The formation of the crown of a lemon is carried out. Proper pruning of a lemon at home
As indoor culture is gaining more and more popularity. But in order for the lemon tree to grow healthy and regularly bring good harvest, it needs careful care. And one of the important points in the care of indoor lemon is its pruning. Pruning is needed for indoor lemon, without it the plant will either grow with a small number of side branches, or vice versa, look like a large sloppy bush. In this article, you will learn how to properly trim your citrus and form a beautiful and neat crown.
The lemon tree will be smooth and beautiful, only. if it is formed
Why you need to cut
First you need to figure out why you need to cut at all. Pruning is necessary for the following reasons:
prevention of various diseases and the appearance of pests;
First pruning of a lemon
When to start trimming yours? For the first time, it is recommended to prune your tree from the first year of life, when it grows more than 20 cm in height.
What is the best time of year to prune? Here opinions differ. It is believed that at home you can cut all year round. But anyway best time for this event- spring, because it is then that the tree begins the period of flowering and budding. If you need to cut the tree earlier, then you can do it at the end of winter (in February).
Pruning will refresh the plant and give it new stimuli for growth and development.
It is better not to prune a too young lemon, because instead of the expected benefit, it will cause irreparable harm your plant.
Features of branching and its effect on pruning. General pruning rules.
Before you start pruning, it is very important to understand how the branches of a lemon tree grow. The branching of its shoots has several features:
- at the very beginning of the growth of a lemon, it has only one shoot, it will be a zero-order shoot (it is also called a bole);
- when it reaches one year of age, new side shoots, these will be shoots of the first order. When pruning, you need to leave 4 such shoots;
- as the plant grows further, shoots of the second order are formed on these shoots of the first order, shoots of the third order are formed on them, and so on;
- after shoots of the IV order are formed on the lemon, it will begin to bear fruit.
The mature plant has various options branches that bear fruit in different time(some bear fruit, while others are still growing and begin to bear fruit only after a year).
Sometimes shoots are formed with only one apical flower. It is also sometimes possible to form “fatting shoots” - they are very powerful and can periodically form on a lemon. Such shoots arise inside the crown, grow vertically and then turn into long soft shoots. With "fatting shoots", as well as with non-fruitful shoots, you can do the following: either completely remove them, or shorten them by 25 cm, somewhere at the level of 5-6 buds (in this case, they may degenerate into fruit-bearing branches).
A fattening shoot on a lemon is strong, beautiful, but there will be no fruit on it
If some branches of your lemon are weak or dry, they also need to be cut back. You need to do this because they will waste the nutrients that the living parts of the plant need.
Pruning should be done according to the following rules:
- Pruning is carried out throughout growing season plants.
You can cut all the branches of a lemon tree, but first of all it is cut off. So the plant can take the correct shape. - Start with a 0 order escape. shorten by at least 15, but not more than 20 cm. Be sure to leave 4-5 well-developed buds, they are needed for the development of future side shoots that form the “skeleton” of the crown.
- Level II shoots are shortened by no more than 25 cm, level III shoots are no longer than 10 cm. All subsequent levels are shortened by only 5 cm.
On shoots of levels IV-V, pruning can be completed. - One of the pruning methods is tweezing (or pinching). Its essence is to remove excess shoots at the initial stage of their development from the fruit (fruit branch that carries flower buds). You can also pinch intensively developing shoots. This will help the plant reduce the consumption of the nutrients it needs. minerals, and this will contribute to the maturation of new growth.
After you remove all unnecessary parts of the branches, you must definitely treat all cuts with an antiseptic. If this is not done, the plant may become sick. Processing can be carried out with a special garden pitch.
It is also worth noting that small branches (thinner than a pencil) can not be processed.
It is best to shape your lemon tree into a flat shape. Such a lemon crown is considered the best in home-grown conditions.
In order to form such a crown, you need to certain time direct the shoots of all levels to the windowsill, if necessary, cut and break them off. Then, when the dimensions of the crown of the tree and the window opening become the same, a hard pinching is carried out, you can even trim. In this case, you can form the so-called "living curtain". With such a crown, it will feel great and give a good harvest.
