc her leaves are not the true green they should be.
1. It's more than doubled in size. As of today [Dec 19, 2022], I have I have loads of flowers on many stems; many are already fruiting. Groupings of 8 fruits for the most part. I love it but is this healthy for her?
2. It's winter here now so she came inside this week for the next 6 weeks or so. Should I cut prune some of the flowers off since she's so young? Now or wait?
3. One stem put of 3 new stems, and those 3 put out more stems. She's not acting like a dwarf! When and how should these be pruned?4. She's balanced but not shapely [some stems are longer than others]. Prune when and where?
Any guidance will be appreciated.
Best advice I've seen, learnt a lot
I'm so happy to hear that! Thanks for watching!
This is a great tutorial. Though mine are in containers and come inside for the winter, I can apply many of your principles. Thanks so much. I'm always up for additional information.
Do your citrus bear fruit after being indoors for the winter. I started 3 citrus this past spring in pots and I wondering if the6 need a cold spell to fruit. Thanks
@@vickimoseley7434 scientifically, I don't know their cold requirements. I'm zone 7 in Delaware. My citrus stay outside until overnight temps are 40°. Calamondin and Meyer bloom nearly year round. Others seem more motivated by fertilizer. I fertilize lightly (half strength) all the time, heavier when they are in bloom and/or carrying fruit. I have Calamondin, Meyer and Key lime. Younger Yuzu and Kaffir lime probably wont bloom until next year. Hope this helps.
@@amysnipes4245 thanks so much for your response - yes what you sent was helpful. I need to some research on the varieties I have.
Glad it was helpful! The timing and style of pruning will remain the same regardless if they're in-ground or in containers. Most of these lessons should apply across the spectrum of varieties and growing styles 😀
@@TheMillennialGardener 🤗
Excellent video great instructions, clear details...thanks!
You’re welcome!
Always excellent videos. Question: Would you consider doing a video on what you do to keep Dale so healthy and vigorous? Pet owners would love it.
Thank you! I've considered it, but I'm always wary to give health advice for people's pets, because it's more than making one change. Think about this: why do we have a thing called "dog food?" We don't have a thing called "human food." If you fed human beings the exact same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner their entire lives, not only would they go insane (after about 5 days in a row let alone 12-15 years), but they would develop nutrient deficiencies and toxicity of other nutrients. The same thing happens with pets if all you feed them is the same dry, lifeless, shelf-stable dog food every day. We cook a lot of Dale's food, we rotate in different organ meats, beef, chicken, pork, different vegetables, etc., so Dale eats a very varied diet of real food. Dale eats like a bodybuilder: protein, offal, white rice, vegetables, carrots, bone broth, etc., as well as a daily multivitamin, and we supplement his diet with small batch dry kibble here and there to ensure he gets some of the added nutrients the pet food companies add in so he never gets any deficiencies.
@@TheMillennialGardenerthat’s probably the difference is you feed him like that. And reading it how you say I would agree but wouldn’t know where to start.
I bought a citrus lime tree in a pot, about 2 years old. It is being grafted on a Volkam, and the graft is 40 cm above the ground. It is about 1, 40 cm in height, with a very slender trunk. At its top, it has 3 short branches only, and 5 small fruits. I keep it in a balcony. I consider to
prune it, and keep it semi-dwarf in size. When is the better time to do it (it is mid November), and where exactly to make the cut. Thank you.
very good tutorial pruning lemons
As always, you and Dale crack me up.
Dale is the kind of dog that will keep you young. When he wants to play, I feel like I'm back in high school.
Did you get rid of the leaves with leaf minor or disease prior to using it as mulch?
I did not. That probably isn't a bad idea. I haven't spread them around my tree yet. They're in a pile drying out in the sun still. It probably isn't a bad idea to spray them down with pyrethrin first to ensure the leaf miner is dead.
I live in North Florida I have a couple of citrus trees that have fruit on them now is it a good time for me to start pruning back after watching your video my trees are pretty crowded
Great information, as usual and Dale is adorable😊 Thank you👍
Glad you enjoyed it! Dale says hi!
I have nine citrus trees. I just bought I would like to plant them in the planter box I made 8‘ x 11 would that work?
