Dealing with thorns on citrus

General Fruit Growing
#1

Ouch, ouch, dammit, that f…thing
I quit growing thorny blackberries ,because I did not like the thorns.
Not shur what I was thinking when I started collecting citrus.!

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This is a rather mean trifoliate.
Not all are this bad , but a lot of the hardy citrus are thorny especially ,citrangequats , and trifoliate hybs.
This year after getting poked real bad when moving the first potted one inside,
I pruned off all the thorns befor moving the rest

I found a branch with new soft ,young ,growth.

" I found that I could JUST PINCH THE THORNS OFF WITH MY FINGER NAILS when they were on that new soft growth !!!
Much easier ,and safer
From now on I am going to try to pinch them off befor they harden like nails

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#2

They make some nice tooth picks!!

Tony

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#3

I kinda wish I had that problem. No citrus in mich.

Do those thorns pierce through that chain mail on your arms? Haha.

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#4

My Meyer Lemon is at least 7 years old. I also have incredibly long thorns this year. I consider the small tree a weapon!

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#5

Ok tooth picks they are, just tried that ,worked good.
Don’t know why I didn’t think of that.
Nice citrus flavor too.
Thanks

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#6

I have a trifoliate orange I could send you seed of.
It has seen 24 below F once
20 below several times.
It may make it up there.
Good rootstock.
Tooth picks
Any body else want seeds for a tooth pick tree.?

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#7

Don’t want to sound dumb but what type of fruit is this tree?

#8

Trifoliate orange ,( poncirus trifoliata)
It’s the hardyest citrus .although it does fruit ,they are to bitter to eat.
Good hardy rootstock for citrus.
Ornamental ? ,hedge? Very thorny ( tooth picks )
May not be hardy where you are ?

#9

Meyer lemons don’t have thorns. You must be letting rootstock grow.

#10

Oh yes they do. Will take pics. It’s not root stock.