It is important to monitor the formation of "fat shoots", if they are noticed, they must be removed immediately.
Lemon according to the basic principles is similar to the formation of the crown of an ordinary fruit tree
There is another method of crown formation, which consists in cutting all the branches to a certain length. But with this method, there is a risk that yours will not bear fruit this season.
It is best to perform corrective pruning, in which new branches are only slightly shortened. A few weeks after this event, new growth sites form at the site of the cuts, and soon new young branches will appear. It is important to do everything as carefully as possible, trying not to damage the tissues of the trunk of the tree, because this can disrupt the growth of the lemon.
must be completed before fruiting begins. But we must remember that the removal of flowers and ovaries from the branch contributes to its growth. This way you can regulate the yield, rationing the yield is very important so as not to deplete your plant with excessive flowering.
Excessive flowering on a lemon should be removed, otherwise it will weaken the plant.
Lemons compared to others fruit trees, differ in very magnificent flowering. And despite the fact that a large number of flowers looks very beautiful and pleasing to the eye, abundant flowering can really deplete your tree. The result of such depletion may be a small number of fruits or their poor quality. To avoid all these unpleasant consequences, you need to prune during the flowering period of the tree. In its process, all weak ones are removed, as well as bad flowering branches. This procedure will help you get a good harvest of lemons.
Anti-aging pruning
Everything tends to age, so your tree will grow old over time. But there is a way to delay this process a bit - you need to carry out rejuvenating pruning. During this, all weakened and dry branches are removed from the plant as much as possible. This will help stimulate the growth of new young branches. Also, at the same time with such pruning, it is recommended to make various top dressings.
All these measures will help you “rejuvenate” your lemon tree a little and extend its fruiting period for several years. A properly formed crown of your green pet will help not only make it a decoration for your home, but also improve its condition, enhance fruiting and prolong the life of your tree.
After trimming the crown of the plant, you need to carry out how to do it according to the rules, read on our blog.
In many houses you can see a lemon tree. Usually lemons grow well without constant shaping.
However, in order for the tree to have an attractive appearance and a neat crown, it is necessary to constantly regulate its growth, regularly pruning, as well as pinching, tweezing and trimming the resulting buds. Table of contents:
Young lemons at the initial stage of development form only one vertical shoot, and after a while lateral shoots appear.
Video: Houseplant Fuchsia: Autumn Pruning and Rooting Cuttings Part 2
Branches of the next orders develop only after a few years of tree growth. It is these short shoots that serve as the place where flowers and ovaries appear.
One of the main components of lemon care at home is pruning.
Video: Fruits, pruning and bathing pavlova lemon 17 11 2014 001
Trimming a lemon at home
pruning lemon tree can be carried out throughout the growing season.
pruning carried out according to the following principle: it is necessary to carefully shorten each branch, and you need to start work from a zero shoot. Thus, the plant will begin to bush, and the so-called fruits will appear much faster.
A fully mature branch of zero order must be shortened by almost twenty centimeters. As a result, only a pair of well-developed kidneys should remain, which are turned in different directions. After some time, shoots will sprout from them.
The latter will also leave 4-5 branches of the first order, which served as the basis for the skeleton of the plant. Such branches should be cut so that their length does not exceed an average of twenty-five centimeters.
All shoots that belong to the second order must be cut by about ten centimeters. Branches of other orders are shortened by no more than five centimeters. The skeleton of the crown is formed before the stage when shoots of the fourth order begin to appear. Then this process must be completed.
When working on the formation of a suitable skeleton of the crown of a lemon tree very important to control so that not one, but several buds are formed on the shoots at the same time.
If only one upper bud has formed, then it is better to remove such an escape immediately. However, this shoot should not be cut.Need to understand the differences cuts and deletions. Thus, pruning during the formation of a lemon grown in room conditions, is not the most suitable option. This is due to the fact that the procedure is both irrational and “painful” for the plant.
Indeed, in order to build trunk tissues, a tree needs a lot of time, as well as a huge amount of various nutritional components, without which the normal development of the plant is impossible. Therefore, such idle work should not be carried out.