That's very difficult to answer. It would depend on what the trees are grafted on. You'd have to know all the rootstocks. All mine are grafted onto trifoliate hybrid rootstock, and I still give each tree 24 square feet of growing space (6x4) minimum. You'd be giving each tree less than 10. That sounds very tight to me even on a highly dwarfing rootstock. On standard rootstock, that would only be enough for one tree...
I have an orange tree that gives less fruit, but yearly because I planted a lychee, a gauva and a lemon bush too close to it. Have had it for 10 years now and never pruned it before. I live in Islamabad, Pakistan. I will now prune it after winter/before spring. Hope this helps
New Suscriber... You are very good at describing the various techniques! Thanks!
Ps... You seem to have a lot of fun with Dale & are a very good dog Dad... 🐾❤️🐾
I’ve had my Meyer, Wa Navel and Tangelo now a year and a half in pots and when purchased from the nursery they were 30 or 40” already. They all have fruit on them now for the first time and from what I’ve read they ripen mid Nov-mid Feb. I have a few fruit that are still really small, should I take them off to help the large ones fully ripen now? Also, the nursery had me get the jacks citrus blend and it only says how often to water and not what times of the year to not water, any advice?
I did also take a few cuts from the Meyer mid summer to sharpen it and a couple rooted, I just have them all in a greenhouse (do you think the cuts will survive winter in the greenhouse? I’m in 8A PNW
Thank you for your content and looking forward to your mentioned up coming videos
Some say you want to remove all fruits the first couple seasons. I think you can leave 1 fruit per branch and it'll still do alright. For you at that age, that's probably something like 3-4 fruits. I wouldn't go any longer, or you can stunt the tree.
This video will help you for fertilizing citrus: ua-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/v-deo.html
When you grow in containers, the tree is confined to the nutrients in that pot. It doesn't have feeder roots to seek out nutrition. Therefore, you need to fertilize regularly, something like every 2-4 weeks or so. I just fed my trees yesterday with some soluble 18-18-21. Citrus are evergreen and don't go dormant, so they need to stay well fed.
Great tutorial! Quick question - you mention using the cut branches for mulch but should you remove the leaf miner etc 1st?
I was wondering the same thing...
My potted Meyer lemon always flowers a ton within a few weeks to a month after a hard prune. It's like pruning gets it revved up to flower. Great video.
Citrus flower based on stress. Cold stress induces flowering in spring, and pruning stress may do it as well. I've heard of commercial growers that whack the trunks with sticks to produce light injury - enough to injure the plant, but not hard enough that the tree can't repair itself - to induce fruiting.
I have my lemon growing in a barrel planter like a tree and it currently has fruit for the first time. Would I need to prune after collecting the fruit?
Awesome thanks MG!
You're welcome!
Would love to see a video on pruning a young orange tree in a container.
First pruning.
The procedure is the same with any container citrus.
Hi ML! You are such a great explainerator and have helped me so much!! (Doing fig cuttings soon so I’ve watched most of your fig vids). I have a question...I’m in 9B and was planning on pruning after the oranges are ripe and picked in a couple of weeks. However, now the tree has blossoms on it as well as the ripening fruit. I don’t know if I should prune as planned, As I will be cutting of the blossoms. It’s never done this before....do you have any advice on this? Would appreciate!
That’s a tough call. If you prune, you’ll have to sacrifice the blossoms. Technically, it should flower again in early spring. This may be a false flush of some type. But my personal opinion is, if the tree is young, you really want to focus on form, even at the expense of some fruit. If it is a large, well established tree, maybe you can skip a season. But citrus should be pruned annually, in general.
@@TheMillennialGardener the tree is at least 15 years old, semi dwarf. I’ll leave it for now...I can be an over zealous pruner. Thanks again!!
I have a container Meyer lemon that was planted last March. It took some damage during the Christmas freeze here in NC, so most of the leaves dropped. I didn't prune it in the fall, and it isn't very symmetrical and has some very long branches. Should I do some light pruning now before spring budding or rather wait until fall?
Can you start new seedlings from the cuttings that you pruned off?
Love your Video about how to prune citrus trees. Is it necessary to apply something where you cut if the stalk is large?
Great info! Thanks so much!
With the cut off branches do you chop them further for mulch?
Bless dale he love you so much.
