Yes, some of them will get a massive haircut to promote branching and control size.

Some of mine will need haircuts this spring Bob ;-)

I almost never, never, never, never prune young citrus trees. A citrus tree is a unit, and any pruning of the foliage of a young tree reduces the growth of the tree's root system.

Silica please define young? I just have to trim them or I will not be able to get them through my doors.

As we know, deciduous fruit species need yearly cuts to promote new flush, flowering and crop. Citrus pruning is mainly devoted to only thinning and opening the canopy for light penetration as well as to keeping the canopy low. During the first years, there is no need to cut all, or part of the tree, since research has shown that any cut to a young tree reduces root growth. This is due to the equilibrium between foliage and root system. A plant is a biological unit. Heavy cuts on a young tree discourages canopy growth and delays tree coming into bearing. This is especially true for weak citrus cultivars such as limes , satsumas etc. After a few years, depending on the speed of tree growth, climate and cultural practices a selective canopy thinning can be carried out.

I agree with Silica, I was gonna say that I would only prune branches in bad shape or to get more airflow and light penetration. There's probably a higher chance of young trees attracting bugs and pests and then ultimately fungus so getting airflow and more light would help keep them happy.

I trimmed my tree the end of summer because the canopy was too thick with many vertical branches and I started noticing white powder on it even after I wiped it. Probably powdery mildew from its bad branching hence trimming it. The powder never came back and there's more light penetration but the haircut was too drastic and now it doesn't want to grow leaves, only flowers. But I think getting rid of the powdery mildew was worth the bad haircut!

I can see the reasoning not to prune a tree the first couple of years (?) if grown in ground. This does not apply to citrus in container. If you wait a couple of years, it will be so much out of shape that it will not fit through any door. I have not seen any ill growing because of my pruning. Yup, all in container.

Your trees sound happy to be pruned Susanne. For well taken care of trees, frequent pruning probably won't pose a problem. For me I just prefer not to cut off too much because I haven't had first hand experience yet. But once my tree looks to be vigorously growing next spring/summer, I wouldn't be against shaping my tree.

I’ve definitely shaped my trees by pruning - especially those that were lanky and just out of shape. I know it reduces the fruiting, but those that I hacked have much better shape than if i’d let them go. That said, I have been erring on the the side of not doing too much pruning lately to promote fruit. I may pay for that soon when my trees have to come inside ;-). A week ago I did a nice job on the lower part of my persian lime because it was so thick and covered up that I discovered ONE branch loaded with scale!! What a horror! I pruned that branch and all those that were blocking air flow in the area, then sprayed thoroughly. I did cut off one branch that had a bud, but it was necessary. The tree has more than enough buds and limes and I figured I would spare that one for the health and safety of the tree. I wish I had taken a before/after pic.

My God, beautiful trees everyone!!

For me I could care less how much fruit I get, it's the size that must be kept under control before I bring them inside...So usually I will stick them out as is in the spring since they don't grow much all winter and let them go wild...They grow so much that after that I have not much room or sunlight to give them so I MUST cut them back..

For my trees, if they do not get the amount of sunlight required to hold on to such a large canopy, the roots will struggle to stay alive and cast of tons of leaves and branches anyway..Not enough direct sun to keep the canopy going, so cut back I must to avoid this issue...

Wish I had a huge greenhouse or huge ceilings with huge windows, then I would reconsider cutting mine back that much and do just a trim..

It kills me every time to have to do this. I even have to cut back branches loaded with fruit and blossoms, that is the hardest..

I have also found that no matter how young my trees are in pots, cutting back encourages a fuller tree and rapid growth and encourages more fruit~--==! Just ask my Lemon Meyer tree..Ha

+++++++Evan, your trees are massive and always such a pleasure to see against that blue sky~!! Great job+++++++

Yeah Evan....your trees are HUGE and gorgeous. I always love seeing them!

You can spit this forum 3 ways: Inground, greenhouse and Container growers like me and a few others, that said we are the ones with the most problems and also hard work and different strategies to grow with success. Sometimes i get the feeling that the big boys are making fun of us and that we should invest ......., well not me. It cost me, not a lot of money to be satisfy in a my hobby.

