Why do we prune container citrus into tree shape?

10 years ago

2 of my citrus arrived from the nursery pruned into tree shape, about 3.5 feet tall, a satsuma and a kumquat. Each quite skinny.

They keep putting out side shoots along their "trunks" and I keep pinching them off.

Now I'm wondering why we pinch them off at all, if the tree wants to be a bush why not let it be so? Esthetics? Fruit yield?

Featured Answer

BarbJP 15-16/9B CA Bay Area

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

Aesthetics at that age, mostly.

However, since in citrus fruit is carried at the tips of new growth, pinching will delay fruiting. But that is a good thing for a young citrus tree imo, as their trunks and branches are not strong/thick enough to support the weight of the fruit, and there are usually not enough leaves and roots to devote to developing the fruit without expense to the overall growth of the tree.

But if a tree has a very small canopy of leaves, I would leave them all and prune later if I wanted to. Instead I would pinch off any fruit that formed. Pinch the fruit off, not the flowers though. Take off the flowers, they will usually just make more, and flowers don't stress the tree. Enjoy the flowers, then pinch off the fruit after. I would do this for a couple years.

The shape you prune/pinch it to is entirely up to you though. A "tree" shape is what most people think a fruit tree should be, but most citrus want to be more of a shaggy bush like tree. A citrus tree in the ground will often carry it's branches all the way down to the ground. Older trees can shade out lower branches and so as they age, some citrus will lose lower branches and look more tree like. Some exceptions to this are true bush types like Meyers.

The above is only true if the growth on your trunk is the same variety you want and not root stock trying to take over. Always pinch out root stock growth. To tell check the trunk, there should be a thickened line where the bark is slightly different above and below the line. Above the line, it's the variety you want, let it grow if you want to. Anything below the line would be root stock and needs to be taken off.

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Comments (8)

hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Barb very good info! I can visibly see the graft lines so all good there.

They are over wintered inside so perhaps limiting bushiness is a good idea for me, but I think I will start growing out some side branches since they seem to want to.

I think the kumquat is more mature as it has a bigger canopy than the satsuma and has already been bearing fruit. Very good point about fruit growing from the tips of branches, I actually didn't realize that and hadn't even considered it. Much appreciated!
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pip313
10 years ago
Also some people believe more bushy shapes help rodents climb into the tree. Others say they will climb no matter what.
hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b) thanked pip313
evdesert 9B Indio, CA
10 years ago
9 times out of 10 it's personal preference. I like my citrus trees to look like "trees". Most commercial citrus groves are rows and rows of single trunk trees with a crown of foliage. I pinch any growth 24"-30" above the graft line and let my trees grow full skirts to protect themselves from sun burn. From personal experience all of the fruit I get from the lower part of my trees are higher quality than the fruit I pull from the top of my tree. That could be another reason.

Evan
hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b) thanked evdesert 9B Indio, CA
poncirusguy6b452xx
10 years ago
My Meiwa kumquat flowers along the whole length of its branches. It even sent out flowers along its trunk. I would not trim the kumquat at all. They grow slowly and need every thing they have to ensure good health.
hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b) thanked poncirusguy6b452xx
cfox248
10 years ago
My lemon tree gave me all kinds of problems and eventually the whole trunk died. I thought it was done for but it came back as a bush, growing all of its main branches from the bottom near the dirt with massive, gorgeous dark green leaves. All he wanted was to be a bush, I guess, so I no longer call it my lemon tree, I call it my lemon shrub. :)
hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b) thanked cfox248
pip313
10 years ago
Are you sure it's a lemon? If it was grafted it could be rootstock.
cfox248
10 years ago
I sure am. Those bottom branches even had fruit at one point. I asked about it on here once and I don't remember what the consensus was, possibly that it's a rooted cutting or maybe that the graft line was just buried.