lindsi,

Everything you see with three leaves is rootstock, and should be removed!

Kristopher

There must be two graft lines on any meyer lemon on poncirus trifoliata because the meyer lemon scion poisons the trifoliata root stock. To get around this a citrus is grafted to the trifoliata the the meyer lemon is grafted to the citrus tig and the poisoning does not happen. You also have to be sure that the interim citrus is also free of sucker. Its leaves will not be so different from the meyer lemon. below is a picture of my meiwa kumquat tree from seed. Its leaves are more like the meyer lemon but it is not a meyer lemon
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Here is a link that might be useful: https://plus.google.com/photos/111099372377958308731/albums/5872287657851776769/5872287658075502034?banner=pw

I have lemon tree I started from a seed. It's a bout 4 feet tall. Do these produce sucker's or need pruning of any kind? Also, will mine produce lemon's?

Do not trim and yes you will get fruit if the tree reaches a leaf node count to Its maturity level.

Anyone could tell me if these are lime tree Suckers?

This pic is of my Tahitian Lime tree, it hasn't given any fruit since I bought it, about 2 years ago.

Also latest leaves are a much bigger than the ones prior, this happened after I pruned it. Bit worried!

Any help would be appreciated it.

Those do not seem like suckers. Looking at your pictures, that curvature seems to be where the graft union is. If you can upload another photo at a different angle, I can better identify it. However, I am almost certain that is where the graft union is...Anything below that would be a sucker. The leaves, generally, would also be different.

@jay91 thank you, its a bit dark now, so here's one from another angle

The ones here, which are so close to the soil probably have to be cut, right?

Now I am certain that curvature is where the graft union is. You can tell by the discoloration and it just being bulbous in that area. Generally, there is a visible scar but as the tree grows, the scar tends to becomes less noticeable. The ones below should be removed. Judging by your images and the fact that you stated that it has been growing for 2 years, I believe that it should have started producing already. If you could provide some detailed information about your tree, such as what size it was when you purchased it, some information about its growth habit, growing location...etc. Also, has your tree ever flowered? Maybe upload another picture of the whole tree. Personally, I have never had a grafted citrus tree not produce fruit, and I have 12+ citrus trees.

the shoots in the white circle need to be removed. Anything above the black is good to go. Citrus trees in containers are best as bushes so let anything above the graft-line grow to make for a multiple trunk tree.

I had a sucker below the graft and I let it grow to about 3 inches so I could verify that the sucker had leaves with 3 leaflets. I broke them off and rooted them but I also know that its leave are distinctively different to my trees leaves.

6b Steve

Thank you, I have removed the suckers.

The tree has grown up about 30cm, since I bought it and planted it. I used the recommended soil and I fertilise every six months with "Osmocote plus organics fruit and citrus".

It has flowered three times, each time at least two or three flowers.

At the beginning of this spring, it had two flowers, but it was covered with black aphids, and white bugs, and the leaves were curling on the sides. I read only tress which are already stressed get attacked by aphids and white bugs, so, I panicked and pruned all the brown wood. I made sure not to touch the flowers.

I also started to use ^eco-oil and ^eco neem oil, to treat the aphids wich has worked, so far.

I read contradicting things about maybe watering and fertilising too much or not enough, so I put ^eco-hydrate in the soil. As well as ^eco-seaweed.

The leaves still seem to be brown on the ends, which may or may not be a sign that I'm watering too much. I have always water it every week, but I was under the impression I should water twice a week now that is hotter.

Anyway, the leaves are still looking very stressed and no sign of fruit yet.

The tree is in one corner of a baclcony on a 5th floor. It is the corner that gets less windy because the opposite corner can get very stong winds. If I were to place in the corner closer to indoors it would get no sun.

At the moment it gets sun from noon until 5ish pm.

It was looking much healthier at the beggining of spring, as it looked fuller. However, it was covered with bugs.

Thank you so much for your help!

M.

One pic from another angle.

