We have this citrus plant that was left behind by the previous owner. In the space of a year it has doubled in size, and after some AI help we think we've identified it as a Calamansi or Calamondin. The fruit is small and goes from green to yellow to orange, new growth has thorns, and it gets covered in little white flowers now and then.
Anyway…assuming that's what it is, apparently in the ground they grow BIG, too big for where it is. I want to transplant it to a big pot where apparently it can still thrive, but we can move around as we need to.
If we do keep it, we're looking for it to be just a single trunk coming out of the pot, with a health bush on top where the fruit is that's not too big (maybe 80cm wide max, narrower than what it is now).
Can we just prune everything 30cm from a central point for now? For a 50cm pot, is it safe to draw a circle 40cm diameter and cut whatever roots extend beyond that to move it?
What about staking…taller stake and keep it trained vertically straight or will it do the right thing on it's own and grow up?
All tips on pruning, transplanting and staking appreciated. I have had a few slices in a gin and tonic and it's nice so don't want to throw it away or have it die.
Cheers 🙂
by symean
2 Comments
Let them fruit then prune as hard as u like .
Those don’t look like calamansi (a cumquat hybrid) they appear a little large. If are they get to being more than 35mm it may be a normal orange or mandarin and the fruit are not developed yet. You won’t know til the fruit develop more and ripen
However most of the growth is the rootstock not the fruiting plant you want, the branches that have three leaves (trifoliate) need to be removed/cut, down as low as possible, close to the stem below the graft. This is sapping some potential growth away from the main fruiting part of the plant but they are currently feeding the fruit so don’t remove them yet. If you’re in a cooler climate wait til early spring to prune it. Otherwise late winter.
If anything tries to regrow below the graft pinch it off before it develops.
Edit: the roots are badly exposed too. Backfill to just over the exposed roots with some veggie mix garden soil or aged manure and mulch the bed around the tree to retain moisture, don’t pile the mulch up against the trunk.