Since citrus trees are becoming increasingly popular for container cultivation (in the open field it is not possible in our latitudes), it is of course also advisable to know everything you need to know about care. But this doesn't just include watering, fertilizing and the location. You also have to cut the tree correctly so that it gets the right shape and can grow healthy and strong. Pruning also includes cutting off the so-called horny shoots, also known as wild shoots or water shoots. How you can recognize them and what you should pay attention to when removing water shoots from the lemon tree is summarized in the following lines.
What these drives are about
We have already explained to you how to do thisPrune lemon tree correctly. In the article in question we also mentioned wild shoots and we would like to go into this in more detail today. They are unnecessary for the tree because they only drain its strength without bringing any benefit to flower or fruit formation. Instead of benefiting from the growth of these horny shoots, the tree, on the contrary, loses valuable nutrients that it should actually put into the more important parts of the plant. Furthermore, the crown becomes unnecessarily compacted, which means that the fruits no longer receive as much light as they need to ripen.
At the latestThinning out the crownSo you should also remove the water shoots on the lemon tree. In principle, you can always check the plant for such useless shoots. Especially if you cut the plant more radically than usual in the previous year, this will stimulate increased shoots of such water shoots. The plant is stressed and is trying to save itself and keep itself alive in this way.
Remove water shoots from the lemon tree – how can you recognize them?
Logically, the plant only forms wild shoots during the growth phase. Your tree has so-called sleeping eyes here and there, i.e. potential starting points for new plant shoots and the horny shoots also grow from these. Sleeping eyes are only found on old wood (the rougher, brownish one). But that's where the fresher and more useful shoots grow, you might be saying to yourself. Well, you can tell the difference from several features:
- Type of growth differs from other shoots: water shoots are very long and thin because they grow in length significantly faster than the tree's normal plant shoots. For this reason, they do not become woody or only to a small extent. They are also directed steeply upwards and not straight or slightly upwards.
- Different leaves: They have a different shape than those on the rest of the plant and are usually larger.
Wild shoots can also grow from the base of the main trunk, namely if they arise in the root area.
If you are sure that the shoot that has just emerged is a stingy shoot, you can remove it directly. If you still have doubts, you canwith the austeritybut also wait until next spring. Overall, the following applies: the faster, the better. How do you proceed if you want to remove water shoots from the lemon tree?
Remove shoots that are not woody
If you have often dealt with cutting plants, you have probably noticed that they always insist on using sharp scissors. But not in this case. With scissors you might not be able to reach the base of the shoot and residues could remain. These in turn could stimulate the plant to develop many new wild shoots. For this reason:
- Take the shoot between two fingers.
- Bend it suddenly and straight down, i.e. against the direction of growth. This works easier the younger the shoots are, before they become woody.
- The branch ring should also be removed, as well as eyelids and other dividing tissue.
This is how you proceed with woody horny shoots
If the offending shoots are already woody, snapping them off will not work well. But here too you should avoid using secateurs. Instead, use a sharp knife to help you get to the base of the shoot. However, do not cut through the horn completely with the knife. It is just for your convenience. Instead, you can remove water shoots from the lemon tree as follows:
- Cut the shootfrom underneatha.
- As described above, take the water shoot between two fingers and jerk it downwards.
The purpose of the incision is to avoid unnecessary injury to the larger shoot. Without it, when you bend and pull it off, you could also pull off part of its bark, which would make the area more susceptible to infection.
You can find more useful tips regarding winter storage in the article “Cut the lemon tree and overwinter it - this way it won't lose any leaves“
