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Need help Identifying this Citrus tree

15 years ago

I purchased this Citrus tree from a nursery that is going out of business for $20 (15 gallon) but it had no tag on it so I have no idea what kind of Citrus tree it is. I took a couple of pictures of the leaves and the base of the tree. See the link below. There are some rings (different colors) on the base of the tree. Any info would be great!

Thanks again,

Allan

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5692&l=cfaea&id=1032382439

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree

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Comments (5)

damethod
15 years ago
It looks like a grapefruit tree. Citrus trees that are sold at nurseries are usually grafted. The lines on the tree probably indicate the point where the rootstock and the aniticipated tree were joined. As the tree grows, that will disappear.
citrusenthusiast
15 years ago
Those paint markings are what field grown nurseries use for identifying scion and rootstock combinations. It is hard to tell from the photos the exact colors. Please list them here from top to bottom and we may be able to identify it for you. I say may because most nurseries use a standard color coding chart while some may have developed their own standards.
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Considering the upright growth habit and the big thorns on your tree, it is surely a seedling (as opposed to a grafted or cutting-grown) tree. So it is juvenile. Until it reaches maturity, it won't flower. From the appearance of the leaves, I'd say it is most likely a sour orange (Citrus aurantium), and if so, it is likely a sprout from the base of a previously grafted tree that froze at some time in the past. So the tree is a rootstock. It is possible that it's a grapefruit seedling, but it looks to me more like sour orange. If grapefruit, it will be quite cold-susceptible, especially while small. Sour orange is fairly cold-hardy and may be ok, especially if it is in a protected site. In either case, the lack of fruit is the due to the juvenility of the tree. It needs to get substantially taller, at which time it should start blooming. 9 feet is likely close, so it could be in the next couple years, assuming you don't prune it off, and that it doesn't get frozen.
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Need closer up pictures. Suspect magnesium for the yellow leaves. Suggest you get a goood fertilizer wit all the trace elements.
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I was also going to say Calamondin. it's a cross between a kumquat and... I forget. A mandarin orange? Point is, like a kumquat the skin is sweeter than the fruit. It should get fully orange, but it will always be sour, similar to a lemon. In the Phillipines they make a kind of lemonade from the juice (they call it Calamansi if you want recipes) and use it in cooking anywhere you'de use lemon (on fish, etc). Calamondin also makes an excellent marmalade since the skin isn't bitter. By the way your tree has a magnesium deficency, that color pattern on the leaves in't how its supposed to look. :) A fertilizer with micronutrients, like Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro or Osmocote Plus will fix that up. (because its a waxy, time release pellet, Osmocote Plus is *extremely* difficult to f-up, which is always a plus for me, lol).
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john_bonzo
15 years ago
The double-leaf (winged petiole) and the lighter shade of green color of the leaf also make me inclined to guess that it is a grapefruit.
allan210
Original Author
15 years ago
Here's the colors of the rings on the tree from top to bottom:

Red (but it could be orange its faded)
Yellow
Black
Brown

I took the photo to a local nursery and they think it might be a RIO Red Grapefruite tree since they are very popular out here.

Again thank you for all of your help,

Allan
citrusenthusiast
15 years ago
The yellow ring may mean you have a 'lisbon' lemon. The red or orange would tell you which lisbon. Prior Lisbon could be the one. Black on the rootstock might be a 'trifoliate' and the brown which trifoliate like rubidoux or rich 16-6.

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