Author Topic: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit  (Read 3761 times)

jcaldeira

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Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« on: October 28, 2014, 06:02:18 PM »
My farm has plenty of two and three year old citrus trees, but none of my Valencia oranges have flowered yet.  Is this normal?  All are grafted onto rough lemon rootstock.

Most of my Navel oranges had a few fruit last season.  The lemons fruited in 1-2 years, limes in 2-3, but no Valencia, no mandarin (except one Cleopatra), no grapefruit or pomelo.   How much longer?   All are grafted from mature scions on rough lemon and sour orange rootstocks. 
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redster

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2014, 07:11:34 PM »
my grafted owari took 6 years to bear even a single fruit, so in my limited experience id say be patient.
owari satsuma, ruby red grapefruit, sunburst tangerine, meyer lemon, ponkan mandarin, st ann satsuma,  gold nugget mandarin, nagami kumquat, pineapples

brian

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2014, 03:12:32 PM »
My owari is probably 4 years and produced around 8 fruit this year, none last year

I have a few other mandarins that are 3-4 yrs that have one or two fruit.   

All grafted. 

Millet

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2014, 11:35:21 PM »
Grafted mandarin  trees typically fruit in two or three years, they just need to get a little height to them.  Especially the early maturing varieties.  I not sure how long it normally takes a grafed Valencia to begin fruiting, but as a fruit, Valencia oranges have to hang on the tree for a long time to mature.  - Millet
« Last Edit: October 29, 2014, 11:39:07 PM by Millet »

starling1

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2014, 11:50:05 PM »
it's best to remove the fruit from citrus for the first three years. this will actually correspond to a fairly good amount of increased tree size apparently. this for grafted trees, i am not sure what the deal s for seedlings.

Yorgos

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2014, 02:06:04 PM »
My moro and ruby blood oranges were grafted and in 3 gallon pots when planted in '09.  Got the first couple of fruit in '13 but now that the trees are +7 feet tall they are starting to produce. 
I have about 30 fruit, almost all on the moro, that should be ready by Christmas!
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buddinman

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2014, 02:16:14 PM »
I have a number of satsuma trees in my back yard. Most have a fair amount of fruit. The silverhill has very few, it had a large crop last year. Have a fair amount of Kishu this year, great fruit.

phantomcrab

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2014, 07:53:02 AM »
My trees took 3 years. They were about 1.5 feet tall when planted.
Richard

buddinman

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2014, 01:07:04 PM »
Normally when a tree is grafted or budded with scions from a mature bearing tree it will normally bear in 3 years. It is advisable to remove the fruit for the first 3 years. The canopy should be formed before  bearing.

jcaldeira

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2014, 02:01:22 PM »
Canopy?  My grafted citrus mostly look like each branch has a mind of its own.  I only prune to keep branches off the ground, and rubbing off rootstock suckers.  Once in a while I cut down a water shoot to encourage branching, but most I leave alone.

We had some rain recently in Fiji and the citrus are blooming.  I now have bloom on Valencia and Mandarin.  The only citrus not blooming are grapefruit and pomelo.
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bangkok

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Re: Citrus - Number of years to bear fruit
« Reply #10 on: November 10, 2014, 05:46:58 PM »
My navel orange and pomelo fruited after 8 months. Both are grafted.