It's good to know that your tree has flowered before. Those flowers, once set, will produce fruit. Of course, aphids and other bugs that feed on the flower or leaves will inhibit growth and fruiting. First thing first is to get rid of those pests without destroying the leaves and flowers. Though I generally do not like using pesticides, I often find myself having to use them. I would recommend you find a safe pesticide but in my experience, stronger inorganic pesticides work best. Do not spray when bees or other good bugs are present. Your tree does look stressed with plenty of dead branches. So, just a few questions to determine whats causing this. First, what type of potting soil are you using? Does your pot have drainage holes? If so, how many? How is your weather? Does it freeze?

Brown leave tips could be a sign of fertilizer burn, but it's not always the case. It could also be under watering. If drainage is not a problem, I would stick a finger or two a few inches into the soil to see if it is moist. Personally, I go by the weight of the pot. After a while, you'll know the difference between dry soil and moist soil. Signs of overwatering or root rot would be yellowing leaves, defoliation and possibly branch dieback. In my experience, proper soil conditions will almost always promote new growth as I see in your pictures.

jay I am glad to hear that I am not the only one that waters according to the weight of the pot. I pot my trees up in dry soil, take note of the weight then soak in a tub till wet and away we go.

6b Steve

Thank you @jay91 and @poncirusguy.

I dont know what soil it has, but it was recommended by the sales person at the nursery. Hopefully it is the right one. The pot is made of plastic/fibreglass and the diameter is 58cm x 40cm deep.

The pesticide I'm using is a mixture of organic oils + neem oil. I add these to water and then spray. So, no nasty chemicals, and I make the mixture when needed so not something that sits there on a shelve. Please see image of oils.

The tree has two drainage holes. I put 6 to 9 ltrs of water, and this immediately drains through the holes (I collect this drained water in a container, otherwise my balcony floor gets wet, and I throw away). I was doing this weekly, but I'm very confused as to how often I should be watering. Maybe less often, it seems.

I'm supposed to water the tree this weekend, the soil doesn't feel dry but just kind of right (?) not soaking wet either.

At the moment we're in summer here (Sydney), during winter the tree is exposed to cold temperatures but no frost.

Please have a look at the leaves' images, some of them are curling, brown dry spots and some of them are almost transparent green rather than solid green. -would this be a sign of overwatering?

The seaweed is meant to be added every 4 weeks plus. I have only added it once, as I got it recently.

The osmocote plus organics, I have been adding every 6 months since I potted it.

I recently added this one as well to help with watering issues.

When you're watering your tree, it should never immediately drain. It should take some time to soak into the soil then drain the excess. What can happen, and I have experienced this too many times, the soil can become hydrophobic, meaning that it just repels the water. If after watering, it drains immediately, the water may be going around the soil, wetting the top and sides, but not inside and then draining away. Too determine if this is the problem, my next suggestion would be to dig deeper. Just in a small area but you want to get near the middle of the pot. Try not to get close to the trunk where the main roots are growing. Normally, I would just feel by the weight of the pot after watering or carefully pulling the tree, soil and all, out of the pot. But for you pot, that may be very difficult.

Thannk you @jay91. I dug deeper and the soil still seems to be ok, not dry. Do you think pulling the tree out, changing the soil and adding more soil to the bottom would help at all?. I might also try asking the local nursery and see what they say. I'm starting to lose all hope now... (sad face).

Don't lose hope.... When it comes to the leaves, I have trees that are crinkled or folded up on itself. I've also have leaves that are discolored. It is never the whole tree, if it were, there might be a problem. Neither of these issues have ever caused any problems for me. As for your soil, as long as it is not sopping wet, I wouldn't worry too much about it. What I also do is stick my fingers up the drainage holes a few days after watering, (I know it sounds dirty) it should be moist, in other words, you shouldn't be able to squeeze water out of it. If it is sopping wet, you might have root rot. I know I am throwing a lot of things at you but new growth is always a good sign. I don't know what caused any of the dead branches seen in your images, but I've had a few dead branches before as well and still no problems. I'm not sure if I've said this, but I don't use any supplements in my soil. Just fertilizer and water.

Thank you @jay91. A hoticulturalist from Yates.com.au has recommended repotting in premium citrus potting mix "to fresh it up" , increase watering to 2-3 times a week and the soil needs to be acid i.e.: it needs magnesium. Aparently "alkaline soils can cause lime-induced chlorosis, an excessive yellowing of the leaves" . I will try this and hopefully report better news. I did check the drainage holes in the pot, they seemed moist but not soaking wet. Thank you!

