Good morning,

My brother has an in-ground citrus that produces fruit that is ultra sour! Sour to the point where I put my lips to a lime and it took me half a day for the taste to go away. The fruits do not produce any juice whatsoever and they turn yellow/orange before they finally drop off the tree.

We don't know what type of citrus it is, but the tree is a fighter! Someone at a party threw seeds in a pot about 20 years ago and they sprouted. It lived 10 years in a pot without receiving any special care or attention; it was pulled from the trash bin 3 times after my mother discovered it was alive. It was planted in the ground 10 years ago. Last year, it survived a cold front where temps dropped 12-17 degrees; interestingly, after a much milder winter this year, many of the branches died. After pruning much of the tree, leaves are more exposed and are wilting.

This tree is in Rio Rico, AZ which is about 60 miles south of Tucson, AZ. My brother only gives it a citrus fertilizer.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on what this tree is lacking.


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Millet,

I agree it is lacking care. I wanted to let him know what minerals, fertilizer, etc he should give it to provide better tasting fruit.

Other than the branches that did not survive the winter and the wilting leaves from having to prune branches, the tree has always been very green and healthy..

Robert

The leaves appear to be a trifoliata hybrid, possible Carrizo or Swingle. they are cold tolerant and taste very bad. They are primarily used as root stock.

The photos are way to small to really tell what you have, but if Bonnie is correct & they are some type of trifoliate hybrid they will never taste good.

Here's an example of trifoliate leaves.

Bad tasting hybrid?? That is very interesting!! I am soooo hooked on citrus right now!

Let me try posting pics again to see if they come out better:

That does look like a citrange, it's mostly used as rootstock. The fruit are nasty.

Does this look like your tree & fruit ?

http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/C35citrange.html

Looks just like it Laaz. For years my brother has been trying to figure out why the fruit is so bad. Different people would offer different advice.. I'm so glad I found this forum so I could finally figure it out.

I guess its time for citrus bark grafting for a complete novice to citrus trees Thank goodness JoeReal made such a detailed tutorial on how to do it. I just hope that scionwood that I collect in Phoenix will last by the time I bring it back.