Well done Laura. This tree is looking very good at first glance. :)

Thank you! I hope he does not suffer too much from the bare root planting and lose his limes!

His roots were perfectly healthy. I did not have to trim.

He was the first, so about 4 years...I've only really become obsessed and expanded my collection this last year. I've had the lime, lemon, and Adam the guava nearly all that time ;-).

He looks great Laura! How many limes do you get per year? My bearss lime is the first of my citrus to give me proper fruit (excluding calamondins and kumquats) so it has a special place in my heart. Mine is tiny but just started growing actively this week since repotting- yay! I got a bigger Persian this spring that I am excited to see take off.

Hobby, he is not as productive as the Meyer. I think maybe about 10 or thereabouts. I honestly am not even sure exactly what he is. I bought him so long ago and did not keep the label. The limes are about the size of my Meyer lemons, perhaps a tad smaller....very juicy though. For such a big tree, I thought he'd produce more. Let's see what he does this year. He has a few big limes already, but has tons of tiny ones set. I hope this transplant does not make him drop them all! He needed it though. Although his roots looked healthy, the soil stayed moist for a long time. I think the only reason he fared as well as he has through the years is that I was very careful not to overwater him and also potted up a couple of times. This big pot should last him for a while. He was probably less than a foot tall when I got him and is now well over 5 ft and quite bushy (as you can see).

Laura, I am very impressed with that tree! A job well done with all your others too. Do you keep it in your house in a sunny window all winter? What did you feed it? I must say it looks pretty good potted in what ever it was. Did you re pot every year?

I can only imagine how much easier it will be to care for in the 5.1.1 and the even more potential it will have. Nice job

Thank you! Yes, they spend the winter by a very sunny window in my kitchen area. I have been feeding it FP for the last year or so. Before that, I used a citrus fertilizer and even added chicken manure to it at least once...gasp! I know better now. I potted him up two times before this time. His first pot was tiny (as he was)...then he grew up kind of gangly. That is a constant battle. I just cut two large tall, gangly branches about a week ago, both close to 12 inches. I prefer a bushier tree, so I trim accordingly.

Yes...the 5-1-1 will be much easier to care for...no more mushy soil and gnats!

I always wonder about the gangly branches too... to trim or not to trim. I have noticed that the nurseries seem to trim tall shoots quite a bit and I always wonder if they do that to stimulate new growth at the cuts or just to maintain shape. Record Buck seems to do this a lot.

I have a calamondin with some gangly growth and I am wondering if I should cut the ugly tall bare branches? It is recovering from 5-1-1 uppotting trauma. It's my oldest tree that was in the worst mix.

Ugly calamondin- should I trim those gangly branches? And also this tree always seems to have lighter green leaves than anyone else even under the same fert regimen. Perhaps the old poor mix was inhibiting nutrient uptake?

Pretty calamondin- this one is really responding to the 5-1-1!

Hobby, I never hesitate to hack away. I prefer stockier trees to talk gangly ones. I've found that trimming will promote growth in lower areas...where I want it.

Ok, I just saw the pics. I would definitely trim the leafless branches. I would also maybe trim a few on the other.

Thanks yes I think definitely on pic 1 I should. I was waiting to see if new leaves would sprout on the bare branches but I think the waiting is done!

I have just been nervous to trim because I thought I read on the forum that a lot of varieties fruit from the tips of new branches.... but I guess I shouldn't be encouraging fruiting right now with my trees so young. Should be focussing on green growth.

Really on number 2 too? Scary! ;)

Oh and also where do I trim... right above or below a node or does it matter?

Hobby, the pretty one is up to you and what you want (it is a great looking plant :-)...if it were mine, I might chop a couple of the branches (second from left and right)...they seem to have a little gap of leaves. Don't worry, they will sprout up again bushier. You can leave it like that also, I just favor bushier growth.

With Calamondin, it really does not matter where you cut, but if it were me, I would let it all grow back again and leave it tall..lol All those branches look very healthy even bald. But cutting now is a much better time than in the dead of winter or even fall)

It's a beauty...

