Hey, have been planting seeds from fruit (I now have well over fifty young citrus) as I thought it would be fun to see if they grow, and then what they will grow into and what fruit they will produce, plus they may make good rootstock for the future. I have everything from grapefruit to kumquats all in a bright conservatory (the clutter they create is driving my girlfriend mad) some of the oldest have been growing for about four or five months, some are as tall as six inch's, I was wondering if they would start to branch any time soon and if there was anything I could do to encourage them to start branching?
Some citrus start to branch at 12 inches, plus or minus, lower if the seedlings have been stunted by some type of problem. Actually, it is better to develop a straight/strong 18 inch main trunk first. Then clip the top of the trunk at the 18 inch mark, which will encourage side branching. In the meantime fertilize the tree every 2-4 weeks, to promote healthy vigorous growth. - Millet.
I agree, I top at about 24" can be done smaller, they really branch out nicely. At this time I have a Meyers lemon grafted on a FD ( flying dragon ) root stock, that's nearing dead heading. I plan to do another graft using this top to graft it on either another FD or Trifoliata rootstock. let me remind you this Meyers has already been grafted.. Dale