Video: How to form a room lemon and other citrus fruits
tweezing
Most suitable option- pinching. This method is based on removal of unnecessary shoots at the initial stage of its development from the fruit. Sometimes the kidney has to be pinched again. No less favorable effect is exerted by tweezing on the tips of intensively developing shoots.
As a result, it is possible to significantly save nutrients in the tree, which will contribute to a more intensive ripening of the newest growth of the lemon tree.
crown formation
Recently, very often gardeners prefer the formation of a tree crown with a flat shape.
This form is considered appropriate for growing plants in a limited space.
How to properly form a crown lemon at home It is not very difficult to form this crown: from the very beginning, you need to direct all the branches and shoots at a certain time, breaking off and bending them if necessary.
Then, when the dimensions of the crown of the tree reach the borders of the window opening, it is necessary to carry out a hard pinching, and in some cases, trimming. As a result, the lemon will develop well, as well as give abundant harvests.
Being engaged in the formation of the crown of a lemon tree at home, it is necessary to constantly ensure that both in the crown of home lemons and in the lower region of their trunks do not develop fattening shoots or the so-called tops.
Because tops grow quite intensively in the vertical direction, consuming a huge amount of nutrients, which negatively affects appearance of the whole plant and its further development.
Therefore, harmful neoplasms should be removed as soon as they are noticed.Fruiting
It should be noted that fruiting it is better not to allow until the final completion of the formation all skeletal branches of the lemon crown.
This is due to the fact that the branches under the heavy weight of the fruit develop very poorly. In most cases, with the premature formation of buds, they are simply plucked.
And here is a video about how to form a crown, how to properly cut a lemon so that it bears fruit.
Another method
The method of cardinal pruning of a lemon is also practiced, when all branches are shortened to a certain length. However, it has one big drawback - the tree may not bear fruit throughout the next year.
Video: lemon how to shape
It is better to carry out corrective pruning, slightly shortening new growths. Usually, buds soon appear on the newly formed shoots, which grow intensively.
Pruning a lemon the most important procedure in the process of crown formation plants. Within a couple of weeks after pruning, new growth sites form on completely bare branches.
The main thing is to do everything carefully so that the tissues of the lemon tree trunk are not damaged. Otherwise, the growth of the lemon may be disturbed and its yield will noticeably decrease.Video on how to properly trim a lemon at home, about when you can prune a lemon tree.
And here is another video about how to cut a lemon at home.
Indoor lemon will bear fruit only when proper care and provided that a quality seedling of the plant was selected.
It is important to choose the right pot for transplanting a seedling.
Since the lemon grows very slowly, it root system will braid large area pot for several years. Until a whole earthen ball is formed in the pot, the lemon will not bear fruit. Therefore, the plant is transplanted into a cramped pot.
top dressing
A solution or liquid biohumus is introduced into the soil to stimulate sap flow. Such top dressing should be done twice a month. IN winter period you need to saturate the soil with microelements. Potassium and magnesium are very important for lemon flowering, and for better accumulation nutrients in sheet plates ah, phosphate fertilizers are applied to the soil.
In winter, it is important not to overfeed a room lemon with phosphates, since due to a lack of sunlight, nitrates can form from phosphorus and harmful substances, which during the flowering period accumulate in the ovary.
In the warm season, and especially in summer period, lemon needs organic fertilizers. For fertilizing in the summer, liquid biohumus, cow humus tincture or herbal infusion are used. Thanks to such fertilizers, the lemon will quickly grow and bear the first fruits in the third year after transplanting into a pot.
Formative pruning
To increase the yield, indoor lemon is formed. Formative pruning can be carried out as early as eight months of age. If you form a lemon bush with a tree, pinch off the side shoots young plant. They will slow down their growth and allow the central shoot to develop. With this formation, all branches growing inside the crown are broken off, and the lower ones are cut off to get a bare trunk.
It is very important to leave at least five leaf plates on such a “tree”. They accumulate nutrients in themselves, thanks to which the lemon will more easily endure pruning.
When forming a lemon, pinch the crown of the central shoot with a bush, then the lemon begins to grow in breadth. Branches growing inside the bush are removed.
