Young citrus tree flowering for the first time | Citrus Tree Care Series

[@sarahmartinezDOGMAN]

oh my goodness. my tree is like 6.5 feet tall, and just blooming the first time. and i havent pruned at all.😬 its inside as its winter here in Colorado and cold for some months still. thank you for all the info. its amazing mine is still alive. i grew it from seed. it a part of my family now.

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Oh wow! That sounds like quite the tree and the fact that you grew it from seed makes it even more incredible, well done 👏 Luckily citrus trees are super resilient so with some structural pruning your tree will be just fine. If I was closer I would offer my help to tackle the task but I'm a bit too far south for that, lol. I hope you get many great harvests ahead 🌻

[@sarahmartinezDOGMAN]

@@MySustainabilityJourney thank you again!

[@randolphsloan2263]

My 7 year old Seed grown Ruby Red grapefruit trees bloomed in March this spring. Now the fruit is 1.5 inches.wide.

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Oh wow and yaaaaaaay for you getting your first citrus blossoms and fruit after such a long wait. You are a true example of the patience needed with fruit trees and how the reward comes to those that are willing to put in the effort and have patience 💚 I hope you get to enjoy your spoils and that it tastes amazing 😍

[@yvonnejackson1696]

I really love the pruning videos. I don’t grow citrus trees but I assume the pruning methods would be similar in most if not all fruit trees. I learn something every time I watch one of these videos.

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Thank you so very much for leaving such a wonderful comment 💚 I'm thrilled to hear my videos continue help you and there is lots more planned. In terms of pruning, the principles are very similar, however, the pruning techniques and timing varies quite a bit. E.g. Apples are very different to stone fruit which is is different to citrus and guavas 🌻

[@irisolwagen]

I've been pruning my trees nowadays, but the fork branch idea, I like it, it makes sense. Guess I got some more pruning to do 😅❤

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Haha, nice! So glad you are pruning away and that you now have extra pruning knowledge that is going to help you get an even better shaped tree that is maxing out on its production 🌻

[@sandrasstitches]

G’day, I’m really enjoying your tree instructional videos. My citrus tree is flowering and looking so beautiful right now. 🌸 Thank you 🪴🙂

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Aw, thanks so much 💚 I'm so glad you are getting value from these pruning videos as u know its one of the more daunting gardening tasks to do 🌻

[@lorainemcguire5795]

Thanks for your help I live in Kent it's my 1st year of growing a lemon tree it's in the greenhouse I have had a few flowers but it's a small tree, I didn't know much about them 🍋🍋

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

It is the greatest of pleasure and I'm so glad you found value in watching this video and that it can help you grow your young citrus tree into a well structured, heavy bearing fruit tree 🌻

[@sandrazegray9176]

Hi I need your help,please, my orange tree indoor type ,its about 4 feet high, a week ago I repotted it,and after 4 days I found black spots under the leaves,a gardener said they were bug eggs and altho the tree was flowering, I sprayed it with soapy water, then a day later I sprayed it with 3 in 1 gardens spray .its indoor still but loosing .many leaves. Should I repot it with fresh soil ??? Tks sandra...

[@lorainemcguire5795]

Hi Sandra I would try liquid copper fungicide

[@pampotgieter7611]

Hello Craig, Thank You for this video. It has come at the right time. About a year ago I bought a grafted citrus tree. "Cara Cara Navel" It was in bad shape and very root bound. I repotted it into a 25 litre bucket. It responded well, and it has got healthy new growth and is full of blossoms. There is no shape or structure. So I am going to look for the videos you spoke about, and start from step 1. So what must I do with the blossoms now? All I know is that it's important to make a shape like a bowl, prune branches that cross each other, prune branches that grow straight up, make sure the air circulates through freely. I am still learning. 😂😆🤣 I am going to learn "The How To" from you. ❤💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Hey Pam, thanks for sharing your growing experiences and it's really great to hear you are getting value from my videos! With regards to the shape, with citrus, you actually don't want that open centre/vase shape that you do with figs, stone fruit, apples and pears. This is because the bark of citrus trees is very thin that easily gets sunburnt. With citrus you want to keep the canopy round and dense to create a 'skirt' of branches that droop quite low down, almost touching the ground. These will be your best producing branches and also the branches that protect the stem and branches from sunburn. The best way to get this shape is to have staggered branches at different heights all over the tree and keep your central leader, or prune that once you have you desired height. With regards to blossoms, I would suggest fertilising it with a fruit and flower fertiliser, or something like horse or chicken manure compost. Something that is balance and not overly high on nitrogen. You also need to pay careful attention to watering to not over or under water as both of those will result in the tree dropping its fruit. I hope this helps a bit and please drop me more comments if you have any 🌻