If i have to do a greenhouse i would built it myself and that it looks like a 2 or 3 car garage with fix skylights facing south and fix windows on the west side and working windows on the north side for ventilation, next heavy insulation. I can built this thing a whole lot cheaper than a ugaleeee greenhouse. It is my money. I like my tree's outside for the other 6 months. I got a 500 gls tank that i use to transfer rainwater to the different places in my different sections. My garage is built that way.

That is so great to hear Mike. You're like an encyclopedia of citrus knowledge! I'll definitely whack away at my Meyer tree with a smile on my face next spring. My tree is in desperate need of a fuller canopy!

Susanne I'm with you I trimmed my tree's heavily 4 weeks ago and now this

Evan fantastic pics . Wow your Tango looks fantastic . I bet Laura would know what to do with all those key limes on the ground .

Brian

Oh, look at that bumble bee. I guess she thinks she went to heaven this time of year.
I wonder how long we will have to wait until somebody invent a software for smelling??

Lol Susanne I hope soon . Susanne you cannot believe all the bee's and yellow jackets in the greenhouse during the daytime . Before the sunsets the bee's leave but the yellow jackets stay and sleep on the leaves of the tree's they actually sleep on there side kind of cute. Here is one that sleeps on the same exact olive leaf every night .

Brian do you leave your doors open? I was thinking to open the door too but just too afraid to invite bugs that won't go away willingly once they are inside.

The vents on my greenhouse open automatically to prevent overheating so I can't help it if bad insects get in. The other day I opened the doors and saw (and heard) hundreds of bees all over my huge calamondin which is now covered in blossoms. Since then, they come every morning and leave in the afternoon. I also leave the doors open to make sure they all leave in the afternoon. We have two hives and a nuc.

Sounds wonderful Vladimir. I would loove to see (and smell) your calamondin. It must look so beautiful.

Bob, I really like your greenhouse that looks like a garage idea.

I like the look of a greenhouse, but 'disgusing' it has merits, as well.

As far as pruning - I understand that trimming may be needed to make our plants 'fit', but it certainly is good to keep in mind the potential sacrifice.

I hardly every prune, only if there are crossing branches or dieback, but my trees aren't in danger of not fitting in doorways yet so I may change my tune in later years but for now I appreciate bushy vs tree growth and let them do their own thing.

Yep I am planning on pruning this coming spring. I waited too long last year and fruit started growing again. The top and the canopy of Ollie (navel orange) need to be trimmed as they are getting close to the ground. I’ll probably trim the key Lime once it’s planted on the ground. I have plenty of projects to finish before that so we will see when that happens.

If the trees fruit on new wood, how much do you guys trim off? Do you guys plan your cuts to make sure the new fruiting wood is within arms reach?

Brian, how cool is that!!? I love it. Nice trees by the way. I had no idea hornets sleep on their side..You know, it was so nice out Saturday, that I decided to go for a nice walk on a farm and into the woods without my shirt on to get a bit of sun..I got stung my a hornet, wasp and bee...lol I also petted goats and Lama and sheep. The goats actually wanted to play with me and almost jumped over a fence to do so,,lol He was grabbing for a Kishu orange that I had brought in a bad..Ha

Oh Mike, if you feel the lust to play with the goats, you are welcome. Don't even have to jump the fence to do so. ;)

Mikey they are so adorable I want one I want one correction I want two I want two lol . Mikey those goats would chase you around the country if they knew you had any kind of food on you hilarious . Beautiful farm Mikey and hasn't the weather been so beautiful. Even way way up here it was in the low 70's all weekend . Talk about your major bad luck stung 3 time's ouch that will teach you for walking around with no shirt on lol . Susanne and Mikey I had the greenhouse doors wide open the last 3 day's and the greenhouse was full of every flying object you can think of and not once was I attacked even the queen yellow jacket visited you should have seen the size of this thing . Love those pics my friend.

Brian

Brian - you read my mind about the key limes. I could definitely think of some good things to do with them. Although even I would be overwhelmed with so many! Funny, I showed my daughter the pics of Evan’s trees and the first thing she said is “he needs to pick up all those key limes!”

Laura now wouldn't those limes make a delicious key lime pie ? :)

Brian

Brian, well. if you have been eating those Sloppy Joe's I can understand why they leave you alone..lololol No wonder they fall asleep in there, they are probably dead and that is why they stay in the same spot..lol I just had too buddy. I needed a good laugh! I hear you about the bees..I left my doors open to and they all love being in there but never one left behind by night. Instead they find their way into my plant room upstairs with screen drawn and they scare the living daylight out of me. I caught one sitting on my orchid yesterday@!

