identify young citrus trees?
#1
identify young citrus trees?
Hello,
I have a few questions about some citrus trees that were recently given to me.
I have 9 of them. All were started by cuttings. I know many citrus types are typically grafted. Why is this, and what could go wrong with these trees started by cuttings instead of being grafted?
Next question is, how can I identify them? The guy who gave them to me doesn't know which ones are which, and some might be pink grapefruit, orange, lemon, satsuma, and maybe others. I'd like to be able to know what I'm planting and where, due to landscaping properties of the different trees and the fact that I probably won't plant all of them. I don't want to plant all satsumas and give away the pink grapefruit, you know? Some of them have rounder leaves and no thorns, some have thorns, etc... Can they be ID'ed, or do I just need to let them grow and find out? They're less than a foot tall right now.
He also gave me 4 pomegranate bushes, 14 or so blueberry bushes, and 2 plum trees! Combined with my raspberries, blackberries, grapes, strawberries, and mulberries, I should have a lot of fruit to eat and make wine out of!
Thanks!
I have a few questions about some citrus trees that were recently given to me.
I have 9 of them. All were started by cuttings. I know many citrus types are typically grafted. Why is this, and what could go wrong with these trees started by cuttings instead of being grafted?
Next question is, how can I identify them? The guy who gave them to me doesn't know which ones are which, and some might be pink grapefruit, orange, lemon, satsuma, and maybe others. I'd like to be able to know what I'm planting and where, due to landscaping properties of the different trees and the fact that I probably won't plant all of them. I don't want to plant all satsumas and give away the pink grapefruit, you know? Some of them have rounder leaves and no thorns, some have thorns, etc... Can they be ID'ed, or do I just need to let them grow and find out? They're less than a foot tall right now.
He also gave me 4 pomegranate bushes, 14 or so blueberry bushes, and 2 plum trees! Combined with my raspberries, blackberries, grapes, strawberries, and mulberries, I should have a lot of fruit to eat and make wine out of!
Thanks!
#2
Group Moderator
I was hoping others would jump in and tell you how to identify your plants.
I've not had good luck when starting citrus and fruit trees from seeds/pits or from cuttings. I think there is a real reason why many varieties are grafted. Over the years I've killed the top stock of several fruit trees while the root stock survived and came back as a nice shrub and not the Bing cherry of the top. And when I've started plants from seeds they just don't thrive like a grafted plant. I suppose they are bred for fruit production but don't have the roots to support what the plant tries to produce so they have to be grafted to some strong root stock that can feed the top plant.
I've not had good luck when starting citrus and fruit trees from seeds/pits or from cuttings. I think there is a real reason why many varieties are grafted. Over the years I've killed the top stock of several fruit trees while the root stock survived and came back as a nice shrub and not the Bing cherry of the top. And when I've started plants from seeds they just don't thrive like a grafted plant. I suppose they are bred for fruit production but don't have the roots to support what the plant tries to produce so they have to be grafted to some strong root stock that can feed the top plant.
#3
Thanks, that's about what I figured. I think I'll just plant them in the back somewhere, not planning on them for landscape purposes, and let them do whatever they're going to do.
#4
Group Moderator
I just pruned a mystery shrub this weekend. It was a grafted cherry tree but the top stock died last year and the root stock sent up about a dozen branches. I trimmed all but the healthiest, most vertical branch and tied it to a stake to make it more vertical hoping to train it to become a main trunk. I'm hoping in a few years what it is will become evident since it's leaves don't really narrow it down too much. It's sort of like a mystery present that I have to wait several years to open.