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First time poster. I am a very novice plant owner. I recently purchased a Duarte Citrus Tree (I think it is a Mandarin Orange tree but it may be a Lime tree as well. It had both tags on it, unfortunately) while in South Carolina and then brought it back to Pennsylvania, and then New York. It has been doing quite well and has been sprouting new leaves from all of its branches. I am wondering if I should be pruning these new leaves or something because the lateral branches are growing so rapidly that they are making the branches so heavy that they don't stand up properly and are beginning to sag.
It is worth mentioning that I don't know any of the plant care lingo or basic techniques, but I am an adept Googler and can figure out the idea most of the time.
In the pictures, the dark green leaves are the original plant and the light green is the new growth that is going hogwild. Any help would be most appreciated.
I am also a very novice gardener, with an affinity for citrus trees. That's a pretty plant you have there!! Because I don't really know what I'm doing (partly absorbing the info from Dave's Garden members, partly winging it), I'm not sure I should give you advice, but I will tell you what I've been doing. I have 3 lemons (Improved Meyer, Ponderosa, and Variegated Pink Eureka) and 2 limes (Key Lime and Bearss Lime). I just got them all this year, and they have all taken off like yours have. I do a lot of staking and tying with pantyhose to support the newer stems. I can post pictures of mine this evening after I get home. Maybe someone who knows the "correct" answer can tell me if I am doing the right thing or not. It seems to be working so far (no broken stems), and I feel like I am able to "train" the tree to grow the way I'd like. By using a couple of 48" garden stakes (rods) and pantyhose, I have been able to get my lopsided key lime tree to stand up straight and not be so lopsided anymore. Hopefully, with time, the tree will grow like that on it's own and won't need the stakes anymore. ??
Shawn and jaime, congratulation on your new gardener's interest, fruit trees this time citrus.
Citrus trees are easy to grow in your backyard. They're ornamental, productive, have handsome shiny green leaves and fragrant flowers, and producing wonderful fruits.
Find a sunny position for them, planting them alongside a sunny wall, where radiated heat will warm them or they may be kept in pot to bring them inside during winter. Water well but with perfect drainage, effective airflow, infrequent deep watering and seasonal feeding and your tree will be happy.
Citrus don’t need pruning to fruit well. The more leaves that are on a citrus tree, the larger and more numerous the fruit, they tend to make a well-shaped tree on their own.
Prune only to remove dead, diseased, broken or sucker branches on MATURE TREES.
When trees have excessively dense foliage, some pruning is necessary to admit light into fruiting areas.
So I shouldn't be pruning. Good to know. Regarding the staking and tying to support the lateral branches; should I be using a separate stake to support each branch or a central stake, next to the trunk, and then supporting each branch with those fuzzy pipe cleaners?
If you are tryng to support the individual branches that are a bit top heavy with new growth use individual bamboo stakes for each branch. Ugly but functional. I doubt with your location you plan to plant in ground which is the staking plan cristina linked.
Scott
Hi all. It's always important to know if the tree is grafted. If so you need to take out any branches that come from beneath the graft. Also, since you have your trees in a pot, would be nice if you check the roots every year. Too many encircling roots, cut a bit and bigger pot. Btw, beautiful tree! Also, citrus trees do tend to grow more like a bush. I do defer a bit in not pruning them, and more if they'll be in a container. It's good to help them a bit on aeration, and ussually if you take some branches out the fruits tend to grow bigger as less amount of fruits = bigger fruits... ussually commercially they even take out flowers so that the trees give bigger fruits. This is more important in a container growing situation. The tree will never have the benefits of ample soil to grow the roots as it desires so making if bare less fruit will help it so it wont loose so much energy on the fruit, which gives it a bigger chance to get sick.
I hope this info help you a bit man. Thanks for showing us such a beautiful pic!
