A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Orange Tree Redux

I was walking along my garden path, passing my orange tree, when one ofthe branches reached out and poked me in the eye...the next thing I knew I woke up lying on the lawn next to the tree, with a pair of branch loppers in my hand, and a whole bunch of the orange trees branches lying on the ground...

What could possibly have happened?

OK, so I lost my temper at the orange tree...

My question is as follows:

The orange tree was definitely due for some pruning, with these odd extensions reaching up to the heavens, 7 feet beyond the rest of the tree, and a couple even reaching 3 or 4 feet out to the sides - them's what I dun hacked offa da tree. But the tree has a whole bunch of oranges on it, just a week or two shy of pickin' time. Have I adversely affected the crop by shaping the tree a little earlierthan usual? Is it okay to lop off 2 or 3....or 10 of the longer branches, while the oranges are still on the tree. I made sure not to cut branches that had oranges anywhere near, but am worried that my maniacal attack will haunt me in seasons to come...

I'm seeking advice from the wisest of Orange Seers!

Nicholas,
Papito's your man for that answer I'll bet!!!!


Ya know that tree must have been emmiting some kind of pheromone (sp) or something, that just
made you do that!!!!!! LOL You're too funny!!!


Weezie

Allthumbs...papito is your man but he doesn't have an envelope so will have to wait for him to swing around.

Since you brought up a good word in the ask a ? category....I was wondering... was that JUSTIFIABLE whacking and WHY????

The vapor's made him do it Karen,
The vapor's............

The tree hasn't keeled over in abject surrender yet, but time will tell. Haven't heard from Papito as of yet, so am wondering if there's a way to alert him to my sorrowful plight...?

As to whether my "Burbank Limb-Lopper Massacre" was a justified act of arboreal malice, my only defence is the ancient and time-tested argument of "the tree started it!!"

Hi Allthumbs,

On the 17th last month I pruned 7 mandarin oranges, with no noticeable harmful effects on the trees or the fruits still in them. I really believe that your "pruned orange tree" will be okay.

In frost free areas, mature orange trees can be pruned at anytime during the year by heading back and pinching to maintain good shape. You can also remove dead woods and unproductive, twiggy branches to let more light through. Pruning improves the overall health of the trees; there is less competition for water and nutrients and forces the plant energy into the remaining branches.

The ripening and sweetness of oranges mainly depends on the amount of light and heat it gets during the day.

In fact, old overgrown citrus can be rejuvinated by skeletonizing the tree; that is done by lopping (removing) trunks that are 1" to 2" in diameter. This is best done in spring. The tree won't produce any fruits for 2 years, but when it does, the fruits will usually be larger than normal. I wish I have a digital camera so I can show you what the fruits look like on the lemon and pummelo trees that were skeletonized a few years back.

Talk about orange trees.I been looking for one.Course i bought had failure Friday.i stopped at a "tropical Nursery" on 59 on way back from Houston.Had a nice looking Manderian orange tree in a 25 gal container......... <img border="0" alt="[perplexed]" title="" src="graemlins/confused.gif" /> $300$ <img border="0" alt="[perplexed]" title="" src="graemlins/confused.gif" /> yep& that thar Mexican Palm tree was$289$ I still ain't found me a Orange tree for yard yet...But not THAT one.I've seen one other one for $25 was a 15 gal container...but did not have fruit hanging on it like that thar High priced baby...Am still looking.wish knew my area better.
But now Papito.........I got a lemon tree in my yard.I got this place last Feb from folks who lived here 22 years.she says they had that tree 11 years.neighbor says land was vacant 2 years and that that tree had lemons last year.he said like 3 crops of lemons.Huge lemons .Was in walmart one day with him and he picked up a lemon that was huge as a grapefruit and said was brighter orange.could smell fruit on tree.I wacked a dead center trunk thing off when got place.it was clearly dead.some is actually still left that is dead,but has all these shoots from ground and lower trunk area that have sent up 8 ft branches but could well be 10 ft.I really don't wanna stand on ladder.
Why ain't it doing notheing now?and am guessing its a ponderosa it has thorns.leafs smell lemony besides a soot issue which when it real hot is not there but is now like when got it.I keept it atered well all summer and have fertilized it.i've posted around a few different forums on this tree and never got much of an answer.

Ya recomend a good lime tree for my area?

Thanks for the advice, Papito! Much appreciated.

NjoyNit,

Those are pretty expensive plants.

Standard or dwarf lemons usually bear fruits several times a year. While the dwarfs grows to about 8 ft. the standard tree can reach over 20 ft. and should be cut back regularly to keep them compact and fruits within easy reach (similar to what Nicholas did to his orange tree).

The shoots that grows from the base of your lemon tree are called suckers. Sucker growth comes from the rootstock of a grafted or budded plant. I usually remove the suckers (by grabbing the base, pushing it down 90 degrees and pulling it out; the suckers will grow back if removed by cutting (with a pruner or any other cutting tool).

Lemons are best grown in California, Arizona, Texas, the gulf coast and Florida. Some of the lemon varieties are: Eureka, Improved Meyer, Lisbon and Ponderosa.

Your lemon tree is a Ponderosa. You are right, the fruits are grapefruit-sized, juicy, acidic, the rinds are thick, thorny and has large leaves.

My guess is, you won't see any fruits from the grown suckers for at least 7 to 8 years and with questionable quality. A grafted or budded lemon tree will bear fruits in 3 to 4 years.

A good lime tree for your area? Most common varieties are Bearss (tahiti and persian), Mexican (key) and Rangpur. Either Bearss or Mexican (Mexican lime is also known as the Bar Tender's lime) would be good.

Well i like the sound of that thar bar tenders lime.means would be perfect in me tequilas

Well i'm not to sure I want to get smacked in the face with one of them lemon limbs and go on a wacking spree.now I have a dumb question