Staked Citrus Trees

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by ElsieMae, Jul 21, 2013.

  1. ElsieMae

    ElsieMae New Member

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    Hi,

    Could someone please tell me how long you should stake a Meyer lemon tree. My husband is a little paranoid about our new 3 or 4 year Meyer lemon tree. We lost our old but very beautiful and luscious Meyer tree about 4 years ago to a deep freeze here in Northern California. We really loved that tree and the huge fragrant lemons it brought forth. So, a few years ago, we bought another one, when it got to be about 2 feet tall, my husband staked it even though it seemed perfectly fine to me but he wanted to make sure it did not fall over or anything as it grew bigger. Well, this is 3 or 4 years later and the tree has grown to be about 7 feet tall but with a very skinny trunk and no lemons so far. The little tree is wrapped so tightly in the stake, I fear that it will not be able to grow naturally and that we may never get lemons. My husband thinks that my fear is absurd. I'd like to know, is it time to undue the wrap and stake or is it going to be ok to just keep it that way....maybe FOREVER! Thank you in advance for your attention and answer to my question.
     
  2. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Here's an article on the subject: Staking
     
  3. pbear

    pbear New Member

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  4. David Payne Terra Nova

    David Payne Terra Nova Active Member

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    I remove stakes within one to two years. Otherwise the tree becomes reliant on the stakes for support and it doesn't properly develop its own stabilizing root system.
     
  5. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Yes, you want to remove stakes after one year. However, growers routinely supply root-bound specimens of all kinds of trees and shrubs to retailers - as though it didn't matter. So, when you take the stake away the tree may not be able to hold itself up for that reason. It may be necessary to pull open or otherwise process the roots in order to end up with a normal, self-supporting example. If the rootstock is too badly deformed it may not be possible to correct it adequately.
     

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