He deserves all the loves and hugs 🤗
@@TheMillennialGardener
Well we send him hugs from the uk from me and my pack of labs, Lilly and her sisters Freda and maya. Who so far are not bothered by the cold here we are having but I am lol they are only 25 months and Lilly is 18 months now. Wow, that happens yesterday she turned 18 months bless her give her a biscuit in the morning. They all cuddled up on my single bed with me… no I have no cover as they keep me warm enough lol. Bless them tho I never thought I’d have more then Lilly but when I was asked to look after the girls for awhile I was like we will try. And it’s been a strange 5 months but they love it living with me. I’m home all the time and have large garden. When it’s time to go back I think it will be hard for them, and me, but I know I can’t keep them all. Money wise for 1 and 2nd I can’t walk them all so that’s been our hardest issue but they run round the garden like there’s no tomorrow so I know they are getting enough excersisereally, seen as Freda has lost 7kg since being here, doing something right! She was 40kg tho and she still needs to loose more, wish I could do more stuff with them but my disability get in the way. They don’t know that as know no difference thankfully, I do tho.
Any how’s. Catch ya tomorrow I’m sure night to you and dale. Zzzzz said all the girls lol
Great and helpful information. Thank you.
Thanks for watching! Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the video. I have an issue with pruning my orange tree. Whenever I cut off a part of a branch, entire branch dies back (leaves fall off, branch gets dry and brown). Why is that?
Helpful!
When you pruning diseased/buggy branches, do you trash rather than compost? Do you know if bokashi fermented pre-compost would kill pests? I may have to experiment. Thanks.
You will probably want to discard or burn any leaves showing pest damage, particularly leaf miner damage.
If you only have one Satsuma which one would you get? The Owari or Brown Select? Thank you
That's very difficult. I am biased towards Owari, because that's my oldest and largest tree. I don't think I can truly compare the two for another few years so the Brown Select can catch up. I can say the cooler your climate, the better Brown Select is, because it is earlier. Owari is significantly later, so you need to have decently warm Novembers to ripen the fruits.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks for response, I wish I could get some from McKenzy Nursery but being In Houston Texas they probably won’t allow for shipment. Will try to get Brown Select from Local Nursery.
You mentioned that satsumas are the exception to the “prune inward facing branches” rule. What recommendations do you have for satsumas?
I still remove conflicting inward growth, but satsuma's tend to have a "weeping" habit instead of an upright habit. I let the branches weep down. They don't grow as inward as most orange trees will, like a navel orange or blood orange.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks MG! Do you mulch around the base to keep weed pressure down? Do you have a favorite fertilizer for Satsumas? (sorry to take a mile when you give an inch)
I live in South Carolina.. how have a few citrus trees . When can I prune my tree
My Daughter in-law has a Meyers Lemon Tree and the Lemons fall off before ripening, what is a good remedy or lack of for that problem, Thank you
Make sure you water consistently.......something high in potassium will help when fruits are ripening.
I agree with Jonathan below. They may be dropping the fruits due to drought stress. The BIGGEST things you can do to ensure your trees do not dry out are:
1. Mulch layer, mulch layer, mulch layer. Your citrus should have a 4-6 inch mulch layer. MORE is better. They absolutely love heavy mulch and to send surface roots through the mulch.
2. Drip irrigation if you live in a dry climate, like California, Arizona and much of Texas, or you have wicked dry seasons like Florida.
He’s adorable 🥰
Some may say too adorable. He can manipulate you unlike any human. Those eyes...they're giant brown marbles.
Manipulate, never. Not Dale. …..
Thanks, here in cali we are trimming our trees today, your video is Very informative. Are you an arborist by trade?
Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that! I'm actually an electrical engineer by degree and a civil transportation engineer by trade.
@@TheMillennialGardener you seriously have a knack for informative teaching, big blessings, brother.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have two loaded Myers Lemon trees in a "Pop up tent green house" in the back yard facing South east and they have survived nearly 6 years in 50 gallon containers. I haven't seen a video that shows me exactly what you are doing and I really needed it. About half of my lemons are yellow and the rest are yellow-light green. Hoping the recent frost doesn't get them but I surrounded the insides of the tents with water-filled Lowe's 5 gallon buckets. The day temp is right around 80F and it has been as low as 35F but does not seem to have had any effect on the trees. I take the tents down after Easter and cart them to their Southern exposures. Thank you again, and I hope to pick some NC raised Myers lemons in about a week.
