I am totally disgusted! I just picked up a Washington Navel Seedless from a guy who needed to give it away "because it didn't like him" I am now the proud owner of a seven foot tall pole with eight or so leaves at the very top. Sheesh! The poor thing was in a 3 gallon pot. I could hardly find any soil throught all the roots. Thankfully, there was no evidence of root rot. I fluffed out the roots, removed the old soil, and re-potted to a container 4 inches larger than the root ball. Now, what to do about the pole. I could head it off, I could graft buds onto the trunk of one or various varieties of other citrus...thoughts?

Thanks!

Albert

Graft Cara-Cara, Rio Grande Navel, and Tarocco.

Sounds like a plan! Here is a pic of the poor thing...would you be able to tell me where is best to do the grafts and any trimming. Also, the bark is still fairly green, so as soon as it slips in spring I will start. I do live in Minneapolis, so these go out in the spring/summer, and into a greenhouse in winter. Think big pots on rollers! Come spring, could you spare a few buds of these varieties if you have them? all I have in citrus so far are two mandarins (nules and page). I am just branching out into citrus (pun intended) I have mostly been a mango and manana guy...

Albert


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Depends on if it was grown from seed or grafted.

Grafted to c-35. Nice job of it too....

I would top it about two feet above the graft. That will force it to bud out & make a nice full tree. Looks like it was grown in a low light situation which makes it grow very tall and sparse...

My recommendation is to throw the tree away. Once a root system is deformed it is always deformed. The tree will always be a problem. = Millet

I thought it was a lost cause too...however, upon pulling the rootball out of the pot, and fluffing/inspecting it...it was not so bad. Not Ideal, I will grant you, bu not a total loss. I've seen worse. I think I am going to try to save this one....heck, I've got the time/interst, and I'm not hurting anyone right....

I usually am able to salvage a citrus tree for a particular purpose even if the roots are badly deformed as long as they are healthy.

I have given away many good trees and nourished them back to life from the trash bin of Home Depot after the bare root season. They are performing well in my friend's yard.

May not pass the perfection required by Millet, but I can assure you that they are a lot better than most fruit trees in the community.

Big Al, the pole tree certainly would be an experiment. The only two things that really matters, are you and the tree. I wish both of you the very best of luck, and long lives. Take care. - Millet

Hell. I could get that tree to become a nice robust tree & fruitful as well...

Laaz, I bet you could make it a fruitful tree even if it had died a couple weeks back. You have the touch, especially if its a lemon.. - Millet

Thanks for the different perspectives Gents!

In the end I figured that at my core, I like to try to save trees...at very least, seeing first hand how the tree will be affected/challenged by previous neglect can only further my education regarding citrus culture. At best, I save a tree and get an addition to my collection which is hard to come by in Minnesota. Anyway I decided to cut it at 36" above the scion graft. There happened to be some promising bud activity at that spot, so I went up a half inch or so, and clipped it clean. It also leaves me some trunk room to practice grafting....If no one objects, I would like to post a pic from time to time showing any significant progress this season...

Thanks!

Albert

Laaz/Millet when do you think he should start fertilizing this tree now/later. I would wait until it starts to grow. Big AL I alway like a good challenge. Stay warm and vote for someone! Post some pic of your mangos.