citrus questions and probs

[vegie chicken]

i have three orage and one madarin trees.

the orange one one being grafted of another plant is growing the grafted plant on the tree although the grafted plant is growing next to the trunk seperatly. is this normal. i have to cut these long pricky stems balck frequently

all of the organge trees have catapillars eating the leaves., i have hand picked them of but how do i stop them coming back. the orange tree above's strang shoots has these catapillars but not the rest of the plant. the other two have catapillars as well.

do i need to pull of last years crop. it has started to yellow a bit with the magority green and this years fruit is growing as well. big size difference. do i need to remove these.

when do i prune the orange trees. they have a bit of dead int them with frosts coming up. i live in the temperate zone

info would be most appreciated.

 

[hoodat]

On the grafted plant locate the graft. Any growth coming below it should be trimmed off close to the trunk. It is coming from the rootstock, not the grafted part. If you allow the rootstock to grow its own branches it will starve the desirable part above the graft. I would use BT for the catterpillars every ten days or so till they ease off or a predator finds them and eliminates the problem for you.
Don't prune citrus in cold weather. It will have trouble healing the pruning wound. When it is growing you can prune any time.

 

[vegie chicken]

yer ill leave the pruning till spring.

thanx for the advice.