I have a client with an otherwise healthy Meyer Lemon. Recently he pruned the dwarf tree, and every branch he had pruned, which also fruited, had a new type of fruit. The skin became very mottled. The fruit picked up a slightly different taste. The client is asking "what happened". My hunch is a possible virus. Any other probabilities here ? Your input is appreciated. Frank
More than likely the tree was pruned past the graft & now he has the rootstock growing & producing...
The tree was not pruned past the graft. Only the top was pruned. The bottom of the tree is still producing good quality Meyer Lemons.
Maybe the plant is a chimaera, the pruning resulting in previously disguised tissue from inside the stems coming into view. Or it happened to sport variant growth, that was going to appear on the outside anyway right at the same time it was pruned.
A little curiosity in me wonders what were the pruning shears used on before the Lemon was pruned? I know this may seem like a ridiculous question to ask, in a way, considering where you are located but was this Lemon exposed to any unseasonal cold right after it was pruned and after the fruit had set? Another thing just came to mind, were there any horticultural oil applications in the forms of an insect or disease prevention standalone spray or as a mixer used on this tree after the fruit had set and were these oil sprays applied in your typical, warm to hot, weather? Could the tree have been exposed to drift from a herbicide application? A photo of the tree may help but I also think the age of this tree and whether it is a container plant or is grown in the ground may also be needed for us to better assess what is going on with this tree. Yes, a virus emanating from the rootstock can indeed cause the skin of the fruit to become mottled but we should also see other health factors to the tree that let us know there is a virus at work before the fruit becomes ripe. If the fruit ever gets that far as much of the time the fruit starts to breakdown right on the tree before they ever can ripen. It could very well be that a series of chimeras came about but what I'd like to know is what may have caused them. The mottled fruit can also be due to a serious red, yellow or black scale or Citrus red mite infestation which can promote changes in the quality and appearance of the fruit on the uppermost portions of the tree and the shaded interior areas where the fruit is more likely to show the ill effects of the insect damage. Jim
I find it surprising that the tree bloomed and fruited on branches that were "RECENTLY" pruned. Had these pruning shears just finished pruning another citrus tree and were not sterilized before pruning the Meyer? - Millet