I also just read that overfetilisation with potassium may also induce magnesium deficiency. I think my fertiliser and the seaweed tonic are both rich in potassium. So that might explain it all... fingers crossed.

I wish you the best of luck! I find that citrus are one of easiest trees to grow in containers. Though I have experienced my share of problems, of the dozen potted trees I have, I've only ever lost one tree (not sure what happened but the fruiting part of the tree completely died and the rootstock took over).

They are also very resilient and can endure quite a bit of neglect. I've seen citrus trees growing in pots with literally five inches of soil.

Ok so I have a similar issue to one of the people above. I believe I let a sucker grow for too long, and now have two main branches coming out very close to the roots. The tree is 3+ years old so I'm having trouble seeing the graft line to determine if one of these branches is below the graft. I have a feeling it is the one at an angle because it's more thorny, but I'm afraid to prune the wrong one. Can anyone make a determination from these pictures or tell me what to look for (leaf shape, etc). Both main branches are flowering and producing small fruit but then then fruit falls off and doesn't grow. I'm thinking the sucker is inhibiting growth.

It is really hard to tell by the pictures. As far as I can see, there is no graft line. It is usually a scar that is left from being grafted. There are other citrus trees that are rooted and allowed to grow on their own rootstock. Usually, there are major differences between the leaves from the rootstock sucker and the fruiting wood. The leaves may be a different shape. Suckers from the rootstock will normally have thorns on them as well. They will grow fast and quickly overtake the fruiting wood. I have never seen a rootstock produce flowers or fruit. Normally, they are too young to do so as citrus grown from seeds take ten or more years to produce fruit. If the alleged sucker is producing flowers, chances are it is also part of the fruiting wood. Keep in mind that there are such things as water sprouts, which are vigorous branches that seem to shoot out. They may have thorns, large leaves and look like a sucker. If you can take a closer picture of the branches and leaves of both branches, it may better help me determine what it is. Also what kind of citrus tree is it? How long have you had it? And where was it purchased? It looks like you're growing your citrus indoor. If that's the case, only some varieties will successfully grow fruits indoors. Others may produce flowers, small fruit and then drop them. Make sure your tree is not sitting in water, and that it is getting the lighting it needs.

I have read elsewhere that nearly half of Meyers Lemons in the US are grown on their own roots, so assuming this is a Meyers as in the previous parts of this thread then it may be on its own roots.

Cuttings have a ring of roots and seedling rootstock has tap roots. It is probable that your branch is identical to the tree and roots. I had 2 Meyer lemon trees gradted to Cuban rootstock rooted cuttings and the Meyer top had died. They sold them as rooted Meyer lemon trees. After 5 years and a 4 pound fruit with skin over an 1 thick did I realize we had been had. I also prefer all my citrus be grafted to tryfoliate/hybrid for the squealing 3 leaflet leaves on suckers.

6b Steve

Steve, so it's possible by the time I bought it, the Meyer lemon part was dead and the rootstock was all that grew?

Ike, as you said, it's possible that the Meyer is grown on its own roots and not grafted?

Jay91, it is a 3 year old improved Meyer lemon tree bought from Home Depot I believe? Zone 6b. It's normally outdoors, but brought indoors this time of year. See pictures of leaves from each main branch:

If it is from Home depot it is probable that it is on is own roots and both trunks are good.

Ok thanks! I'm currently getting a lot of buds so hopefully we'll start to see some fruit. Last season was the first season I got some flowers, but only a few fruit that never grew past infancy before falling off. I still probabaly have a few weeks before I can put it outside again. We just got a lot of snow :/

From what I've seen at my local home Depot, they carry 2 different kinds of citrus. One comes in different varieties, is grafted and potted in a #3 container or 2.45 gallon container. While the other citrus is in a #1 gallon container. In that size, it is usually just the one variety, which is the Meyer lemon. I've only seen those at home Depot and they're usually wrapped with yellow plastic with care info etc. Those Meyer lemons are grown on their own roots.

Below is some information I got from a citrus grower here in California. They've got quite some information on their site. I've also included a link.