Below is the crown shaping material indoor lemon, when I just posted it, it seemed to me that this was enough, but I was wrong - the topic is quite extensive and not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. So I decided to add a few more pages:
For those who want to understand the issue of cropping, I recommend viewing all the pages - they complement each other quite well, even though in some places the material intersects.
There are many cases when indoor lemons, especially those grown from rooted cuttings, grew well without shaping. But still, so that the tree has beautiful crown it is necessary to constantly work in this direction - to manage its growth by resorting to pruning and pinching - removing emerging buds.
Natural branching of indoor lemon trees.
A young tree initially gives one vertical shoot of zero order.
- in the 2nd year, side shoots of the 1st order may already appear.
- Usually branches of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th orders begin to develop after a few years. These are the branches that they try to get as quickly as possible, because only on short lateral branches - fruits, flowers form, and then ovaries. If the growth of a lemon is left to chance, then the wait for the first flowers and fruits will be somewhat delayed.
This development of the lemon tree described above is primarily characteristic of grafted seedlings and seedlings. As practice shows, cuttings of lemons still prefer to bush on their own - already in the first years of life (sometimes there are exceptions).
Rules for the formation of the crown of a room lemon tree.
Pinching and pruning of branches is carried out throughout the growing season according to the principle: shorten all branches, starting from zero (stem), make the tree bush - you will get “fruits” faster.
- the mature stem of the seedling (zero-order branch) is shortened at a height of about 16-20 cm, leaving only a few well-developed buds directed in different directions. Subsequently, shoots sprout from these buds, of which, in turn, 3-4 are left - these will be branches of the first order (the future main skeletal branches of the plant).
- these branches (branches of the first order) are not allowed to grow over 20 -25 cm.
- shoots of the 2nd order are cut only 10 cm shorter.
- branches of the 3rd, 4th, 5th orders are shortened - by 5 cm.
When branches of the 4th order have already appeared, the formation of the crown skeleton is completed.
It is important during the formation of the skeleton of the crown (last 2-3 years), to control that it does not germinate 1-on the upper kidney, but 2-3 more at the same time. In the event that this is not the case, then it is better to remove this single escape. “remove”, but do not cut the branch - remove the unwanted shoot as soon as it begins to grow from the bud.
There is a difference between "delete" and "cut". Pruning when shaping for a room lemon is not quite what you need. Firstly, it is “painful” for him, and secondly, it is irrational. A tree needs a lot of time and a lot of nutrients to build its tissue. In this regard, it is better not to allow such idle "work", but to control its growth by pinching (tweezing) - removing an unnecessary shoot at the very beginning of its development from the kidney. It happens that a stubbornly growing kidney needs to be pinched twice. It is also useful to apply pinching to the tips of all rapidly developing shoots - to save nutrients and faster maturation of new growth.
Twists of indoor lemon.
In addition to pinching with pruning, it is necessary to pay attention to the illumination of the lemon tree by the sun's rays. The plant should not be constantly in an unchanged position in relation to sunlight otherwise there will be no full-fledged development. If you treat a lemon tree like an ordinary flowerpot - for example, turn the plant with the opposite side to the light; then as a result we get the following: the leaves will twist, deform, or even completely fall off. As a result of the above action, the plants will grow very poorly, and long time feel oppressed.
What's the matter?
The thing is that in the conditions of the room, the lemon tree is very conservative. The leaves of the plant, as it were, get used to a certain dose of light - illumination from a certain side. In the case of a sharp change in the intensity of illumination, the metabolic processes that take place in plants are immediately disrupted, which in turn adversely affects the state of the plant.
You need to rotate the lemon tree:
The following proven method is recommended - turn the plant pot 10 degrees every 10 days. Due to such a small turn, the lemon tree will not experience drastic changes, and metabolic processes will proceed normally. Thus, in 1 year, a lemon tree can be rotated 360 degrees - which in turn will ensure uniform crown development.
A little more about the rotation of the plant.
The crown of a lemon tree can also be formed in the form of a bush. The plant itself will tell you how to do it.
