Hi Dario, When I got this tree, it had been backed over and half the tree broken off. Then pried out of the ground with a shovel and brought 150mi in a bucket bare root.
I was pretty sure it was a goner and having no experience with any citrus I didn't know if I could bring it around. As far a root work I'd say that's a worst case senerio, but come around it did. I let it run on for a few years and have repotted three times without incident.
The thing to watch on citrus is your prunning. I do not use my concave cutters, now wait, I do use them, but do not cut flush with the branch and make a concave cut. Citrus take a long time to heal over if you break the skin. If you look at the base of each stem you will see that it has a small swollen collar there. You have to leave the collar and the tree will heal the cut.
I have not done any wiring as yet, but have relied on directional prunning to direct growth. That's a joke with this tree! It twists and turns all on its own and you just try to keep up. New growth comes out straight one season and the next it has a big crook in it.
If you look at a branch and those nasty thorns. Right at the base of the thorns is where your new growth will emerge. Spring trimming of last seasons shoots seems to work best as I've had some die back over winter from later trimming.
The tree will make tons of basal shoots and these are what I take for propagation. I break them off as a heal cutting and down that low the tree heals the holes made.(Basal dominant?) I seen cutting take two seasons to begin to make leaf, could be my methods need improving.
I've been focused on growing back the other half of the tree. It took a couple of years to get a branch to pop where I wanted. It came out straight and strong, but now it's beginning to contort. I'm going for a flat-top African style tree.
In all accounts it seems to be a fairly indestructable tree. She bites and it stings so where your gloves!
