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Need help identifying citrus and pruning

15 years ago

I just purchased a house this summer with 2 citrus (according to the realtor) trees in the backyard. They have deep green leaves about 2" long by 1" wide. The new leaf growth is a lighter, bright green, and smaller leaves. Wondering what kind they might be? They're also covered with suckers, you can't tell they're even supposed to be trees, they look like giant bushes. They must be pretty old, the interior trunks are a good 12" diameter. I am wondering if pruning them and trying to get them to produce will be worth the while? I've been surfing the net trying to get answers, but so far no luck. Any ideas or sugestions would be appreciated! Thanks.

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Comments (4)

citrange2
15 years ago
It's not possible to tell from your description what kind of citrus they are - but they do sound like citrus.
Can you post some photos?
Please don't destroy such wonderful old trees.
First you must deal with the suckers. Do you mean from the roots or from the trunk?
From the roots you need to dig down a few inches and cut them off.
If from the trunk, can you see a graft line? Everything below should be cut off level with the side of the trunk. If you can't see a graft line, are the leaves different on low down shoots? If so, again these are from the rootstock and should be removed. Otherwise, if there is clearly one main trunk choose a suitable height to produce a better shaped tree, and remove all lower limbs.
That's a start.
rainrobin84
Original Author
15 years ago
Unfortunately I am not able to upload pictures from my camera at this point in time -- I thought maybe I could scan a couple of leaves from the trees and upload them though. Will try to do that soon.

One thing I forgot to mention about the leaves is that they are very shiny, glossy. They don't look the same as my neighbor's citrus tree leaves.

On closer inspection of the trees, the suckers all appear to be coming from the roots. Someone must have attempted to completely remove one of the trees a while ago, as the original trunk is completely cut off nearly at ground level. A friend suggested to me yesterday that if I remove all the suckers except for one strong-looking one and focus on nurturing it, it could start to produce. Is that true?

The other tree has the original trunk, but I couldn't identify a graft line anywhere. The leaves from the branches at the top of the tree don't look different than those off the sucker branches.

I also have two lemon trees, with lots of thorns. (Are all lemon trees thorny?) One has a few small fruits in the interior of the tree. The leaves are all edged with brown and spotty-looking. Is this just from lack of water? I've watered it the last couple of mornings.

The other lemon tree looks half-dead, all the branches on the west half of the tree have scabby, scaly bark and no leaves. From articles I've read, it sounds like it could possibly be scorched? It is in the front yard with no protection from the hot afternoon sun. The leaves on this tree look similar to what I described on the tree, only not really green at all, yellow in the middle with brown edges and spotty all over.

What is the best way to start taking care of the lemon trees, regarding fertilizing, water, pruning, etc.?

Thanks for all your help!
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Hi, Atheen. Got your message a few days ago, but often have trouble keeping up with mail from Houzz. Tim was referring to directional pruning. This pruning cut will produce a branch that grows to the right. If the cut was lower, a branch would occur in the axil (crotch) of the next lower leaf and grow left. If higher, above the highest leaf shown, it would yield a branch that grows away from the view point and to the left. I think I'd tend to do the pruning in 2 stages. The trees are really lanky, and you want foliage close to the trunk. It's best for the tree if you 'chase' the foliage back to the trunk in stages, rather than simply pruning the tree hard and hope it back-buds. I'd tip prune it a week or so before moving it outdoors. The pruning, along with added photo load and air movement will force back-budding that should offer a lot of good pruning opportunities. Once you see the new branches erupting, you can prune back to just above those branches. In 2D, it appears that you have about 5 branches growing from very close to the same spot on the smaller tree. This is going to cause a lot of thickening in that part of the tree. If what the picture shows is how things really are, you should think about removing a couple of branches from that area to prevent the unsightly thickening common to citrus with that branching issue. Once the new branches start grow, you'll have a lot of pruning opportunities. If you tell yourself that your focus needs to be on getting the tree whipped back into shape, you won't wimp out on the pruning. ;-) Al
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Many citrus sold up north are not grafted, but are cutting-grown. I would leave the fruit on and compare it to the developing fruit up top. It sort of looks like it could be grafted, but it's not a given for plants sold up here. Probably depends on the source of the plant. I know our local Home Depot, when they sell citrus at all, sell them as rooted cuttings....Meyer lemon, Key lime, Persian Lime and Calamondin.
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gatormomx2
15 years ago
Contact your local Agricultural Extension Office . They will have a citrus expert on staff to help you with all your questions .
You have a ton to learn but plenty of information available . Give both yourself and your trees time and patience .

This is the general link to your state : http://ag.arizona.edu/extension

Here is the link to the citrus page : http://ag.arizona.edu/crops/citrus/citrus.php
rainrobin84
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion -- I'm sure it will be helpful!

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