Laura, I hear ya about the gnats..I hated those buggers! I never get them anymore, thank God)

Laura Very nice job on a beautiful tree. Great job

Hobby I see you found citrus planting containers that came with handle. Truly an artistic choice of pots.

Lol Steve! Yeah, I may have to resort to those pots myself ;-)

Hobby, you can spray paint them some nice color and paint some nice decorations on them. Laura, I see that your pots are black. I wonder if you should be concerned about your roots getting cooked in the summer heat. I never worried about it until I joined this forum but now I spray paint my dark pots a cream color.

Meiwa on Kuharske Citrange, New Zealand lemonade on US897, and New Zealand on unknow propriety rootstock from four winds

The stick in the empty bucket is not a part of the live tree.

Meiwa on Kuharske Citrange, New Zealand lemonade on US897, and New Zealand on unknow propriety rootstock from four winds

Mike- thanks for the input, I knew someone was going to say to keep waiting for the branches to fill out! It's killing me seeing those scraggly branches though! But you are right, they are nice and green. I am having that same problem with this tree that others are having, it keeps flowering instead of leafing out.... I don't think it's in death throes though now that it has been repotted in 511 so let me pick off the fruitlets one more time and give it the chance to leaf out again. I will give it til the first week of July and then if there are no new leaves I will give it the Laura treatment and chop away! Thanks as well Laura!

Steve, yes I like to repurpose too! I had a bunch of old honey buckets kicking around so I thought I had better use them up and I though that the white would help keep the heat down on the roots. It does seem to be working.

Vladimir, great idea about the painting.... will you come over and help me with that though because I have 30 to do!!! ;) Plus 7 figs actually. I've already gone broke on reptibark, now will go further into the hole on paint! It is a good suggestion, but not sure I will ever get to it ;).

Thanks everyone! Vladimir, my citrus are not always in full sun. I'd never thought of that before. I'll keep a watchful eye on it. Hobby, I wish I could go help you! I'd love to visit that area. We can set up a field trip ...,,;-)

That would be fun Laura we would certainly have lots to talk about!

I hear you on the reptibark costs...ouch! Vladimir, now I'm worried about the roots in the black pots....how would I even know? They seem fine thus far. I guess if it ever gets incredibly scorching hot, I can hose them down. I don't want to paint them. Most of my trees are on my brick patio and one side of them is along a stone ledge. That provides a bit of shade for their pots. Others I have along my house.

I have reptibark soaking for my shipment from Harris which now appears lost...argh! I spoke to them after hours today and hopefully tomorrow they can track the shipment.

Vlafimir, I'll post a screen shot of my order...

Here you go...

Wow, Laura I want a Xie Shan!

Re how would you know if your trees are being damaged by heat? I wanted to know at what soil temperature do citrus tree roots start showing damage? I finally found a paper by Ingram, Ramcharan and Buchanan, Critical High Root-Zone Temperatures for Container Grown Citrus that provided the answer (at least for Carizzo citrange): 40 C or 104 F.

So, I went out and stuck the probe of my digital (uncalibrated) roasting thermometer into some of my small and large pots of various colors and sizes from 6 " to 16" and got readings of 81 - 85 F. Dark 12" pot was 3 F warmer than cream colored 12" pot. Ambient temperature was 73 F. I was surprised that the size of the pot did not make much difference. I guess they had reached equilibrium by the time I took their temps.

I got a murcott this season too!

What time did you take the temps Vladimir? It's still that temp right now or was it earlier today?

I took the temps at about 12:30 pm

Great idea to test them, it would be interesting to do on a very hot day to see the range.

Thank you for the wealth of information Vladimir. Assuming a linear relationship, I wonder if we could graph and extrapolate at what ambient temperatures we reach the danger zone. I guess we would have to take into account the color of the pot since you found a difference. I will try it out when temps get warm...so far that has not been much of an issue. I am going to call Harris again today during business hours to see if they can track the shipment. I have everything ready for them...even the reptibark soaking in a tub...