Lemon - Citrus Limon L. Rue family. Homeland of the tropics of Asia, evergreen shrub or a tree. The leaves are green, oval pointed with axillary spines, the leaves, when broken, secrete essential oils. Lemon flowers are white and lightly scented. Propagated by cuttings, layering and seeds.
Although it is believed that a lemon, especially grown from a cutting, should not be cut and allowed to grow freely, in some cases it is better to form a tree, because on too long shoots you can not get a harvest. Not everyone agrees with this, and a properly formed crown is important for successful fruiting.
Form indoor plant lemon can be a tree or a bush, it all depends on the size of the room. When growing lemons, you can use . This allows you to get a crown that completely covers the window opening, and allow the fruits to hang freely.
Lemons grown from cuttings most often do not need pruning and are allowed to grow and bush freely. Although it has been experimentally established that even such plants bear fruit faster, have a beautiful compact crown, and with good foliage, they need pruning. So you can cause the growth of additional shoots, on which there will be more "fruits".
The development of young shoots can be observed. From bursting swollen buds, sharp long sprouts with tiny scales appear right before our eyes, these are formed leaves, they are very light. Their growth will last about a month, they will become large and dark green, dense and glossy, shiny.
The buds of the lemon tree look undeveloped, in the axils of the leaves there is a barely noticeable rounded tubercle without characteristic scales. However, after full growth leaves, the upper buds germinate first and are ahead of the lower ones in growth. Vertical shoots grow faster than horizontal shoots. The crown of the tree becomes unsightly, irregular. Therefore, pinching or pinching of awakened buds is used, this method allows you to regulate the growth of shoots and cause them to grow in the right direction. With strong branching, the lemon will bloom faster, which means that the fruits can be obtained earlier.
How a lemon tree grows, grown from seeds and grafted seedlings of any variety. At first, one shoot grows, this is the zero-order shoot. Then branches of the first order grow, and then shoots of the second, third and fourth order grow. This takes 3-4 years.
We must immediately make a reservation that the word pruning is not very suitable for lemons when indoor cultivation. Pruning is very traumatic for the tree and it has to spend a lot of energy on healing the resulting cuts. Therefore, in a lemon, tweezing or pinching is more often carried out, removal of unwanted shoots in the bud stage or the beginning of growth.
To form the correct crown, pruning begins from the first year. At the beginning of February, the first pruning of a lemon is carried out, the top is cut off for a one-year-old seedling, leaving a trunk 15-20 cm high with 4 leaves or buds directed in different directions. There are many buds on the trunk and all branches and at the root neck of the lemon, which, when pruned, awaken and give new shoots. Therefore, 3-4 branches of the first order will develop on the remaining stem from the axils of the leaves, this is like an ordinary tree.
The tops of the branches of the first order are cut off in a year, leaving 2 leaves on shoots no more than 20 cm long, two shoots of the second order will develop on each branch of the first order. The branches of the second order must be left 10 cm shorter, but the branches of the third and fourth order are 5 cm shorter. This will turn out a crown, consisting of 6-8 main branches, branches of the third and fourth order will grow on them.
Thus ends the formation of the indoor lemon crown. It will take pruning a lemon for 2-3 years, and all this time it is necessary to ensure that not only the crown, but also the side shoots grow from the left buds. If lateral buds do not develop, then it is better to remove the crown shoot at the initial stage of growth.
The first flowers will appear on the branches of the fourth order, located horizontally, and most of them will appear on the branches of the fifth and sixth order. So by proper pruning, you can speed up the fruiting of a lemon and increase its yield.
If fatty shoots appear on the lower part of the trunk or from the lower leaves, they must be cut out, these are useless shoots on them there will be no fruits. Such shoots grow very quickly and take away strength from the main plant, delaying its development. If you leave unnecessary fatty shoots, sparing them, then the lemon will turn into an endlessly bushy plant, without flowers and fruits.
But if there are not enough branches on the tree, then “tops” or fatty shoots can be tamed and made into fully fruit-bearing branches. To do this, they must be given a horizontal position. They are tied with twine or weights are hung to bend them to the desired degree and in the desired direction.
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