Author Topic: Need citrus tree ID please  (Read 2378 times)

DallasYoung

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Need citrus tree ID please
« on: April 30, 2019, 07:25:21 PM »
Hey there! The house that my wife and I recently  bought (9b) had two fruit trees in pretty bad shape. We have since rehabbed them and they are very happy. We know one os Meyer lemon, and the. There’s this one. It looks like a a couple different ones, as one has a trifoliate like leaf and another branch has a different leaf structure. The trifoliate looking has some serious thorns which seem to be absent in the other. It’s just now starting to flower and put out a couple fruits, but I figured I’d ask the experts first. What do you think?











Laaz

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2019, 07:27:58 AM »
With the long center leaf, probably swingle citrumelo. Does the fruit have a slight neck?

achetadomestica

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2019, 09:20:14 AM »
Sour orange

It looks like the original cultivar died and the rootstock grew back.
It has multiple trunks and doesn't look like the original graft?
Sour orange has thorns but you will know for sure when the fruit
ripens.

Laaz

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2019, 09:35:33 AM »
Wrong, sour orange has a single leaf not tri...

tve

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2019, 11:42:54 AM »
So there are two trunks to this tree, right? If you're lucky, one is a sucker on the rootstock with the trifoliate leaf and the other is the original grafted fruit. If you're unlucky it's like achetadomestica said and both are rootstock. You said you had some branches with trifoliate and some with single leaves but you didn't say which trunk they're on.

Laaz

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2019, 12:35:06 PM »
The trunk on the right in the first photo looks like the good trunk. The left trunk is the swingle rootstock growing out. The second photo looks like some type of mandarin but could be meyer as well as they are more round than real lemons..

DallasYoung

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2019, 12:57:56 PM »
Ok guys here’s an update. There’s about 4 trunks, and 3 are the variety that hasn’t huge thorns and trifoliate. Then there is a 4th trunk with black tape on it (left in the picture) that doesn’t have thorns and has “normal” looking citrus leaves and some very small fruit. I’ll attach a picture. No fruit or flowers on the trifoliate branches. Will the whole tree die if I cut back the trifoliate trunks?






Laaz

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2019, 02:04:39 PM »
No it won't. You need to continually monitor the tree & knock off any rootstock suckers as soon as they appear. Cut any of the trunks off that are trifoliate.

tve

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2019, 02:16:41 PM »
From the new photo it's pretty obvious where the graft is on the trunk with the black tape: that's where the trunk narrows and makes a bit of an S shape. Be careful not to damage the bark on the trunk you are keeping when you saw off the others! Also, I would assume that you will get a slew of suckers sprouting where you cut, so be vigilant in the coming years and remove them promptly.

DallasYoung

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2019, 03:37:57 PM »
From the new photo it's pretty obvious where the graft is on the trunk with the black tape: that's where the trunk narrows and makes a bit of an S shape. Be careful not to damage the bark on the trunk you are keeping when you saw off the others! Also, I would assume that you will get a slew of suckers sprouting where you cut, so be vigilant in the coming years and remove them promptly.

Should I be OK if I make my marks where the red is in this photo? It’s all trifoliate.




tve

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2019, 03:51:32 PM »
Much lower! Remove the bark mulch around the trunk and cut as low as you possibly can. You could do a first cut where you indicate to get rid of the bulk and so any tear-out happens up there. Then go back and cut carefully as low as possible. The higher you cut the uglier it will look and the more you will fight sprouts. If you cut real low, don't cover the cut surface with soil or mulch so it can dry & heal. Buy a good pruning saw (e.g. one of those fold-out pull saws) with razor sharp edges, then you don't need to apply much force and can control the cut easily.

DallasYoung

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2019, 04:04:44 PM »
Much lower! Remove the bark mulch around the trunk and cut as low as you possibly can. You could do a first cut where you indicate to get rid of the bulk and so any tear-out happens up there. Then go back and cut carefully as low as possible. The higher you cut the uglier it will look and the more you will fight sprouts. If you cut real low, don't cover the cut surface with soil or mulch so it can dry & heal. Buy a good pruning saw (e.g. one of those fold-out pull saws) with razor sharp edges, then you don't need to apply much force and can control the cut easily.

I will get right on it. Thank you so much for the advice!

Radoslav

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2019, 04:15:39 PM »
If I were you, I cut the three above the red line and graft trunks with cleft graft. You can have several cultivars on tree, so called cocktail tree.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 04:17:50 PM by Radoslav »

Laaz

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2019, 04:25:35 PM »
Rag has a good point. Cleft grafting is easy.

pvaldes

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2019, 05:09:58 PM »
Agree, instead to remove entirely the Poncirus trunks, graft four citrus of similar vigour in the same tree. Much more useful and satisfying in a small space. You could have an early orange and a late season orange for example in the same tree. You can make good use of the extant trunks and graft it high also. Just cut the thorns (or alternatively keep it if there are rabbits or other herviborous animals in the area). Is easy to identify and keep trifoliate buds at bay, and keeping a part of the Poncirus would promote less suckering than chop it near the soil.

If you want two oranges, expect seeds unless you graft navel oranges.

The remaining tree has the narrow wings in the petiole common in lemons
« Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 05:20:31 PM by pvaldes »

DallasYoung

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #15 on: May 01, 2019, 06:11:31 PM »
Well as you guys were talking about a cleft graft I was out cutting it down. So now I’m down to one trunk with a mystery citrus in it. Any ideas on what it could be?






tve

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #16 on: May 01, 2019, 11:16:32 PM »
You perhaps overlooked pvaldes' comment: "The remaining tree has the narrow wings in the petiole common in lemons"

WRT grafting: I assume that you will get shoots where you cut. Keep 4-6 going 'til next spring. By then you will know how much you like the fruit on the tree and whether you want to add something else to it. You can do that then and IMHO it will be easier and look better. 4-6 shoots will give you enough redundancy so you'll end up with at least 1-2 grafts that take :-). At least, that's what I would do...

DallasYoung

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #17 on: May 02, 2019, 08:20:19 AM »
You perhaps overlooked pvaldes' comment: "The remaining tree has the narrow wings in the petiole common in lemons"

WRT grafting: I assume that you will get shoots where you cut. Keep 4-6 going 'til next spring. By then you will know how much you like the fruit on the tree and whether you want to add something else to it. You can do that then and IMHO it will be easier and look better. 4-6 shoots will give you enough redundancy so you'll end up with at least 1-2 grafts that take :-). At least, that's what I would do...

Here is where the cuts were made before I read about grafting. Can I graft into these trunks? What method of grafting should I use, and where (near Daytona Beach) can I acquire branches to graft? I’ve never crafted before but would love to learn how to do it




Laaz

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #18 on: May 02, 2019, 08:50:28 AM »
Yes, best bet for those is bark grafts. Biggest problem in FL is finding disease free budwood. Greening is killing citrus like crazy down there.

WGphil

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #19 on: May 02, 2019, 11:57:55 AM »
The t-bud graft is the easiest for citrus

Laaz

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Re: Need citrus tree ID please
« Reply #20 on: May 02, 2019, 12:20:15 PM »
Once he cut the limbs off they will start to heal & the bark will stop slipping making it difficult to T bud.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2019, 12:40:12 PM by Laaz »