Some fruit drop is normal, especially in hot summer months. If fruit or bloom drop is excessive, proper watering is often the solution. Extremely hot, dry, windy weather will trigger fruit drop. Be sure trees are well watered in these situations. Excessive fruit drop accompanied by splitting fruit is the result of too much water uptake.

https://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/solving-common-problems/bloom-drop-fruit-drop-leaf-drop-and-twig-dieback.html

If the tree is too small, it will drop the fruit. Do not fertilize after the flowers open and the fruit starts to set, this often leads to premature fruit drop. Wait a bit for the fruit to grow and then you can fertilize. I missed the boat this year due to all the rain - I use water-based fertilizer so I didn't want to add more water. My leaves are yellowing on my lemon tree, but I have a lot of flower buds so I'm reluctant to fertilize.

As Jay said, some fruit drop is normal. I often have 3 flowers in one location, if all three start to develop a lemon, the tree will drop at least one of them. If it doesn't, I'll prune one away so that the fruit will be larger.

Hi everyone! I'm from a tropical country. Could you pls help me identify if there is a sucker here? This is a lemon tree grown from seed (not grafted) and 2.5ft tall. This is a meyer lemon. Recently i noticed that sucker and watersprouts need to be removed. Pls. help me identify which is sucker here in my photo.

Can someone please tell me if the lowest branch is a sucker? Thank you!

It looks to me that this plant is not grafted but it is a rooted cutting. In which case nothing can be a rootstock sucker. But I might be wrong.

I have a meyer lime tree planted about 5 years ago, its about 6 ft tall now but all the leaves are trifoliate leaves, and has never flowered. I am guessing that I let the sucker grow for long?

Also it has big 1" thorns on all of it.

So is it of any good, or should i just take it out and get a new lime plant?

thanks in advance for any inputs that you can provide.

If it has all trifoliate leaves, then it sounds like the graft has been completely overtaken by the rootstock. You could try grafting to it again, if you can find some branch material from the tree you want. That might be better than replacing the tree, since the existing tree is already established.

Thanks, I will try to find out how to graft.

Is it too late to cut out suckers and graft them?

You will need to provide warmth around 80F

Steve

On my satsuma tree, is this from the root base or from the top growth. It blossomed a couple of weeks ago, but most of the small fruit just fell off.

Typical of young citrus.

I have a 4 year old dwarf Meyer Lemon that is producing nice lemons - some are ready to get picked now, others are the size of a golf ball -- green and growing nicely and still others are itsy bitsy little buds. My concern is that the tree has several quick growing shoots with one inch long thorns. The leaves are slightly larger than on the other limbs. These shoots are coming off of side branches that are about 12" above ground - well above the graft area - and NOT on the main trunk. None have any blossoms. Other limbs do have blossoms and fruit as previously described. Do you think these could be sucker growth? I am wondering if i should just watch them for a couple of months to see if any blossoms appear == or cut them off now -- there are about five of these branches I am concerned about.

If you are certain that these growths are happening above the graft, what you have there are sprouts, aka water sprouts or shoots. They are often considered suckers as well because they are often said to be unproductive and should be pruned off. Since they are a part of the scion, they could produce fruit of the same variety or could be of a new variety.

Take Cara Cara navel for example. While some think it's a cross, others think it was a result of a water spourt on a Washington navel orange.

thank you jay91 for this feedback. I have never heard of a water sprout before.

Very new to growing. I am the brown thumb in my green thumb family. my grandfather could bring dead plants back to life, i killed them. receently, ironically after his death, ive been able to grow and keep plants alive. this is my eureka verigated lemon tree. after newly getting my meyer lemon tree which has already bloomed, ive been concerned about how this one is doing. i found the term sucker branches in my search that lead me here. i am concerned something needs to be trimmed for the health and growth of the tree and i have no idea how or what to trim. In early december, the lower branches bloomed (however my husband didnt water it the week i was away and the tree dropped leaves and the buds). are any if these branches needing to be removed? i purchased it about 10 months ago, the bottom branches were not present at the time of purchase i believe

Your tree is to small to worry about cutting anything.

Leave all your branches on the tree. Your tree will need the future foliage to feed the roots.

Steve

Can any tell witch is the sucker branch?

The one on the left.