i planted this owari satsuma in march. at the time it had very little new growth and a few fruit growing. seems like a perfectly healthy tree except that it hasnt had growth till a few weeks ago. when hurricane gustav blew through here it broke a branch with 2 fruit off the top of the tree and a smaller one coming from near the graft. after that i started getting all this growth, and the best i can tell from what ive read, this is all water sprouts. i thought i might get a few more opinions before i start cutting the only growth my tree has seen... first pic you can see 3 branches straight up from the top of the main branch second pic is a bad angle but you can see all the light colored leaves, they also straight up last pic is of the trunk, the main ones im not sure about. theres very small growth below the graft that i know i need to cut. but what about the 3 longer branches growing above the graft, those suckers too? or should i leave branches like that for my poor tree to take some kinda shape??? thanks in advance red
I'm no pro, but I don't think anything above the graft line will be a sucker. A sucker is growth from the rootstock, so if growth is above the graft, it isn't technically a part of the rootstock, so will be your preferred tree growing. I'm not certain on the other queries you have, thats just my understanding of suckers! I often thought the same with my tahiti lime, but everything is above the graft on that too so is the preferred tree :)
The graft line looks to be where I put the red line. Anything below that should be removed. Anything with trifoliate leaves should be removed.
Seems that the sprouts are from below the graft. But whether they are, or are not, the angle of attachment is not very good - I'd remove them. If other sprouts emerged higher up, and at a wider angle, that might be better. Odds are, the stems you have now, will suffice as they grow and expand. Unless you want a bunch of foliage to the soil level. ~ ~
If you leave the rootstock growth below the graft, it will eventually take over the tree & that will be all your left with. Like I said remove it. Satsuma's are usually grafted to Trifoliata which have three leaves per node. It must be removed.
ok thanks for the replys. im on my way out the door right now to do that. so what about the 3 branches growing on top the graft? seems like they are growing at a pretty bad angle, guess i can leave them and see what they do?
You don't want to remove anything above the graft unless it is interfering with another branch. Satsuma have a drooping growth habit to begin with, I have to tie up my branches every year or I will have fruit laying on the ground...
Here's some pics I just took of one of my Satsuma's also budded to Trifoliata... I have about 30 different Satsuma varieties and a load of other citrus in the ground. It's a pain to have to watch the rootstocks all the time, but very rewarding when the fruit is ripe.
