how big will my container citrus trees get?

17 years ago

On a whim I bought three citrus trees - they seem to be the standard "brand" that has an orange oval tag that says "Citrus Tree" and then a separate tag identifying the variety. I bought a Moro Blood orange, Red Navel orange, and a "cocktail" set that has a meyer lemon and key lime.

I have a couple of questions:

1. Will the trunks get larger so that they're more "tree-like" or will they stay "bushy" (currently 12-16 inches high and same diameter)? I have them in 7 gallon containers and wonder how tall they will get.

2. The navel orange has one one inch fruit and 10-15 developing ones. Will they all grow into oranges?

3. The cocktail bush is growing very well, but no blooms yet. When should I expect them?

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

citrusboy
17 years ago
Hmmm Hi Jeff n Jessa, I have a bunch of dwarf citrus in containers and I am wondering the same thing. Mine have only been in for about a year, so they are still sort of bush like. Except for a Standard Wekiwa tangelo which is about 5 feet high and doesn't appear to have max'd out growing tall. May have to prune it.

Anyone know a good rule of thumb? Dwarf size in a container? Standard size in a container?

To answer your question #2, you will probably lose some of the orange fruits. 2% of the fruit only last till ripening is what I have heard. My orange container trees (18" across) lose a bunch but keep a bunch also. It is quite sad when you see all of the small round fruits falling off....

Here is a link where you can see my container citrus. Remember, 2-3 year old trees in my containers for only about a year...

Citrusboy aka Marc

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Citrus
birdsnblooms
17 years ago
Hi..Okay, as far as the trunk growing,..yes it will, but because your trees are bushy, they'll continue to grow as well. This may be harsh, but you can make your trees into standard trees by removing all but the strongest trunk, leaving it in place..then remove bottom branches from the trunk. Continue doing this as tree matures.
ARe you seeing any new growth on your tree that's potted in 7 gallon container? The reason I ask is usually when a plant is overpotted, it takes a while before new growth appears. When did you repot to the larger pot?

I agree w/Marc about the number of oranges you'll get. Espeically for that size tree.

Oh you're so lucky finding a fruit cocktail tree, I'd love having one. The Meyer's should bloom througout the yr, I don't know about the Key.
Are all your trees in huge pots? Toni
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Toni, I've been growing key limes from seeds for well over 10 years. My biggest problem was that in the Spring, as the sun rises higher in the sky, I couldn't get enough sunlight far enough into my rooms through south windows to keep them growing before it became warm enough to put them outside, at least during the day. So I wound up killing off the trees as they became large, but not before I was able to harvest at least some fruit. As of last July, I finally have a greenhouse. It's only about 8' x 15', but it's attached to the south side of my house so heating costs aren't as bad as freestanding versions. I now hope to develop some 8' high trees that will bear fruit on a more consistent basis. I have always put the trees outside in the summer, after uppotting in the Spring if necessary (I NEVER uppot in the fall). I'm not sure what I'll do this year. I currently have 10 trees growing in 4" to 10" clay pots. I may put half of them outside and keep the others in the greenhouse during the summer to see what happens. BTW, the largest tree actually has 6 flower buds with 2 open. I think I have successfully fertilized one so far. However, since the tree is still a bit less than 3 years old, I don't know if it will actually produce mature fruit. Bob
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Thanks, Mike. I hope I'm posting this right. I have no idea if he might be a cutting. I dug around a little at the base and I don't see an obvious graft, but just because I don't recognize it doesn't mean it didn't happen! I've been top dressing every so often with composted manure and plain old compost and a little worm casting tea a couple of times. He dropped his leaves once about a year ago because he was too wet, and that was when I repotted him in the citrus mix. He came back fast after that. In the summer (we're zone 5) he sits on a SW corner of the patio that is sunny all day. I acclimate him to that location, of course. In the winter, he has a west facing window right next to him and a south facing window a few feet away. I haven't been giving him extra light, but maybe I should. I have a container fig that will join him inside this year, so it's probably time to think about more light. Our indoor temps are right around 68, but he's in a window, so probably cooler.
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gw:jeff-n-jessa
17 years ago
I repotted earlier this summer, right after I bought the trees. I think the pots may actually be 12 inches (not sure what that translates to for gallons).
karpes2
17 years ago
I have two owari trees in 10 gallon containers (regular trees not dwarf) that I will re-plant in 30 gallon containers next year. My thinking with these trees is to grow them as large as possible and still be able to wheel them into my shop where I can control the temperature during a freeze. When these get unmanageable I plan to sell them and start with two new ones. The whole idea behind this plan is to always have at least two larger trees to plant after a killing freeze. ItÂs kind of fuzzy logic, but the idea of having spare trees seem good at the time. What do you think?

how big will my container citrus trees get?

Comments (4)

citrusboy

birdsnblooms

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