Xtremehorticulture

Making Bearss Lime Fruit Larger

Q. I have a Bearss Lime tree that produces small fruit that looks more like lemons than limes. What can I do to make them larger and not yellow but green? Bearss lime fruit which is a Persian lime.https://gardencenterpoint.com/persian-bearss-lime-tree-usda-organic/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAt8WOBhDbARIsANQLp97s4-qWtbHVFj7aiuxxXvsfTMjxhAadSA6uqUn-uavMRAA4XQCTFFsaAjbaEALw_wcB A. Your Bearss lime is classified as a type of Persian lime or sometimes called Tahiti lime. It’s different from other types of limes so make sure you are comparing the same varieties. They make good patio trees if potted and can be moved when it gets too cold. They will freeze any time the air temperature is below freezing. The fruit normally gets between two and 2 ½ inches in diameter. To get large fruit requires removal of about one third of the fruit in about April in a growing operation called thinning. Thinning is removing of some fruit so the remaining fruit get larger. They wont get any larger than they can anyway so removing lots of fruit does not increase the size of the remaining fruit larger than is genetically possible. In the case of Bearss lime, you will not get much larger fruit than about 2 1/2 inches long. The earlier thinning occurs then the larger the remaining fruit. Remove about one third of the fruit if the crop load is heavy. If the crop load is “light”, then you may not have to remove any to get their maximum size. Limes take 3 to 4 months to become ripe. Because the fruit size is smaller than some other citrus, it is harvested earlier, usually sometime in late summer or fall. But if it flowers and sets fruit later in the spring or early summer then the fruit is ready to pick later as well. Bearss lime starting to get overripe on the left. Ready to pick on the right.                                            https://tastylandscape.com/2013/12/26/growing-bearss-lime-tree/ When the fruit is overly ripe it turns yellow like a lemon, and the interior flesh slowly becomes drier and not juicy anymore. The color of the fruit is normally green; dark green when it’s young and turning a lighter green as it nears its harvest time. It’s important to remove it from the tree before it becomes overripe or yellows. If it starts flowering then it is time to finish your fruit removal. Leaving fruit on the tree when it is flowering can interfere with the next fruit cycle. Check the ingredients of a plant tonic to see how much nitrogen fertilizer is being applied with a normal application.  You know the risk involved when growing tender, subtropical citrus in Las Vegas? The perfect climate in the United States for growing citrus is found at the lower elevations in Southern California, Salt River Valley and area around Yuma Arizona, lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, and the bottom half of the state of Florida. I’m not against growing citrus here but realize its limitations when grown in this climate. Don’t blame the nursery. You bought it.

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Orange Tree Flowering Now and Not December

Q. We have an orange tree that did not produce any flowers this last December.  Over the last week in March the tree has started covering itself with buds all over. We inherited the tree when we bought the house last summer so I don’t know much about the tree.  Just that its only a couple of years old and produced a couple delicious oranges in December of 2012. I’d love to have some oranges, but is fruit coming this time of year bad for the tree somehow?  A. No, you are okay with the flowers. They should sail through the summer with no problem. They probably got hit with a couple of freezed we had in December and January. My biggest worry is a late freeze which did not happen so you should be good to go. The best fruit will have some shade covering so it does not get sunburned. If it is in a container try to double pot it or somehow keep the sun off of the outside of the container. Keep it well watered as you would any other fruit tree or nondesert landscape tree. They do better with some surface wood mulch. Depending on the orange you should have ripe fruit some time late fall or mid winter. Hope this helps. You may enjoy reading this publication from Arizona on citrus.   Arizona citrus publication

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Suckering of Citrus Due to Cold Damage

Q. The low temperatures affected our citrus trees from last year.  Most of my new growth is on the suckers.  Should I remove them?  Or just let the tree be? A. If you look at the trunk of the tree you should see a bend in the trunk or “dogleg” where the top was budded or grafted on to the rootstock. I doubt if it is on its own roots which would mean you would see no bend or dogleg. Example of a “dogleg” where a fruit tree (in this case not citrus) was budded previously.             Anything coming from or below this bend should be removed and kept off. Whenever you see any type of growth at all from these spots it should be removed. If you let this growth develop it will rob growth from the part of the tree you want to keep and eventually dwarf or kill the good part of the tree.             Next you want to allow the lowest branches to develop from the trunk at a height you want these branches to remain. The distance these lowest branches are now will be the height they will be in ten years from now. I did not have a pic from the reader and this is not citrus but this will give you an idea of what suckers that are coming from the rootstock might look like. The suckers are dark brown. The trunk is whitish due to painting the trunk two years prior. These suckers need to be removed by digging the soil away from the trunk and removing them as close to the trunk as possible. Replace the soil after the wound from cutting has begun healing, normally at least 48 hours.             If these are too low then move up the trunk to a place where you want the lowest limbs to develop. Remove any of these unwanted lower limbs completely from the trunk by cutting them as close to the trunk as possible.             You can do this now if you want or you can wait until next January or February if there is fruit on them. I am not sure which citrus you have but if it is lemon they should probably be harvested in December.             Try to find limbs to keep which are coming from the trunk going in different directions. Hopefully you will find one limb going north, one south, one east and one west (I think you get what I mean by going in different directions as this will give the tree “balance” and reduce shading of itself).             On the limbs coming from the trunk, remove shoots going straight up or straight down. This leaves shoots that spread out in a fan (horizontally or laterally) but remove shoots that are growing up or down. This allows for better light penetration inside the tree and helps distribute fruit production throughout the canopy rather than just on the perimeter. I hope this helps.

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Yes, Remove Citrus Suckers

Q. The low temps this winter affected my citrus trees.  Most of my new growth is on the suckers.  Should I remove them?  Or just let the tree be.   A. If you look at the trunk of the tree you should see a bend in the trunk or “dogleg” where the top was budded or grafted on to the rootstock. I doubt if it is on its own roots which would mean you would see no bend or dogleg. Graft or bud union creates a “dogleg” on the trunk. Anything coming from or below this bend should be removed and kept off. Whenever you see any type of growth at all from these spots it should be removed. If you let this growth develop it will rob growth from the part of the tree you want to keep and eventually dwarf or kill the good part of the tree. Next you want to allow the lowest branches to develop from the trunk at a height you want these branches to remain. The distance these lowest branches are now will be the height they will be in ten years from now.  If these are too low then move up the trunk to a place where you want the lowest limbs to develop. Remove any of these unwanted lower limbs completely from the trunk by cutting them as close to the trunk as possible. You can do this now if you want or you can wait until next January or February if there is fruit on them. I am not sure which citrus you have but if it is lemon they should probably be harvested in December.  Birdseye view of limbs radiating from the trunk of a young fruit tree to provide balance. Try to find limbs to keep which are coming from the trunk going in different directions. Hopefully you will find one limb going north, one south, one east and one west (I think you get what I mean by going in different directions as this will give the tree “balance” and reduce shading of itself). On the limbs coming from the trunk, remove shoots going straight up or straight down. This leaves shoots that spread out in a fan (horizontally or laterally) but remove shoots that are growing up or down. This allows for better light penetration inside the tree and helps distribute fruit production throughout the canopy rather than just on the perimeter. I hope this helps.

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