Each seedling will grow at a different pace and have different vigor. Genetic variations, just like human babies: some are tall, some are short, some grow fast, some grow slow and unfortunately some don't make it.

Here is an example of me growing key lime twins :) , they were from one seed, but look at the difference:

Grafted trees do a lot better because the rootstock seedlings are discarded if they are to any degree slow growing. We only get grafted trees that are destine to do well. Those 2 trees are to close together for both to do well. Trees of same species communicate to each other and one tree will sit on the wayside to give the dominant tree it best chance. If the best tree dies out the second class tree often takes over with gusto. Separate the small tree and give it 10 feet for itself. What variety is it.

Steve

I don't know which species/variety they are. I just removed seeds from an orange fruit that i was eating. I then used wiki to figure out how to grow orange from seed. First soak them in tissue paper till roots come out.

And then i put them in pot and then in garden.

@sunshine How did you you grow two plants from 1 seed?

@poncirusguy I'm skeptical about transplanting the passive plant now. I did that with my tomato plants and many died. Plus it's raining nowadays so there's going to be a horde of insects in the mud. But yeah I could give it a try.

Ajay, if you do search on any type of citrus or any problem growing citrus on this forum and read, you will gain tonnes of knowledge and will be more confident in growing trees. Here is better than wiki, all this information here is from experience, not from someone who has not planted even one tree in their lifetime and giving advice left, right and center. Two plants from one seed=search POLYEMBRYONY IN PLANTS

umm, how do trees communicate to each other? New concept to me.

They do, Denise! Chemical communication.

Plant roots are known to release chemicals to inhibit roots of other plants to take hold in their vicinity. I am not sure how much citrus is capable of. Perhaps a strong citrus may inhibit the weaker one. But many weeds certainly do.

Hey Denise - google "Black Walnut" and see how they kill stuff anywhere near them! It's called "allelopathy". :-)

I have heard of black walnuts killing stuff, but didn't know the terminology for it.

They are some pretty mean trees but make some nice wood for furniture. lol

http://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-and-plant-advice/horticulture-care/plants-tolerant-black-walnut-toxicity

Maybe not all plants communicate with each other. Else there wouldn't be any forests. I could move the weaker plant somewhere else.

Thanks for that link Steve! :-D

Caffeine in coffee also have negative allelopathic properties. Thus uncomposted coffee grounds is not a great idea for soil unless you know specific plants that are not affected by it.

This may just be a weak seedling that would have been discarded by now in a commercial citrus nursery if being grown for root stock. I have read that citrus nurseries that use seed grown root stock often discard 20-30 percent of the seedlings in the first year due to such issues as being slow to grow, poor shape, etc.

Also you should be aware that seed grown citrus can take a very long time to produce fruit, often many years. There was a story a couple of years ago about a boy who planted a citrus seed (lemon I think, but may have been orange) as a young boy, that lived to see it fruit for the first time when he was about 80 years old. (not all seed grown citrus take this long) By contrast grafted citrus is genetically mature, so typically fruits within a couple of years when it has grown enough to have the spare energy to yield fruit.

Steve, how about plants like the citrus hedge and the deliberately closely grown citrus for the compact orchard? Is it because they are transplanted later that they all grow well together? (I had three citrus planted within a few feet of each other, and at that time, I remember people on this forum telling me that some orchards did high density planting, and it would be fine. That said the meyer has outgrown everything else, and the pink variegated is definitely a bit stunted)

KC

High density planting are trees on flying dragon that reach a mature hight of 10 feet instead of 25 feet and have a limb spread of 6 feet instead of 20 feet. These trees are spaced according there natural mature size. High density planting would never be done on Cleopatra, volk, C35, Carrizo but would be done on flying dragon, US897, US942, In a citrus hedge each tree may be 4 feet apart but the tree above is probably only a foot apart. My citrus hedge has each tree about 4 feet apart. This is far enough for each rootsystem to feel in has its own space. By the time the roots start competing it will be every tree for itself.

Ah ok, I do have almost 4 feet between mine. Thanks for explaining that!

Ajay: "Maybe not all plants communicate with each other. Else there wouldn't be
any forests. I could move the weaker plant somewhere else."

Right. Forests also have a lot of symbiotic relationships and help each other that you can think of as a form of communication. Allelopathy goes both ways too. In general, where the resources are plentiful plants tend not to actively inhibit others. But where resources are scarce inhibiting other plants is a survival tactic.

Move your smaller plant away from the stronger one and that will give it a chance to establish itself.

In some tree species the mother trees are known for "looking after" baby trees.

I just transplanted the tiny plant to another location. There is wall on one side but otherwise there's ample space. Here's how I transplanted:

1) watered the soil

2) pulled out the tiny plant. (this was easy. the plant had only 1 thick stem and test tiny hairs)

3) i then used spoon to create hole in other area and forced the plant down there. The root came off, so there's mostly stem and some hair. I hope the plant doesn't die.

Thanks for the reply.

Why did you "pull" the plant rather than take an object like your spoon or shovel and take out a good chunk of soil with the roots? This way the roots would not have been traumatized as much. Using force as you said is a good way to destroy any object.

I didn't have much water with me and the plant wasn't coming out. I also had to save water so I could put the plant later at another place. Should I pluck out some leaves from the plant or from bottom of plant so it grows well?

Ajay: provide a bit of shade to the plant. Since it is small a cardboard or plywood plank can be erected shading it from the Sun. This will reduce the stress and give you a better chance.

Talking of allelopathy - I just discovered a strong case in my vege patch. I have been noticing that some of pepper plants are struggling. While the japanese sweet potato close to it it is doing extremely well. I googled and found that sweet potato has strong negative allelopathic properties. Cannot do much now but remove some of the runners on the ground under the peppers. A lesson for me - isolate the sweet potatoes next time or forget about it.

I grow my peppers in 5 gallon buckets in with the in ground sweet potatoes.