I moved to a new house and the previous owners dug up their lemon trees. I have 8 lemon trees growing from the roots. Will they produce or not?
Hardiness Zone: 10a
By sean from Rialto, CA
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No I don't think so. They are suckers-
Suckers
In your gardening experience, you've likely heard references to "suckers". Suckers are shoots that arise from below the soil surface or below a graft union. They are usually undesirable, because they rob valuable resources from the main plant. In the case of grafted citrus trees, suckers are actually rootstock and not the budded portion of the plant (notice the rootstock sucker emerging from the Improved Meyer Lemon in the photo). If left to grow, suckers will surpass the main plant in height within a few months.
Ultimately, suckers reduce fruit yield and adversely affect the shape and overall health of the tree. The good news is that suckers are easily identified and removed. A newly emerged sucker is bright green in color and it will usually appear several inches below the graft union. Additionally, sucker leaves are double-lobed (unlike most citrus varieties). In most cases suckers can be removed by gently breaking them from the trunk. Suckers that have developed woody tissues can be removed with pruners, grape shears or household scissors, by cutting flush with the trunk. Good luck.
Hello... I've got an interesting one for you. I got a lemon tree that was cut off (so it's a stump) but with what I now believe are suckers growing out of it... now I'm wondering whether I should just let a new tree grow from it.
Hi there I was searching for an answer to a similar situation where my lemon and orange trees froze this past winter and both came back from the root stock. In addition, my lemon tree, which is a varigated variety also had a small portion survived and is also thriving.
My question was whether or not the sucker portion would bear fruit. Both trees were Mother's Day gifts so I truly hate the thought of trashing them!!!
I too would love to know if the suckers will produce fruit and will keep an eye out for any information I can find.
Best of luck with your search as well!!!
I am very interested in an answer as well.
I recently noticed what appears to be a small lemon tree sprouting in the middle of my otherwise tree-less back yard. In a rushed attempt to save in from the lawn mower, I dug it up, only to find that's its growing from a very large root and has no roots of its own.
Fruit baring or not, I'd like to save it, but at this point it is quickly wilting and I've failed to find answers through Googling.
If your tree was grafted, and the growth is from the roots, then you are growing the rootstock. Depending on what that is, you may get fruit from it but it will be the rootstock fruit, not the fruit of the scion, or grafted-over section. If your tree was not grafted but was grown from a cutting or from seed, then you'll have whatever the tree was.
This is common with roses in the northern states. Many are grafted onto a red climbing rose that does well in California. In winter, the scion can die and all across America you see this climbing red rose called Dr. Huey that is susceptible to blackspot in humid areas. But if you have own-root roses, then you just grow back the rose you wanted and planted.
Good luck.
I had a kumquat tree that died one year from a bitter freeze. The suckers growing from the root stock were left as ornamental decorations on the outside of my tool shed... 12 years later I'm on my back porch and noticed 13 oranges that turn out to be lemons..
Hi can I ask if I have grown a lemon (tree) from seed no grafting, should I be cutting any suckers off still ? Or leve them as they are from the lemons root ? Any help/advise welcome thank you.
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