Two questions: 1. Do you ever try to root the lemon cuttings? 2. I haven;t seen anything on Figbid for cuttings, is that coming soon?
You're welcome. I haven't been able to find a true comprehensive citrus pruning video on UA-cam. They're all too short and not very detailed, or they're so slow that they won't hold your attention. I tried to make the video that I was looking for, so hopefully it was successful.
35F is no threat to a Meyer lemon. They can survive down to somewhere around 20F, but it's good to be conservative. The fruit can be destroyed if it freezes through, though, so around 28F is the "danger zone" for the fruit to get injured. I am going to have a big video next week on protecting trees with water barrels. It is a GAME CHANGER.
I do not root citrus cuttings. Because my yard it small, they all must be grafted onto trifoliate rootstock to keep the trees very small. The only exception are naturally dwarfing trees like Meyer lemons and Key limes, but of course, a Key lime is impossible here in-ground. This Meyer will be the only tree I ever grow on its own roots because they're so small, and if it gets killed to the roots, it'll come back. The only other tree I'd ever consider growing on its own roots is a kumquat for the same reason. My current kumquat is grafted, but if it dies, I'd consider a rooted cutting so it regenerates if it dies back.
You can save the healthy leaves for tea. So yummy.
How much of. What you prune can you root for new trees ?
I’ve watched half a dozen lemon/citrus pruning videos and have yet to find an answer to this: what type of wood do lemons grown on? Example I have lots of other fruit trees where the fruits only grown on year old wood, others on just the tips of last seasons wood, ect.
Citrus are not deciduous trees, so they aren't classified as "new year's wood" and "previous year's wood" like deciduous trees are, because there isn't that defined break in years like you get with deciduous trees. The answer to your question is that citrus fruits on new growth that is several months old. So, if I were to prune my satsuma trees in, say, December, the wood that grows from the heading/tipping cuts will probably flower around April/May, and that wood will probably be something like 4-6 months old. Now, if I pruned my citrus trees in March, they may not have enough time to grow back new fruiting wood in time to flower in the spring, so it may take until the following year for that wood to flower. Does that make sense?
@@TheMillennialGardener Yes, thank you so much!!
Make sure you remove the thorns if you are going to use the cuttings as mulch. I had a thorn go through my shoe after stepping on a branch I missed under my trifoliate orange ...big ouch lol
That sounds awful. I had one stuck in my flip flop. Went straight through, but the sole was thick enough to save my foot. What you can do is run them over with your lawnmower with the bag on, then dump the bag.
I have a Myer lemon tree.. I have never Pruned it.. my tree is so small with l a few branches and they all have fruit, any tips?
If the tree is small and heavily bearing fruit, it may be stunting its growth. The tree should be thinned every year so it isn't carrying too many fruits, because too many fruits will lead to:
1. Small, low quality fruit.
2. A less vigorous tree.
3. The weight could snap the branches.
4. It could trigger an "alternate bearing" cycle, where it skips an entire year between fruiting cycles.
Thinning your tree to keep it bearing within reason, and annual pruning, will overall help the tree's vigor and fruit quality in the long run.
I recently purchased a myer lemon tree, and I don't like the shape. Is a long trunk that is bending because the fruits are on the top. I will love to make this tree a bush. Help anyone on how to do it?
Would you explain how to make/plant cuttings from citrus. Thanks.
I've never rooted citrus cuttings before, but I imagine it's similar to figs. Take a small, thin, green cutting, dip it in rooting hormone, place it in a soil block, keep it moist in high humidity in a sheltered location around 70-80 degrees F and let it root for 4-6 weeks. Ensure the soil never tries out, but don't keep it wet. It has to be that perfect moisture level. Like I said, I've never done it before, but this is how I'd try it.
Haha - my dog comes running when he hears the cheese wrapper too 🤣
Opening the cheese could wake Dale from a coma. It is astounding. We will never know what it's like to have any sense that's that powerful. It's like telepathy or something 😂
Will you have any flowers next year? Don't they grow on the tips of the branches?
Yes, it will flower its normal time in late March/early April. The flowers on citrus form on the new "flushes" of growth, which is typically part of the "Spring Flush" that I define at 2:38. The tree will produce its normal flush in March/April, and that will have the flowers.
I'm going to prune my citrus tomorrow we brought it inside. It's probably 9 feet tall and a very heavy plant. It still hasn't flowered. I think you said it might bloom year seven. It was grown from seed. To be honest I don't know what my daughter's planted.
