Hello folks,

Last late winter, I sow seeds into my tray (Kaffir Lime and Etrog) and they germinated. Etrog seedlings are growing faster than Kaffir Lime. Today they are 4-5 months old and 8-10 inches tall. They are so crowded and it was time to repot them.

Whoa. When I repotted them into individual pots, their roots are so tight together and were difficult to separate. I was able put them into indivudual pots. I put Etrog seedlings into 4 inches pots and Kaffir Lime seedlings into 2.5 inches pots.

Does anyone have any experience with separating seedlings for individual pots because their roots are very tight together? When I tried separate seedlings, some roots are broken off. Any concerning?

Thanks!
Tim

They should recover fine. When I grow my rootstock I plant them all in the same pot. When it time to separate them, take the whole clump out of the container & use a hose with a spray nozzle to flush off all the soil. You will break some roots but they should be just fine.

If i totally savage the roots when i repot, I put the tree in the shade for a few days just to be careful.

The only time ive had trouble repotting is root bound pummelo to mostly CHCs and it was a bit hot out the next day. It did eventually recover, but would have been better in the shade for a few days.

I'm surprised that a 5 month old citrs tree's root system would fit into either a 2-1/2 inch or a 4 inch pot. Good luck with you trees. - Millet

Hello folks,

Quote:

I'm surprised that a 5 month old citrs tree's root system would fit into either a 2-1/2 inch or a 4 inch pot. Good luck with you trees. - Millet

Opps! I mean that 4 inches and 6 inches pots, not 2.5 inches and 4 inches pots.

Well, after I repotted crowded seedlings into individual pots but now have new big problems. Most seedlings completely lost leaves due to broken root system but still have green limbs. Some leaves turned brown (dead cells) at edges and slightly turned yellow then dropped down later. No new bud forms yet. How long will they resume after their root system had been broken? I kept soil moist but not too wet. When soil is dry, I water it. Any experiences with that? If so, what is solution about problems?

Thanks!
Tim

Ive had trouble with damping off of repotted seedlings. I try to not let them stay too wet, maybe move into shade for a few days. Ive had some recover, but those that lost leaves will probably lag behind.

I have had some sucess with seeds, but do not have a perfect record at all! Hope they bounce back for you!

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but how do you determine the age of the seedling? By the day you sowed the seed, or the day it sprouted? (I think sprouted, but I'm not sure)

I can't recall the date of either anyways, my seedling could be 3-5 months old now (based on my theory of the day they sprouted). I should have dated them blah. One is from a friend, an unidentified grapefruit from seed of a store bought fruit , I think it's older than my two other meyer seedlings.

Millet, what do you mean by your above comment? All three of my citrus are in 4 inch tall pots, and are looking well, but could be doing better in my opinion. One in particular is the tallest (a Meyer), but I don't like the internode interval, it's too large imo. Is that too small? I germinated them in 2 1/2 inch pots then transfered them to 4. Is that bad?? Seemed like a good size up at the time. They were not root bound in the 2 1/2 inch pots when I repotted.......