Some more pictures:

What is your verdict: keep it or toss it?

The curved roots at the bottom gives me the impression it grew from seed. I don't waste my time with seedlings as I am in my 50's. I will probably be dead before it fruits. lol. My opinion is that it made this long, maybe give it to somebody young who is willing to care for it as a learning experience and see if it ever fruits.

I thought the same, Denise, about it being a seedling, but the lady said it had fruit on it last year.

A tree surviving in a pot with no holes? Hmm. Not saying it couldn't be done. Rub one of the relatively new leaves and see if it leaves a scent on your hands. I noticed a citrusy odor on my hands after touching my Eureka lemon trees. That may help in determining which variety of citrus you may have. I noticed this doesn't happen on my older leaves though or my other citrus trees. You can always keep it for a year and see what you get. If it bloomed in the past, it may again.

An orange leaf will have a winged petiole; a lemon will not. I agree the twisted root is a good indication it was grown from seed.

I was 57 years old when this tree was sprouted. I am now 61.

Flower #2

Flower #3

Steve

Thanks all! Denise, I am going to try to save it, I am young and have my whole life ahead of me :) The lady probably repotted it in to that gigantic pot with no holes recently, I wanted to find out more about the tree and was told she moved to another city.

Will update you on my decision on this one down the road.

You can graft a piece of sionwood from a tree that has fruited already, close to the base, nice excercise, why not. Try an improve barkgraft with a stick from a super delicious variety, sure somebody here could send you a stick.

The tree may be grafted on to a seedling rootstock

When life gives you a lemon, make an air layer :) This is the progression of making an air layer on citrus tree mentioned above in pictures. After I cut the top tree in 2-3 months, I will graft something on to the roots of the mother tree. Enjoy!

I will update you down the road.

Here is an air layer on a completely horizontal fig branch:

Have a good day, everyone!

Nice pic sequence, I've heard of scratching bark but it looks like you did a complete encirclement to the inner layer, did you apply any hormone? I also assume the bottles are split and taped.

Honestly, if you live in a mild region where citrus thrive, I'd toss and start with a known entity of a variety that you really enjoy eating. Oh, I guess you're in Ontario. Well, your call.

No hormones, I could have used raw honey, but it should be fine. The bottles are split and taped. I also secured the larger bottle with a string, to not move down and expose the wounded trunk.

Dave, it is a matter of experience, observation and learning for me. I love challenges!

Well, just know that if it's a seedling, by chopping off the top you have probably reduced any chances of it blooming and bearing. Read up on citrus seedlings -- this is part of the learning curve. They need to grow for many years and TALL before they can bloom.

I don't like the look of the trunk where the bark is peeling. Looks like freeze damage.

In the mean time, if you like the tree and can get it to recover, you can enjoy it as a foliage plant.

But if you have your heart set on fruit, buy a known variety.

Dave, I know all that info about seedlings. I have nothing to loose, I am a patient person. I already have varieties that I want.

Sunshine you sure know your stuff, enjoy watching the way you go about. Good lesson for everybody. You have done your homework long time ago.

Just an update on my citrus tree trunk air layer. I checked the roots under the tin foil and they look good, there is also a branch shooting from below the air layer, very close to the soil. I will leave the air layer to grow for a couple more weeks and cut it to plant it in a new pot.

The new branch will be the main trunk.

Hi everyone, finally I removed the air layer from the lemon(?) tree. Here are the pictures I took during and after the removal and repotting of both parts. Enjoy!

There were lots of healthy roots all around the trunk:

After removal:

Made a mound in the center of the soil, gently spread the roots all around, added more soil:

For the bottom half of the tree I trimmed the root zone almost in half, removed the thick and circling roots, repotted it in a smaller container (it was growing in a very large container with no holes before I got it in June). The circling roots happened before it was put in that giant container by previous owners, I am sure I snapped some roots further down the soil, but it will be ok with those remaining and the sprouted branch is a good sign:

Both of them side by side:

Sunshine there is no stopping you, you are just remarkable. Don,t slow down.

Great job. I thought about doing thast with my grafted Meiwa. I would be air layering much higher up on the trunk and leave a healthy bush with the original roots.

Steve

Nicely done and illustrated Sunshine. The only thing I would have differently is that I would have untangled the entire root ball of the air layer before potting up. Just like you did it for the bottom part of it. In my experience that wall of roots creates more problems later on since it prevents uniform root spread in the pot afterwards.

Thanks guys :)

Oops , Tropic, now you're telling me :) I really hope that as roots adjust and I water it, the roots spread a little bit. I was afraid to snap them and damage the roots. I think the next repot will be more work.

I always use a root hook to untangle the roots. A few will break but most will remain undamaged. It will help to spread the roots out uniformly and provide more space for roots to grow unhindered. I posted pictures of before-after untangling in this post: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/chinotto-air-layer-potting-in-pictures-dsvw-vd~5408661

And the root hook is in one of the pictures too. You can find a similar one on ebay and amazon. That root hook is 25 yrs old but my wife uses it more since it fits are small hand better. I have several others that I acquired over the years since I consider it the single best tool for repotting and chopsticks come in at a close second.

I know a lot of people are afraid of doing such a thing - but once you start doing it I think you will get the hang of it and never go back. It is a lot like women combing to untangle their hair.

Wow sunshine your good really good looking nice .

Brian