I think we will do that for a science/math project with my older two kids this summer. It will show my son some real-life applications of math concepts and my daughter can try her hand at predicting a hypothesis. If the relationship is not linear, then we can discuss that also...thank you! I am always looking for projects like these to teach my kids...nothing like a real world example to solidify those concepts...:-)

Hey Laura, that is a great idea!

Great choice on the Murcott Laura. Those are the original "Cuties" you buy at the store now as seedless mandarins.

Evan

I got a Honey Murcott from LemonCitrus because my daughter and I love Cuties. I posted a thread about that tree not doing well a few months ago. I put it into gritty mix and it has been out in the sun, It has shown no change what so ever. I was hoping being outside would help but it has not. I have no idea what is wrong with it.

I wonder if there are just differences in vigor of various trees - even within the same species. Evan, do you have a Murcott? If so, it will be interesting to see how it does in ground. Vladimir, I have even noticed a differences between my Meyer lemons. Alexander the Great's flowers have an amazing fragrance. I have two others that I ordered about a year ago from the same place and they do not smell nearly as strongly. It will be interesting to see if the lemons vary.

After a long talk with someone at Harris, it appears that they got confused and did not send out my four trees...that's ok, I'm just happy they are not lost in a box dying somewhere. The bad news is they do not have the Ponkan, which I'd heard great things about. That's ok. They recommended another that they say is quite similar (in the same family). I'll expect them Wednesday of next week. I guess the reptibark will need to soak a bit longer....

I took some temps...the ambient temp is currently 77...the pots ranged from 79-84. As I suspected, the ones near my stone wall, were partly shaded (the pots). Also the ones with a denser canopy were lower...lots of variables. One distinct difference was that the gritty mix was several degrees warmer than those in the 5-1-1...

Vladimir what rootstock is your honey murcott on? Sometimes some trees are less vigorous than others. If your tree isn't looking any worse i'd just be patient and wait to see signs of new growth...it will happen.

Laura, I do not have a murcott, however, I do have 2 Tango mandarin trees, one is on Carrizo and the other is on Macrophylla. My Tango tree on Macro seems to be much more vigorous than the Carrizo tree. The Carrizo that's been in ground for 2 years has been at a standstill for months but is hanging on to 3 fruit and the Macro tree that's only been in the ground for 5 months is continuously showing new growth. Tango is the same tree as a Murcott, see excerpt from the UCR citrus variety collection describing how they developed the Tango.

"Tango is the result of a mutation induced by irradiating budwood of W. Murcott Afourer mandarin."

Evan

Evan, interesting how they vary. I guess the rootstock can make a big difference. I'm so new to this, but find it fascinating.

I have grown trees all on the same rootstock and some took rears tor much and others shot up. Identical trees will vary their own growth rates tremendously from one another. You may have a very fast macro and a very slow Carriso. The Carriso should not be standing sill but should grow well. I had one pear tree take 15 years before it put on more than 3 inches growth a year. It happens.

Evan, it is grafted to Carizo root stock. Is that significant?

Vladimir, not as significant in your situation as a potted tree. In ground trees are a different story, Carrizo is more susceptible to root rot and phytophthora. On one hand I have a gold nugget mandarin on Carrizo that has doubled in size in 2 years, yet across the yard my seedless Kishu on Carrizo just had the top half of the tree fade away and die over the last couple weeks, I'm not sure why, but sometimes it just happens. Carrizo is a good rootstock and is listed as a rootstock of accession compatible with the murcott scion. For some further info I really like C35 as I've stated in my other posts, it produces a compact, stout, bushy tree with very juicy fruit in the desert. Carrizo is a more open, upright, leggy type of tree that can be encouraged to Fill out by trimming and encouraging side growth, also listed as a standard size tree, C35 is semi dwarf. Just don't over water and your tree should do just fine. If you can get trees on C35, I would, that is my rootstock of choice, just my opinion.

Evan