No pruning needed or would be good.

It is a good thing that the tree is not mine. It is a very good one for sionwood exchange. First ,the two bottom ones good for trade, the two main ones shortened, cuttings good for trade. Somebody wants them, good old Steve might trade you for a nice one.

Keep all your limbs. The tee needs all those leaves to continue doing well. When I graft (1.5% success rate) I cut the bud from the scion wood with the wood on the tree. I only loose one leaf instead of a whole stick. My only 2 successes were taken from my tree in this manor. I have all the trees I need and have room for. Anyway I have hear that yuzu fruit is inedible. Can you plant that in ground. with all this global warming you will be zone 8 by the time your tree is ton big for easy protection.

Steve

I hope that little tree is not going to produce a few fruits soon, y'll see what is going to happen. Besides, why even grow this tree if the fruits are not worth eating. To me it is a candidate for a combo graft, now, today!

How do you want the tree to look when it does produce fruit? Some folks like having a topiary and others prefer a fuller bush like tree. Do you have to bring your tree inside for the winter? How tall is the ceiling in which the tree will reside while inside?

I have to bring mine inside so I would remove the 2 lowest branches and trim the tallest branches on top 1/3 back to encourage new growth in the middle. This would also make the tree look balanced. I would not allow my tree to be any taller than 6' because it is easier to spray, search for pests and maneuver. I have always been afraid of pruning my citrus too, but it needs to be done at some point. If you trim bush type hedges, you will see that wherever a cut was made, you will get new growth filling the bare spots. Same with a citrus. Watch this video. It's extreme for us, but this is how the commercial growers do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZpDSXDckWQ  The more you prune, the fuller it becomes.

I agree the tree needs all the leaves it has, but you have to look toward the future and start the foundation for growing strong limbs for all the future fruit production. If you don't have strong limbs, they will fall down because fruit is on new growth.

Thanks Denise for your useful answer. Yes I'd like to keep it smaller and actually make it look like a tree with a proper canopy rather than a shrub with branches growing all over the place. I do bring my citrus indoors for the winter and its not quite that close to touching the ceiling yet but I know it will within the next 3 years if I don't start pruning. Is there a good time to prune citrus? I heard winter is best when the tree is not too active but another site says it can be done anytime of the year. I want my yuzu to kinda look like this. More taller than wide.

In the second picture, I'd prune the limb on the right side at least 1/3 of the way back. This would help make the plant a bit more dense. If it were my tree, I'd even cut back the left one to about 6" below the last bifurcation...so maybe 18" down. It will grow quickly ,since you still have some summer left. But that's me.

Yes, prune now so that the new growth can start to fill in. You don't want to prune during the winter because the tree draws its food from the leaves and you may experience leaf drop due to environmental changes.

I would top it around 5' so you can allow the tree an opportunity to grow a bit and top out at 6' max or whatever your ceiling allows. Looking at the picture as a guide, I would go no taller than the 3rd panel (base of window) just to give it a nice canopy. I would trim the other branches to match the height of the leader which will encourage the canopy to fill in.

Those spines look nasty on the lower limbs so I would either cut off the limbs or the spines before winter storage time so you don't get poked when moving it inside. Those 3 lower limbs will have to be removed at some point to give you the desired topiary look. There is no hurry to remove the lower 3 limbs, but those spines have to go.

The tree looks like it is slightly leaning because of the graft. Staking it up now would be a good idea to do so the trunk looks straighter by next year. I suggest using one of the following: old panty hose, old t-shirt strips or the green plant tape. They all stretch and won't girdle the trunk as the tree grows. Put the stake at the inside edge of the pot and tie up the tree with whatever you have handy.

Ok but even if I prune it are you sure it will still give off some new growth? I know that a lot of typical shrubs and trees do that but never seen my yuzu or satsuma mandarin do that. I did cut off a branch about 5 inches last month on my yuzu and I don't see any new growth since then. My yuzu is very specific on when it first starts growing in the season, which is june. My satsuma mandarin starts growing in late January-early February and the second round of growth starts around June. But my yuzu only grows new growth on June, based on my observances from the past two springs I had this tree. So I am worried that even if I cut it, new growth will not occur and whats left will be a tree with a unappealing shape.. Should I still try it out regardless?

Also, do you guys get any concerns regarding fungus/disease issues when pruning citrus? That is my biggest concern in pruning.. like theres going to be so many openings that fungus and other diseases can easily enter through it. Do you apply any fungicides or anything after you prune to avoid those kind of issues?

I am not familiar with yuzu's growth habits. Just regular citrus and based my advice on that. In order to prevent bacteria from entering the tree, I just sterilize my clippers with rubbing alcohol before starting and whenever going to a different tree.

I have started using fish emulsion to encourage leaf growth. Do you think it would make a difference with yuzu trees?

Oh gotcha. Well I just ordered a 16 oz bottle of physan which is a disinfectant, fungicide, virucide, and algaecide so I will use that on my clippers then. I use foliage pro fertilizer for my citrus and usually apply it once every week or week and a half. So wait, lets say my yuzu will not grow any more new growth even after pruning. Is it ok if I still prune?

Yes, prune it now because we are in the growing season for citrus and you still have to have it properly sized for winter storage. It will be much easier to maneuver as well.

You are very tuned in to your tree's growth habits so bravo! Many folks aren't. You don't have to trim it at all if you don't wish. If it fruits as is, those spindly limbs are going to bend over and possibly break due to the weight of the fruit depending on how much is on them. I don't know the fruiting habits of a yuzu so I am speculating what could happen.

I have 4 slow growing Owari trees myself and I just realized that I am under fertilizing them. I use the granular organic fertilizers so I was being overly cautious with feeding. I was giving like 2 tablespoons when they should be getting like a 1/2 cup or more. I feel really stupid because I always felt they should be doing better than they are. The label on the packaging isn't specific enough for potted trees in containers so I contacted the manufacturer. They confirmed my suspicions of underfeeding and gave me the correct amount for my trees in large pots.

Before you trim, you could do some research on growth habits of yuzu to see if your tree's growth habits are normal. I think you would feel a lot better if you did. I try to research as much as possible on the varieties I have too.

Well I'm not too concerned about winter storage actually. Even though I have to carry the whole potted plant upstairs in my room its no big deal. The ceiling is still very tall enough and will provide room for it. Then I actually researched some Japanese websites on yuzu and many say they prune about March-April, just before new growth starts kicking in. So what I may do is just cut off the lower 2-3 branches and prune the rest next spring.

Well yes I love the yuzu.. I am extra attentive on them and also to my owari satsuma mandarin as well. Both citrus are extremely popular and widespread in my culture, pretty much every one of us loves them.

I actually did quite some research mostly through this forum and asked many questions about fertilizing and most recommended me to use the dyna gro foliage pro so I've started using that as my fertilizer for my citrus and other potted plants as well. I just do 1 tsp per gallon water for every watering.