Here are a few pictures of the Satsuma I went out and chopped last Thursday. It is getting dark and I just got home from a trip to a wedding 12 hours away but I thought I would check my orange before going to bed.

The first pic is of the whole plant with the top foot off.

this second pic is of the new growth that is already sprouting, gosh that was fast! The rootstock has sprouted, but so has the orange.

And. as an added bonus, I came home with a Persian lime for my collection.

That was fast Ubro!

Cory

Yeah! Congrats on your lime and I'm happy you're already seeing growth! You'll see it explode soon! Give it a good amount of FP and watch it expand.

Yup it was fast. Just like Laura said in a previous post, her's pushed 4 days after chopping and so did mine. Before I chopped I carefully examined the trunk and leaf axils to choose the cutting off spot and I did not see any buds pushing. Granted they could have been starting anyway, but I am sure the pruning helped them along.

Thanks for the tip Laura, now I may have a nice bushy lower growing specimen that will be easier to keep inside in the winter.

an update on my hacking job of the Owari Satsuma . I am satisfied with it the new growth. Instead of one long lanky stem that would be impossible to deal with as the tree got bigger, the branching growth is lower down. Confidence in my abilities to grow citrus is growing with every new post by the experts. Thanks to all of you, I am sure you know who you are? LOL ( wish I could insert a big smiley face here)

Where did you hack it?

That's great!!! Looks like nice healthy growth!

I cut about a foot off back in July, you can just see the original cut about half way down on the left between the two new upper branches. LOL Is that a clear description??? The original tree was tall and had no branching below and a few leaves right on the top.

I can see it. I just chopped another a week ago from another lanky tree. It is already sprouting everywhere! I need to post a follow up of the original tree. It went through a big growth flush, then took a break. It is sprouting again now. I can happily say that the trunk is rock solid now...not even a hint of bending. I did not think it would toughen up so quickly...it was so incredibly weak when I got it. I am glad that it worked out for you Ubro!

Laura, how much fp per gallon are you using and how often?

Mary, I have started using about 1 tbsp/gallon...how often...when I can...at least once a week. However, on the days that I do not fertilize, when I water, I thoroughly soak and wash water through the mix. That way, I don't worry too much about residue.

Here is a pic of one of the trees I showed above with all the new leaves...the Dekopon. It grew tons, then took a break, and now is sprouting again. My biggest issue with the tree was the trunk, and now it is not a problem at all. It has really strengthened up.

It's hard to see from the pic, but there are leaf buds at the end of almost every branch. It is also sprouting a bit more from the trunk. I remember that silica said that branching from the lower parts of the trunk help the trunk and root system, so I hope these are more steps in the right direction.

Laura, your trees are just so beautiful. Cory

Thank you Cory!!

Laura you an inspiration to me...I have done nothing with mine for the past two years and it has done nothing..It looks like it did when I got it..I hardly feed it and I never cut it back which is something I should do..I think I will take a pic and ask advice from here before it gets too late..Thanks

By the way, your trees are just so beautiful and lush..I can see the difference vinegar makes since mine are growing slower because I have been lazy about using it(((

Laura u r a citrus magician . u trees r such a dark shade of green . all of them . too green lol

They are amazing Laura! I'm fairly resigned to the fact that my leaves will always be somewhat ugly... Ripping winds, super dry air and now hail too- not a great recipe for lush greenery.

Dev which was the thread where you were mentioning your leaves were looking light? I am having the same problem, I wanted to re read it. I'm going to step up the vinegar and see if that is it. Although isn't reptibark acidifying? I never had this problem last year and I wasn't using reptibark then so not sure?

it's this one .

even I havent had this problem before. initially I was suspecting extra lime in tje new 511 batch but both of these I didn't repot. they both do have lots of fruit maybe nitrogen needs r higher. I put miracle gro miracid water soluble fert let's see how the trees respond.

Thanks dev will check it out!

Thanks guys! I worry about them when they need to come indoors - but that day is not here yet! So I am guilty of passing by the nursery where I found the beautiful kumquat a couple of weeks ago....they had three left! Well, I justified the purchase of another bc I think I'll put them along my front porch and they'll match ;-). (On both sides of the entry columns.). When I brought it home, I was staggered by the difference in leaf color compared to the one I bought a while back. I should have taken a pic. It is already improving, but is still not nearly as green. I guess the feeding really does help THAT much!

Laura, thank you for all the info and all the pics. Mike is right, you're an inspiration. Hobby and Evan, I'm having the same problem with light colored leaves. I do have miracid on hand so maybe I'll try that.

Thanks Mary. You guys are the ones who have inspired and taught me. I've just executed what I've learned here!

Well, it's not as obvious from the pic, but there is a difference even though it is not as bad as when I first got it.

Don't you guys all have Foliage Pro?

There should be mo reason for light leaves unless they are getting too much hot sun this time of the year, too much metals in tap water that are not flowing through your mix, or not enough vinegar...

Hobby are you using Foliage Pro? Maybe not enough?

I've been only using rain water Mike, so I can up the foliage pro for sure. I'm just getting concerned that I should be cutting back on it. What do u think? I guess if they're a light color they need it right?

Mary, I would keep using it at high concentrations (at least that is what I am doing), but make sure you wash out those roots thoroughly when you water. I am a bit south of you though, so my trees will probably stay out for the next couple of months unless we get unusually cold weather.

Thanks all, I know Mike and Laura, it is a mystery. Yes I use FP but I use that hose end sprayer that mixes with water. Remember my old thread where I asked how you figure out the dosage on those darn things? I think it was Tom who figured out the math and said use the lowest setting. I actually use 3 settings higher than that and I still have light leaves.

