Jon, you can tip-prune the longer branches, but do not prune them back to the trunk. They will produce new leaves and the leaf nodes as your tree recovers. And, I would wait a bit to increase fertilizer on this tree. Otherwise, follow the instructions I gave you with your Key Lime. And, I would definitely increase the well size on this Meyer. You want your drip line to be at least to the edge of the canopy or further out. The feeder roots exist at the drip line (edge of the tree canopy), so you want the water and nutrients to flow outward, away from the trunk, and towards the outer ring of your tree well to the feeder roots. So, the outer edge of your tree well should be lower than the tree, so your water and fertilizer flows outwards towards the perimeter of the water well. Be sure that this little tree gets some afternoon shade, too.

Patty S.

Patty,

When you say tip prune, how much does that mean to cut off? 1 inch, 6 inches, a foot? And I can do this now? It's summer now in AZ. LoL

Yeah I always knew I would need to make the well bigger but I thought I might have a year or so before I really needed to do it, since the tree is so young. But your thinking I should do it sooner then later.

needs some mulch also.

mike

Okay, prune down to leaf nodes that are facing outward, so your pruned branches will create outward facing branches. Prune to shape, so bring those long whips back down to the edge of the rest of the canopy. And yes, do enlarge your well. I would recommend a round well, since your roots tend to reach out in all directions, not in a square :-) And, yes, mulch your well. Your well perimeter should be lower that the trunk of the tree, so water moves outward, away from the trunk (think I mentioned all this in my post about your Key Lime). Paint the trunk or wrap it, mulch your well with about 3" of wood chip mulch. Provide afternoon shade. Fertilize every 2 to 3 months as explained with your Key Lime post. Probably better to do one large post with both trees, since the advice is going to be nearly similar.

Patty S.

I do have the trunk painted on both trees. I'm not sure if your seeing it or if you think I should go higher with it?

Oops, missed than, JR. You're probably okay, but painting the main branches wouldn't hurt, especially if this tree is not getting afternoon shade, since there is a lack of canopy, so it cannot really shade itself well until new leaves grow back.

Patty S.

Being near Phoenix, your soil pH is probably near 8 or above; that means your tree is not absorbing key minerals like iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc... If you know the pH of your soil and it is above 7.5, I would add a soil drench of chelated minerals, or give it a good foliar fert every 15 days that contains those minerals. The leaves can absorb key minerals, even when the pH of the soil prevents the roots from getting them.
As for pruning, this is a young Meyer; and Meyers, like all citrus store their reserves (carbohydrates) in the trunk and branches, so every piece of branch you cut robs stored nutrients. I would leave it for now and wait to see how it fills in the spaces; you can always prune later for shape... the only good reason to prune citrus. FYI the Meyer is really more of a bush than a traditional "tree" so you can forego trying too hard to shape it.

I don't meant to sound harsh, but that appears to be about the most 'hostile' plant environment I have ever seen! What kind of soil is that?

Is it planted a tad too deeply?
I see no root flare.

Patty, thanks for the advice, I'm going to put my thinking cap on a create a type of shade I can put over these trees in the afternoon.

rhizo, I'm not sure what you mean by most hostile environment, are you meaning just the soil? Or is there other concern? I'm not sure the soil type, it's not clay type, I drains very quickly. Not sure what specifics your looking for? This is all still new to me.

John, I have not had my soil tested, but it looks as though it would probably be the route I should go, so I'm not guessing. I will start applying foliar spray 2 times a month and see if this helps it out. I will start the process of getting my soil tested.

cearbhaill, I have actually had someone tell me it was too deep before and I have had someone say it is planted just fine. So who knows? But my question is, what is root flare?

Thanks for all your input! Jon

Hi Jon,

By 'hostile', I suspect rhizo means to say that the environment that Meyer is in looks to be a bit dry - dry looking soil with no mulch to conserve water around the tree's roots, an enclosed environment and heat-reflective rock cover that further enhances/traps heat around your citrus...

In this kind of an environment you definitely want to make sure your citrus is getting sufficient hydration (in addition to John's good comment above of making sure your soil has the appropriate pH so that nutrients are optimally absorbed).

Can you give us a little more information about:
1) Your current day and night temperatures? Do you have dryign winds?
2) Watering frequency and amount at each application? How long does it take for the water to drain?
3) What prior months did you applied fertilizer?

In answer to your question about what is root flare, take a look at the following photo of one of my Meyers and how it is planted. At the interface between the soil and the tree's trunk, you'll see the beginnings of the roots (this is the root flare) as they start to 'flare' out into the surrounding soil. You want these exposed to make sure the tree isn't planted too deeply so that it gets proper gas/oxygen exchange and won't promote rot. You'll also notice that my tree is mounded and mulched higher than the native soil level so that the tree drains well.
{{gwi:557786}}

Best of luck!
Tim