Generally, seed grown citrus trees will take around 7-10 years to produce their first blooms. Year 7 is a possibility, though they often can take longer. One of the risks with seed-grown citrus is you don't always know what you're going to get, and varieties that do not grow true to type may never fruit. I would recommend giving it a pretty significant pruning of 25% or so of its volume now, and after the new year, give it a nice feeding of a fertilizer high in phosphorous (like MiracleGro Bloom Booster 15-30-15) and another feeding in late February. Between the cold stress of winter, the stress of the pruning, and a couple doses of a higher phosphorous feed, it may encourage it to bloom if it's ready. If it doesn't bloom this spring, keep repeating the strategy year after year. It should eventually flower.
Did you roll over to teach Dale how to do it?
❤ Dale
Why don't you prune it up off the ground? Wouldn't that help with the air flow?
I discuss this in detail at 6:10.
The tree is only 18 months old. Those are the original branches of the tree, which could not be removed at planting. Because they are the original branches, they were the first to fruit and are currently ripening lemons. The lowest branches will be removed after the fruit ripens.
I fret pruning my orange tree. Taking a 4" thorn to the head isn't fun. Perhaps a hardhat is in order.
I’ve done it. Those Kevlar kitchen gloves for cutting and using mandolins aren’t a bad idea, either.
Lol do as I say .. thanks for the video
I really should follow my own advice. Thanks for watching 😆
I have a Eureka lemon since 2015 and I chop it down twice a year. That thing grows back like weed.
People underestimate how vigorous citrus is. If it ever isn't doing well, cut it back hard and give it lots of nitrogen and it'll become new again. Don't you wish people were like that? If we get old, prune us back, give us a big meal and we grow new limbs? 😂 Plants are amazing!
Where did you get your plant from? You should have sold some cuttings!
I don't find citrus cuttings to be very valuable. They are also small and green, so the won't ship well, unlike, say, a hardwood fig cutting for rooting. This Meyer lemon was a rooted cutting from Briteleaf.
💖your dog😄
Thank you! We are lucky to have Dale.
Are grafted trees really that common? I had no idea I thought most people would buy trees grown from seed
love the content, greetings from Baja!
Seed grown citrus takes 10+ years to fruit in many cases. Growing citrus from seed is usually a bad idea for that reason. Also, many citrus varieties will not grow true to type, so planting a citrus seed has a high probability of giving you a very seedy, poor tasting fruit. Imagine waiting over 10 years to find out your fruit tree isn't worth eating 😕 Grafted citrus trees fruit usually within 1-2 years, so they are almost always the correct way to go.
Thank you!
Very good vid mate but there are just a few things i dont go for and ive been growing 30 years....1...Those branches touching the ground should be removed.....nothing should be touching the ground a) it encourages ants etc up your tree and along with it aphids...sooty mould and all sorts.....so the lower branches should be removed as soon as possible down low.......keeping clear of the soil.......2...I have a lot of trees and most are the shape you are creating...i find when closer to the ground.....they fruit better but i suggest you use a new tool = HEDGETRIMMER .....That would be all over in 2 mins .....dont need to get too technical about it...although i agree with the airflow in the centre and removing inward growing branches.....a lot of what you said was spot on....what do you use to treat the citrus leafminer ?.......here in perth wa...its the worst pest we have for citrus....but also gail wasp.......its terrible and crucifies young trees.......i have found a few things that can combat it........i mix eco oil with neem oil and my first spray is just before end of winter.....the clm lay their eggs there waiting for temps to rise so they can feed on the new leaf candy......the eco oil is a surfactant...so makes it hard for the clm to penetrate the leaf......the neem actually soaks into the leaf and kills the grub......so its vital to make sure the nutrients are there ready towards end of winter....so the spring flush has access to them before the clm come alooking after temps heat up.......so personally i have my food in there in winter so it has winter rains to help break down the organics and its available come spring burst.........CLM love urea as do citrus ! ...so if you can get that in early that helps...as does a foliar spray 2 to 3 weeks before spring with something high in urea.....This really boosts the number of blooms........but through summer and especially autumn when another growth flush will come......its very important to avoid urea at this time and if you are prone to clm..Yhats what they are looking for !....i wouldnt feed in autumn to encourage growth or it will just get monstered by CLM......they are a pain in the arse and even with regular spraying every 10-14 days you wont fully control them but it will help.....established trees will handle it but young ones can be ruined by it....pay special attention to young new growth from 4mm(both sides of leaf) and never spray on open flowers(been there/dont that....flower death).....dont feed whilst flowering as it slows the plant movement....hold off until peas are established......overall a good vid bro ...just those bottom branches shouldnt be touching the ground and save yourself the sweat and use a hedge trimmer.....been doing that for years mate.
