Hi Steve,

How would I tell that it is a water sprout rather than a regular branch?

What causes a water spout? My calamondin has a huge spout that formed over the winter.

What does the water sprout look like? Is it different than a regular branch? Can you show a picture?

The weird, super tall branch is a water spout. It is hard to get a picture of how awkwardly long it is compared to the rest of the tree haha. At least I'm pretty sure it's water spout.. I think I'm battling a magnesium deficiency but hopefully it clears up soon!

Yes, you can tie them up but better would be to pleach (braid) the branches. Tying them will lead to problems with the tying material biting into or cutting off circulation of the branches. If you braid 3-4 of them, they will meld into a very interesting trunk.

Fireball,

Have you ever seen people actually do this though? I have read up a little bit on tree shaping, and pleaching is one of the methods but that's more for art. I just want a taller tree trunk instead of a short bushy trunk.

So when I get a water sprout, should I cut off all the remaining branches to encourage growth of the water sprout? How would I then encourage branching once the sprout reaches the desired height? I've seen pictures of extremely tall citrus trees that look like twigs because they don't branch out at the top. I want mine to be tall and then branch out like a conventional tree.

Hmm... should I try tying the branches together or just wait for the water sprout? I don't know what would best for the tree.

Oh and will there only be one water sprout? My memory is pretty bad, but if I remember correctly, there was an abnormally long branch that I cut off before... I'm not entire sure, but if I happened to already cut off the water sprout, will there be another one that will shoot out?

Plant beet seeds around your tree at the pot's periphery. As the beets grow they will shade the lower trunk and will produce great greens for cooking.

Beets surrounding seed grown Fukushu kumquat tree produce shade to encourage the tree to grow vertically.

fukushu kumquat 1 · More Info

Fukushu kumquat#2 · More Info

Yes, it's more of an artistic effect but it would give you a longer trunk section, it would just show the braid. The branches would eventually fuse into a single trunk, though they would show the braid. You could do as Steve suggests also. He has the experience with indoor grown citrus. I myself would start to take off the lowest branches, encouraging the central growth but I have grown all of my citrus outside in ground.

I have never done it with citrus but the braiding recommendation is interesting. I braided several branches on a young crepemyrtle tree that was bushing out too soon. Now it has a nicely fused, hefty trunk and branched out higher so it doesn't get in my face when I mow around it.

That sound interesting. Can you please show a picture of the fused trunk?

First try at posting didn't take...apologies if we end up with a duplicate post!

Nick,

Here is the crepe myrtle trunk I fused. I think it was three trunks when I wove them together. Now you can barely see the spiral shape to the growth but it's a nice stout trunk and it's branched out higher.

Wow! That's spectacular! I'll have to try that out on my lemon plant. Approximately how long did it take to fuse the three branches? And you see where the crepe myrtle starts branching out; was that the top of the braid? I guess I'm trying to ask if the braided trunk grew at all or if the trunk stopped growing at the top of the weave. Right now my branches are around 1ft long so if I braid them would I get a 1ft tall trunk? If so, I'll probably have to wait until the branches are 3ft long because I want a pretty tall tree trunk.

Also, what did you use to secure the braid? Would a zip tie be too rough on the tree?

Oh man, it's been maybe 7-10 years since I planted that tree. I braided the trunks so the braid held together on its own...no ties needed. I THINK where the trunks separate is where the top of the braid was. I think you would just keep braiding from year to year until the trunk was high enough and then let the branches grow separately. Just guessing though....what you see is the only experience I'm banking on!

Thanks for the advice, John. I'll look more into this braiding technique!

A water sprout typically has larger than typical leaves; has big thorns; and the branch is angular versus round; it is generally a sign that you are being overly kind to your tree. The most common practice for water sprouts is to cut them back to the level of the general canopy, and they will revert to normal growth. Some people leave the water sprouts and encourage them in order to quickly increase the size of the tree.