Hello everyone

I am new to the board and also a newbie to citrus trees, I have however spent alot of time reading up about these trees. I am glad to find a board so dedicated to citrus trees!

I hope you can give me some advice my the new Meyer Lemon tree I recently bought at Walmart. The problem with buying it at walmart is that no one knows anything about it, so I am here for some advice.

1) Anyone able to tell me how old this tree is? I just potted it in a 10" container, the trunk is 1/2" diameter and it has some little buds that look like they could be fruit.

2) the tree is lopsided, there are 3 branches off towards the left and 1 going right. Theres a lot of stumps on it so its been pruned in the past. Should I prune it to balance it or wait until after summer? I dont want to take off those branches with the growing fruits, so maybe after the season? Or maybe I could just turn it towards the sun and the right side might grow out and see how it goes...

3) I cannot find the diagonal graft line that everyone is talking about, there are no bumps, change in texture or diagonal lines. I have posted a pic of a horizontal line and 2 branches are growing there. Is this a graft line? The branches that are growing there are the same as the others on the tree and has a little bud. Should I cut these branches?





Thanks in advance!
Sarah

I wouldn't prune potted citrus plants, just turn the pot every week for balanced canopy growth. Don't worry about the graft line. You will know for sure if the rootstock has sprouted because it will have a different leaf shape than the rest of the plant.

Your tree is most likely a 2-year old graft, but one year is a possibility, depending which C&M nursery it was outsourced.

You can always cut the skirt branches (lowest ones) for beauty or leave them alone, depends on how you want it to look.

Hi Sarah and welcome to the forum. That very well could be a graft line. It's hard to tell from the photo, but is the bark different below the line than above ? Meyer are grafted & also rooted as they do fine on their own roots & root very easy. If the leaves on the lower branch are the same as the higher branches you can leave it if you want. Some people like "Bush" type plants & other like "tree" type plants. Its up to you how you want it to grow... If you like the tree look remove all the lower growth.

Thank you laaz and joereal for taking the time to respond.

I read about graft lines and thought I would be able to tell when I do get my tree, and I also thought all meyers were grafted so I was trying to work out if this was the graft line and if so, to remove those 'suckers'.

The bark is the same below and above that line and those low branches look exactly like the rest of the tree so, maybe as you say it is a rooted tree

I like the 'tree' shape rather than the bush, so I think I will cut off those low branches (the little lemon bud on one of the branches fell off anyway)

I always like to know exactly what I got, and how to maintain it in good shape, I guess if you want to know all that Walmart isnt the best place to buy one, but it was way cheaper than what they cost online. I also bought a fig tree online but they are taking forever to ship
Im so excited about these trees! My husband just rolls his eyes at me when I start talking to him about these.

Thanks again!

Hi Sarah & welcome. I saw your post on the other forum last night & asked Bencelest to send you the link here. He's been our Ambassador LOL. Most people here don't go there anymore and all the "pro's" are HERE and used to be there.
Hey, if it's not too late, cancell that fig order & go to the "Fruits & other Tropical's" forum here. Look at "Fig trees are waking up" and you will find some of us willing to trade or ship a tree for costs! There is also a link posted ..I think on 2nd page (?) to UCDavis to order up to 17 free fig cuttings that you can root...free shipping too! Hope to see you there.
Patty
(I'd cut the lower branches off too)

Sarah, one thing that you are 100 percent correct about is, when you purchase a citrus tree from Off The Wall Mart, there is not even one "employee" at wall mart that can help you with a problem or a question about your tree. Your completely on your own after the purchase. Your tree is a grafted tree. I would be cautious about pruning the tree. The most fruit productive part of a citrus tree is the skirt (the branches making up the bottom of a bush type tree. However, many people cut the skirt off, because they like the looks of a standard tree. The tree will more than likely balance it's growth even if you do nothing. - Millet