Trimming a lemon at home: scheme, timing

Recently, more and more often you can find room lemon in houses. It is a not very tall tree that grows quite normally in an ordinary flower pot. But in order for it to be beautiful and bear fruit well, it must be pruned. This article is about how to trim a lemon correctly.

When to prune

There is a statement that pruning a young lemon, which was grown from a shortened cutting or seedling, is necessary before the start of the active stage of vegetation already at the age of one year. This is usually done in February. In this case, the home tree should reach a height of 20 cm.

At the same time, there is a slightly different approach to pruning a lemon. In this situation, it is carried out in the spring, most often in March, and always before the start of the first growth. Usually in spring, lemon pruning is carried out during flowering and budding.

You can also find information that homemade lemons are pruned in winter. In this case, pruning is carried out after all the fruits have been removed. This pruning can be done in the fall. At the same time, the autumn-winter pruning of a room lemon can replace the spring one. This method will help increase the fruitfulness of homemade lemon.

It is believed that the best time to prune a lemon tree is still spring.

It should be remembered that indoor young lemon should be cut only if necessary, as frequent and unnecessary pruning can only weaken it.

If you have an old homemade lemon tree, you can prune it to rejuvenate it. In this case, the weakened branches are cut to the maximum available distance in order to stimulate the growth of new young shoots.

With proper pruning, as well as timely and high-quality care, the lemon tree will bear fruit for a long time, and its life expectancy will increase markedly.

In the absence of timely and necessary pruning, the lemon will grow as a single trunk with no side branches, or as an ordinary dense bush.

Instructions

Since the lemon is cut mainly to form a crown, they do it according to certain instructions and rules in order to achieve the desired result. An indoor lemon tree should have the required number of skeletal main branches, overgrown shoots and a large number of small twigs.

Lighting is very important for a lemon, so it is necessary to prune the plant so that its leaves can receive the maximum amount of sunlight.

For the formation and proper trimming of the crown, the following rules exist:

• pruning a young tree should only be started after it has grown to a height of at least 20 cm;
• for pruning, the trunk should be 10-15 cm in height, and in the case of a cutting plant, you can do without it at all;
• the needs of lemon for nutrients, light and other biological features should be taken into account. Since otherwise, cutting the crown will only allow you to get an ornamental tree that will not bear fruit.

Also, this process will be shown more clearly in the video posted in the article below.

Branching features and its effect on pruning

Also, in order to properly cut a lemon, you need to know the features of its branching, which are as follows:

• seedlings or lemon oculant at the beginning of growth form only one single vertical shoot, which is attributed to the first order;
• in the second year (or at the end of the first year), lateral shoots are formed, which are also referred to as the first order. They must be left in the amount of 4 pieces;
• in the future, on the side shoots of the first order, the formation of shoots of the second order will occur, and so on;
• after the formation of lateral shoots of the fourth order, the onset of the first fruiting is possible.

An adult and already fruiting lemon tree has several variants of branches that begin to bear fruit in the first year, while others continue to grow and begin to bear fruit only after a year. It is also possible to form new shoots, on which there will be only one apical flower. Sometimes so-called vertically growing “fatty” and non-fruitful branches are formed. In such a situation, there are two possible ways to get rid of such unwanted “fat” shoots:

• complete removal;
• shortening by 25 cm and their transformation into normal fruit branches.

The richest in useful ovaries are only fruit twigs, which are usually located in the upper part of the crown. They are often placed horizontally, but can also occupy a hanging position.

In the course of the growth and development of a lemon, as well as with proper care, the old branches gradually die off. In order for them not to pull on nutrients and minerals, they need to be cut off. In this case, pruning is intended only to ensure that the nutrients are properly distributed and go only to young and healthy branches, as well as fruits.

Considering the branching features of this indoor plant, the following instruction was developed:

• it is necessary to start pruning from the zero-order escape. It is cut at a height of about 15 or 20 cm. In this case, four well-developed buds must be left;
• from these buds, the main skeletal shoots will form in the future. They should be directed evenly and in different directions;
• in the future, they should be plucked or tweezed at the moment when these branches have reached a length of about 30 cm (sometimes 20 cm is enough);
• pluck only extra shoots at the time of their appearance;
• if the shoots are useful and necessary, then they are pinched when the first 5 or 7 leaves are formed. Pinch only the tops;
• it is necessary to cut the shoots of the second order to a length of up to 25 cm;
• subsequent shoots are usually shortened by 5 cm shorter than the previous ones;
• the formation and pruning of the crown skeleton is completed on the shoots of the fourth order.

The nuances of crown formation

In addition to the instructions, there are also certain rules for pruning and shaping the crown of citrus plants. By following these rules, you can greatly simplify future pruning and significantly increase yields.

Rules for trimming and shaping the crown:

• pruning and pinching can be carried out throughout the growing season;
• You can shorten all branches, but you should start with the trunk. This will help to force the plant to take the form of a bush, as a result of which the formation of fruits will go faster;
• the trunk can only be shortened by no more than 20 cm. At the same time, it is best to leave only a couple of well-developed buds that are directed in different directions;
• shoots of the first order are not recommended to be shortened by more than 25 cm, and shoots of the second – by more than 10 cm;
• branches of subsequent orders (3, 4, 5) can only be shortened by 5 cm;
• crown formation can be completed on pruning branches of the fourth or fifth orders.

During the entire process of crown formation (takes from two to three years), care should be taken to ensure that several upper buds simultaneously germinate at the same time. If this is not possible, this one extra shoot must be completely removed, but the branch itself should not be cut. It is necessary to remove the shoot when it has already begun to grow.

Forming and pruning a flat crown is more beneficial for the lemon tree, as it allows you to most optimally place it on the windowsill.     

For such a crown, there is the following instruction for its formation:

• at the very beginning, you need to bend, cut and direct the branches that grow deep into the room and orient them in the direction of the windowsill;
• at the moment when the width, as well as the height of the crown of the plant, reaches the boundaries of the window opening, a hard pinch or pruning is used.

As a result, a living “curtain” is formed, and the tree itself begins to bear fruit more actively.

Video “Pruning a homemade lemon tree”

In this video you can see how to properly prune without harming the tree.

Tips for beginners

For amateur lemon growers, there are tips that will help you to prune optimally and efficiently, as well as help you avoid many mistakes.

For beginners to keep a homemade lemon tree, experts give the following tips:

• during the formation and pruning of the crown, the yield should be normalized by removing the flowers. Extra flowers only deplete the tree. After a few abundant fruitful years, the plant may dry out;
• rejuvenating pruning should be carried out with a decrease in annual growth. It is carried out only in conjunction with top dressing;
• instead of pruning, it is better to pinch, as it does not deplete the possibilities of a lemon;
• carefully monitor the formation of “fat” branches and timely stop their development;
• it is best not to allow the plant to bear fruit during the period of crown formation, since then the yield will be much greater than if the tree bears fruit during this period. Flowering in the first year is especially dangerous, since it can significantly deplete the lemon, and in the future it will produce a low and poor-quality crop. Even the complete death of a lemon is possible;
• it is best to form a flat crown near the tree;
• pruning should be done only as a last resort and where it is really necessary. With its help, you can improve branching and form a correct and beautiful crown;
• short pruning is carried out if it is necessary to form strong new shoots, and long pruning is carried out if it is necessary to form fruit buds.

With proper pruning, you can form a beautiful crown, as well as improve the productivity of the tree, and you will always have fresh lemons for tea!