Many years ago while driving to make a delivery in Florida,I stopped and bought several orange trees that they sell in those packages for some friends and myself,well out of the 12 all others died,mine is a healthy 10yrs old or better,anyway like alot of people I take it outside in the spring and first frost bring it in,I have done nothing special except stick fertilizer and water and like alot of you people with the leaf dropping off it happens to mine every year,and just about when spring rolls around it's gotta alot missing but as soon as it goes outside it springs back as always,my problem now is the tree has grown past ceiling level and Ijust want to know will the tree go into sever shock if I clip about a foot or more off the top so it can fit into the house??I know many times if the tree is introduced to the inside of the house all at once she droops imediately so I take that as a sign as going into shock,I have to get it indoors now,so please anyone with trimmingknowlege help me,last year I put it into the basement but had to let it tilt and i used some plant lights so it could get some sort of sun,also it took years before I saw anything grow,oh she would blossom the white flowers but that was all,the last yr or two its beengrowing a few but I think these are tangerines cause they only get to be about the size of a golf ball,so folks what do I have to do.also please not only post your help but also e-mail me if you can cause I might not find this site again.easywider50@aol.com,thank-you. john lohman
If you top the tree, you will force a flush lower down on the tree. Topping will not hurt the tree at all.
Sorry, I don't want to sound stupid but is topping also known as triming?so you are saying I can cut aprrox 2 feet off top of tree and it won't cause it to shock,what does flush mean??I will wait for your reply before I do any cutting,also I am about to bring the tree inside for the year,I normaly just spray an agent on that kills any bugs that are tagging along,so again I will wait to make sure topping means cutting lol,lol. JOHN
Yes topping means cutting the top of the main branch. It will flush out new growth lower on the tree when you do this. It shouldn't shock the tree at all.
Thank-you so very much,Just when I was e-mailing you before,I was reading other peoples problems alot asked about leaving there orange trees outside all year,I thought you had to bring them in if you live or first frost,I live on Long Island New York,and the winters do go down to the low 30" alot,but there were some people saying they live in areas like mine and they just wrap them up,will this truely protect them? thanks. John
I wouldn't leave them out in pots if it goes below freezing, the roots will freeze and that will be the end of your plant. There is a guy in Boston who has citrus in the ground and seems to be doing fine with major winter protection. Have a look at the link. http://citrus.forumup.org/viewtopic.php?t=3129&mforum=citrus&sid=a8bb2fe361dad8aa71a65b0af9b42d72
Mine is also in a pot.Well the only major question I had was about the trimming and you more than put my mind at ease,so I'll just keep doing what I have been doing because I must be doing something right if it has lasted this many years,just can't figure out why the fruit is so small,very,very sour.As I am about to bring it into the house I have noticed dozens and dozens of small buds (fruit)never saw that many,I put it in a different section of my yard this year so it must have something to do with it,again thank-you.Talk to you soon.bye. John
Is it possible that your tree is growing from the rootstock? Could you post a picture? I would not expect oranges grown in your climate to be really good, but to be considered very, very sour does not sound like a climate problem.
What does woodstock mean?the tree itself seems to be very healthy except for the times it adjust to inside temp,i actually bring it in by the side door and kinda slowly introduce it to the heat of the house,if it's an unusually warm day as happens here at times i slide it out onto the deck for a while,as far as putting it into a larger pot,i am going to have a hard time finding one in any retail outlet homedepot ,lowes etc,the one it's in now is aprox 3ft wide and 2 1/2 feet high,you can see roots strong one surfacing at the top,also what are these spider insects i read one of your readers talking about,are they only in certain areas,i still have to go out and buy a spray to put on it to kill any insect from coming into the house,they sell one in the stores just for this purpose,or do you have a home remedy that you suggest?thanks again. John
Rootstock, not woodstock. Citrus trees are propagated 3 ways-seeds, rooted cuttings and grafted trees. If your tree was grafted, the rootstock is different from the top. Sometimes, a sprout will grow from the rootstock (a sprout originating below the graft). If that happens, it will often dominate the tree --growing faster than the grafted portion. There are many varieties of rootstock, but sour orange, and trifoliata are very common, however, if it was trifoliata you tasted, from what I have read--you would not do that again voluntarily.