I agree the branches on the ground should be removed in theory, but those are the branches that have the lemons on them in the process of ripening, so they cannot be removed yet. I mention that in this video - they will be removed after the fruits are harvested. Because this tree was planted as a very tiny rooted cutting 18 months ago, they were the original branches that couldn't be pruned at the time, and since they were the original branches, they were the first to fruit.
I don't want to use electric tools for two reasons: cost and quality of cuts. I enjoy doing it by hand, so I don't need to spend the money. I also don't like the cuts electric tools make, because hand cuts are more precise and less prone to causing injury to the tree.
This video was meant to be a "complete guide" for growing citrus that can generically cover almost all growers, no matter where they're located. Some tips won't be applicable to all growers, because not all growers will face the same problems. Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener Fair enough on your reasons for pruning the way you do......i hear you .....I dont know what time of year it is where you are now but you are running a big risk with those low branches.........A lady asked me to prune her tree recently and when i got there it was infested with ant colonies and with that it had scale all over the tree plus aphids(ants farm them)......you dont want ants making their home in your tree just for the sake of harvesting a few fruits!!!.........i strongly suggest you remove lower branches from your meyer lemon asap ......meyer fruit all year round and are vigorous flower producers as well......for the long term health of your tree...keep branches off the floor and ants out of your canopy...because once they get established ...they will live in the root zone as well ....seen it all before mate.......thats a nice looking tree...Thing long term health of that tree and all citrus for that matter.
@@TheMillennialGardener I'm with you on manual pruning. Hedge trimmers just invariably make a shredded cut, which unlike a clean cut, invites pests. Honestly, it doesn't take that much more time to make precise cuts.
How are you chopping up the cuttings for mulch?
You can simply use the pruning shears to chop them up. This tree is still young enough that I didn't need the Japanese saw since none of the branches were thick yet. Cutting them up into 6-10 inch pieces is fine.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks much
How's the avocado doing?
Incredible. I made a pruning video 2 months ago here if you want to see it: ua-cam.com/video/ygnk_ydeVsg/v-deo.html
On my second channel, I'm publishing a video this evening (4PM EST) that'll feature it in a garden tour. You can find that later today here: ua-cam.com/users/2MinuteGardenTips
Trees near house foundation? The roots will go to your water source , will lift your floor tiles.
That's not going to happen. A root from a Meyer Lemon tree has no ability to damage a 16" thick concrete footer. This isn't a Live Oak.
1. good MULCH tip.
2. ever COOK with the LEAVES?
3. does URINE help Citrus like other trees?
I'm not sure, but I don't think you want to use citrus cuttings as mulch for citrus trees due to the possibility of spreading pests/diseases.
If you see presence of leaf miner or swollen branches, I suggest disposing of the wood or burning it. If the branches are not showing disease or pest damage, it makes fine mulch. Alternatively, you can burn and branches and spread the ash, or chop them up with a lawnmower or mulcher.
Why you didn't grow any cuttings
Citrus cuttings aren't of any value to me. I'd rather use them as mulch.
Your tree doesn't have thornes?
It depends on the variety. If you're referring specifically to Meyer lemons, they have thorns. There are no thornless Meyer lemons.
31st May 2024.
The cheese tax is real
Cutruc diseases
Such a motor mouth...😑
My potted Meyer lemon always flowers a ton within a few weeks to a month after a hard prune. It's like pruning gets it revved up to flower. Great video.
many people are scared to prune but they shouldnt be......it encourages health and vigour.
The stress reaction often causes a fight-or-flight stress response to reproduce. Citrus trees often respond to stress by fruiting. Just whatever you do, don't put them into drought stress once they're holding fruit, or you may encourage fruit drop.
@@TheMillennialGardener yes- I've definitely had that happen before. I've had drought stress cause ALL of my lemon babies to drop. It was so disappointing!