I am on well water and so metals could be an issue but again why are only 6 trees affected? Yes they all tend to be limes and lemons but then I have one other lime that is dark green... So a mystery.

One other trend I have noticed is that is seems that it's all the rooted cuttings from record buck that are light leaved. All my grafted trees are fine. So weird!

I think I will start watering with a watering can for awhile so can make sure everyone is getting the right FP and vinegar.

I have also wondered if the blazing sun might be the issue. The lightest trees also get the strongest sun.

That's interesting Hobby. Mine from Record Bucks are very green. I do wonder how well the sprayer gets the concentration right..although if your others are fine...??? It may be that you need to add extra FP to the limes and lemons with the watering can. I don't know. I have a scale issue at the moment. I think I'll post about that now...

My mouth is hanging open Evan! Wow!! The tree looks great. I don't even think I could use up all those key limes!!! They are lovely though!!! You have spectacular trees!

Thanks Laura, here it is all finished and ready for the fall.

wow, nothing beats an in ground tree n a well maintained one at that . am so jealous . though I would be scratching my head as what to do with that much lime maybe pickle them.

Calcium is the number one most widely found element in the citrus leaf. When a young tree is severely pruned ("hacked") back, the tree's reserve calcium becomes depleted. Normally, a tree quickly begins to re-foliate itself. Refoliation is able to occur by drawing on any calcium storage that the tree has been able to build up. This leaves it calcium depleted. Should another misfortune happen to a young tree before it has time to rebuild a new storage level it could, and probably would, be a grave struggle that the poor tree would not be able to survive. -Silica

I understand that although I did not know about it silica. How then does Four Winds get their trees to be so perfectly shaped? At some point, pruning must be done, albeit selectively...right? I can only speak from the trees I've "hacked", but they are definitely better for it. I feed them well and they come back strong and with a manageable shape. How long does it take the calcium reserves to build back up?

There is, of course, a big difference between a selective pruning to shape a tree, and hacking a tree to almost nothing. A tree is not better off by being pruned to almost nothing. Except for the tree's main leader, I doubt that FW prunes their new trees. Perhaps in rare occasions.. - Silica

Slice..I a just a bit concerned..I remember you saying months back that citrus trees don't have any need for fertilizers that contain Ca...? Could you explain where the Ca comes from other than the fertilizer I use?

By the way, you would be surprised at how resilient these trees are. I know many nurseries around here that will defoliate their citrus trees to keep the mites at bay all winter and when they do let them grow back, they throw out tons of new branches and become very full...I've been tempted..

Thank you)

The only reason I trim my trees is to keep them to a manageable size, otherwise they'd get too large and I'd be up on a ladder picking fruit. I want my trees to be just tall enough so I can reach the top without any problems.

Evan

That's what I do also Evan. I have more constraints since mine live indoors during winter. The trees I've hacked significantly have been those sent to me (not only from Harris by the way) with basically what silica said - a central leader. Al trunk with no branching and some leaves up top. In those cases, they have come back with a much better shape because removing the top forces the lower nodes to branch out.

Thanks Laura, today I watered with the can and vinegar and some mag cal in with the FP. I'll see if it makes a difference.

Crazy haul Evan! Lols like you'll be whipping up some more pies soon. Gorgeous tree.

Thanks hobby, we made strawberry lime aid, I bought a pie shell to make another key lime tonight and I've notified everyone I know that there's free limes available at my house.

LOL... I'd be over there in a heartbeat Evan. I still have a little key lime pie left from a couple of days ago. I've been chipping away at it daily...I'm going to need to do an extra workout tomorrow to work off tha pie ;-). Hobby, I hope the extra watering helps. I always use a watering can for FP. I just found a nice big one (2.5 gal) on Amazon which should save me a few trips.

Laura, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had the courage to prune. Thank you! You are an inspiration!

Hey, Laura, just wanted to tell you I "manned up" and gave my smaller tree a good haircut. I got tired of new limbs and leaves everywhere except on the upper third of the tree.

Before

After

.

I've been going back and forth for about two weeks on it, then figured I better do it before I have to bring then in for the winter. I should have another month or so, so I just decided to do the jump.

It should grow a lot better and a lot more compact from the center, now, which will look better and also make it easier for me when they have to come in for the winter. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

I still have to cut that left limb, but I'm waiting to get those two lemons, first, lol.

.

Thanks again for all the advice and courage on pruning :)

.

Atheen

Atheen, the tree looks great! I would definitely wait to get those lemons!

I just did a radical pruning on my New Zealand lemonade tree. I started by moving the rooftop NZL to the ladder, slipped and the tree tipped over 360 then hit a later rung, accelerated and the dirt and tree flew out before hitting the ground. The tree landed first. The dirt fell on top of the tree and the 30 gallon container landed next to it. I could not find any root damage but I lost about 50% of the trees top growth. The good news is that with all the roots left the tree it should grow well this fall and winter. The bad news is I have the same amount of tree I had last summer when I took it inside. The even better news is that I will have the room needed to plant my last 2 potted citrus trees outside in ground.

6b Steve

Oh, Steve, I am glad that it wasn't you that took a header and landed on your head with the 30 gal container on your butt.

I am sorry you lost part of your tree but at least you are alive and well and some of your tree remains.

Steve, I am also happy to hear that you are ok!

Lol Steve u sure know how to look at the silver lining .

Oh my Steve! I am glad you didn't go down with the pot and get hurt.

Cory