My roommate and I got this lemon tree about a year ago from someone who had completely neglected it.
We tried to see if we could save it and for a while it looked like we did- Last spring it had bright green leaves and flowered. But then this spring the main branch was bare and what looks like a new tree start shot up very quickly. The new stem is coming straight from the trunk of the old tree.
Has your citrus tree done this before? Should I cut off the dead tree?
by Capable-Dare-7480
3 Comments
It’s probably a shoot from the rootstock.
The top growth is dead, but the roots are alive, so it’s doing everything it can to live on.
Unfortunately, the rootstock could be a different kind of citrus plant altogether and is unlikely to bear fruit.
Dynamike is right. Citrus trees are typically grafted onto a different type of rootstock. This one is called Trifoliate Orange and you can tell because it has the 3 leaves that look like a trident.
Your lemon tree is dead, but you can choose to keep the trifoliate or get another lemon tree and start over.
If you decide to start over come to /r/citrus, we have lots of great advice for citrus growers over there
My lemon tree (and other citrus trees) dont spontaneously die and push out new growth, so yeah not normal. id recommend cutting the old stuff above the rootstock and growing the new orange tree, it should be pretty quick growing