[@monkeyloven]

Awesome! Thank you!!

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

It's a great pleasure and I'm so happ to see you enjoyed this video 🌻

[@noreenfawcett7514]

Hi, thank you so much for your videos, I love citrus trees and have a free small lemon and orange trees I've grown from seed here in the UK. I currently have then in pots in the greenhouse but am thinking if putting them outside this year. So this is great advice for me. ☺️

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Hey, thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment 💚 I'm so glad to hear that you got value from watching this video and that you feel a bit more empowered to get your little citrus tree to reach greatness 🌻🌻🌻

[@irisolwagen]

Wow, it's so full of flowers. And your citrus almost have no thorns. My naartjie tree is going to be 5 years old this 1st of August 2024, and that tree have not beared a single flower or fruit so far. And on the other hand, my uncle's lemon tree is not being pruned or specially watered, and it's bearing fruit like crazy... I can't help but feel sad 😅

[@kellybump9908]

I just got baby Lemon and Lime plants from my daughter for mother's day. I see flower buds on the Lemon one? It has all of its leaves. I'm in Wisconsin zone 5b. And at what point do I transplant them out of the original pots?

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Oh wow, what a lovely mother's day gift! If they are small, young and you want to transplant them then I would suggest removing all flowers so they don't waste any energy. Ideally you want to transplant them in the fall so they don't experience heat stress while still setting roots. They then have the whole winter to set roots and I would bring them under cover during your winter for that extra protection. You can just keep them well watered and fed for now and remove all flowers so they are ready for their new journey in their more permanent bigger pot 🌻

[@kellybump9908]

@@MySustainabilityJourney thank you so much

[@sparklefrosting2430]

Do you protect your bark with anything?

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Nope, I have never needed to and even in our 40 degree Celsius heat I have never experienced sunburn on my trunks 🌻

[@raynierllewis2827]

Also where to source clean manure from

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

I get mine from local small horse stables. I questioned the owner about feed, etc. and because her horse are almost exclusively pasture fed with alfafa supplement there is no risk of herbicides coming in from straw or hay. It takes some looking around and asking questions but it's oh so worth it in the end 🌻

[@raynierllewis2827]

Hi I have to citrus trees basically the same size growing in containers. I can't remember which is the lemon and which is orange. Any way to know?

[@blaccsilverstaff5484]

I have one I’ve been growing for 3 years not sure if it’s lime lemon orange or grapefruit 😂 . Guess I’ll know in another year or so

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

So it's actually incredibly difficult to know until they fruit. Even then you will be able to tell the difference between a lemon and a grape fruit, but not necessarily the variety. I think oranges would be the trickiest with so many varieties. Some people say the crushing of leaves allow you to tell whether it's a lemon or not, but I have not found that to be a successful option, so waiting for fruit is the most reliable way 🌻

[@raynierllewis2827]

@@MySustainabilityJourney Thanks

[@stephanhaeke589]

@@blaccsilverstaff5484 smell the leaves. the lemon smells like lemon;-)

[@n.jboltz599]

My orange tree is still a sapling so young it's trunk is still green and twig like it literally looks like one of the branches of your tree. but it has flowerbuds Is this a bad sign? should I remove the buds if flowering takes energy. it is not a graft

[@MySustainabilityJourney]

Really good questions and thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment. Yes, if your tree is a saing, or very young, then remove all of the flowers. Every flower that forms is a waste of energy that could have gone into root or foliar growth. Once you have a 3 to 4 year old tree with thicker branches that can hold fruit you can start leaving a few fruits and then every year let it bear a few more 🌻