Yeah, warm here too but I am afraid we are about to be awaken with the harsh reality this weekend buddy.......By the way, isn't it nice to be able not to use the space heater yet?!! By this time last year my electric bill was through the roof..

I am happy that all my trees are cut back. I'll bet it's hard for you too to have to cut them back after being so tall and bushy, but your trees always come back with a full vengeance..Hugs buddy

Mike

are your citrus branches going to look like this, i hope not.

Buying tree's or making your own tree's are the easy part but training is a different story. Knowing which training method to use is much more difficult, especially for a beginner. The modify central leader is what i would recommend.

Bob, would you suggest that for most citrus like limes, lemons and mandarins? I was debating between modified leader or open vase for my Meyer. It's so picky and drops leaves so easily that I went for the open vase for more sunlight but if the modified leader is better for it, I can still shift to that instead.

Vetch, i would try the central mod. leader first, because if you shape the lateral branches to were they are not start drooping. Meyer's are heavy. I guess you are familiar with this system. Open vase creates a too wide of a tree,not necessary.

Mikey buddy you Crack me up the Joe's that was our little secret lol . Mikey the bee's are everywhere one was sitting on my ear and I didn't even notice till someone told me . The bee's and wasps look pretty spent at this time of year but they can still pollinate . Mikey the weather has been incredible so makes up for our summer of rain and cold . I think that we are slowly going to ease into winter in the next couple of weeks that's cool I'm ready . The bee in your orchid must have given you quit the fright speaking of orchids saw a cool one that had a monkey face do you own any of those ? Hugs buddy

Brian

I’ve read lots about pruning and people are either pro or con. I think as container growers, we have no choice for a) shaping and b) size. I buy my trees so young and small that I prune to promote branching.

I will be the first to admit that sometimes I over prune. But every time I prune a tree, within a few weeks it is loaded with new growth and blossoms. My new Meyer, which I didn’t think was old enough to fruit, I pruned back the main branch and three new branches, all coverage in blossoms popped up.

I frequently want to post about pruning advice, but I know there is such a range of opinions. My key lime is such a mess of a shrub and I’m overwhelmed by it. I wish I’d pruned it when it was younger. Now I need some one to come over here and help me get it under control.

I took a long hard look at my Meyer and I'm not so sure I can transition it to modified leader or not. I will probably to to go for some type of hybrid. It's too bad I bought mine before knowing anything about fruit trees. I see now that it was headed back and trained to have 4 branches sprouting out in the same spot on the main trunk. I picked two at the widest angle to keep and pruned off the other two to make the trunk fork into a V shape. I might be able to bend one over alittle towards the center over time to make it a modified leader. Has anyone tried this before?

Hi Alanna your right nothing wrong with pruning and most times it's followed by a flush of new branches and blossom's . Does your Key lime have large thorns if so I wish you luck wear really good gloves lol. I pruned my Kishu a few weeks ago it was so thick with growth I couldn't even see the soil when I watered , now it's nice and airy at the soil level .

Pic before

Ugh I just love seeing your photos Brian. It's like one of those perfect ornamental trees you would see in a home design display. Did you prune your trees to follow a training method?

Alanna I would love to see more about pruning in the citrus forum! We all love looking at photos of each other's trees but I always secretly think about how to prune my baby tree to make it look as pretty as everyone else's lol

Brian that tree looks great. Now I’m thinking about pruning instead of waiting until spring! My branches that I want to take out are pretty large. I hate to throw them away. I was thinking about trying to air layer them off.

Hello Kvetchlambkin thankyou no skill there it was cut this and that and then stand back to take a look then repeat over and over again until I was satisfied. I was so tired of watering it with only half the water ending up in the potting mix because I couldn't see the pot with all the foliage around it . It's amazing how a trim can make a so so plant into one of your favorites I really like this one now .

Thankyou Alanna , my tree's are large so a trim doesn't bother them at all actually they seem to love it . Air layering is a super fantastic idea we can never have to many tree's I just don't know if late fall is a good time if you could hold off till spring .

Brian

Brian - you really have a talent for pruning! Looks like a magazine photo! It amazes me every time you post a pic.

Alanna, I think you do need to wait til spring to air layer. I am thinking of trying it, as well.