Sure, high density citrus is certainly do-able for us here in dryer California. You'll see commercial growers using C35 rootstock for this very reason. Using either C35, Cuban Shaddock or 'Flying Dragon' rootstocks to keep size down will help. Some pruning on your part as well will keep air circulation optimal as well. And, losing a little bit of your crop in order to have more variety for a hobby grower is not a bad thing :-) I'd much rather have 50-100 fruit on 10 different cultivars, than 300 fruit from 3 or 4 cultivars. If you plant your trees 5 to 6 ft. apart, you should be able to squeeze in a nice little dooryard orchard for yourself.

Patty S.

We are planting Meyers at 525 trees per acre; that is 2.5 meters between trees and 3 meters between rows; and that is on full standard rootstock. A word of caution, that may not work for other citrus, as the Meyer is more of a bush than a traditional tree. Mexico, Cuba, Paraguay, and Brazil are beginning experiments on this type of high density planting; and they are very optimistic.

On a large scale it is important that the rows are North to South to optimize sunlight. Rows running East to West can reduce yields by as much as 30%.

Awesome! That is what I was hoping for. I'd rather have oranges for a longer portion of the year with two varieties than one heavy producing tree for a shorter period of time.

I have a few "edible hedges" of citrus trees starting out. The standard sized trees I started about 8 feet apart. They are only a couple of years old, but I plan on keeping at aprox 8 feet for some privacy. Some may do better than others and I will do any pruning accordingly, I put a weaker growing plant between two stronger growers so they can fill the space the weaker one can't

If you search "edible hedge" there is a lot of information out there.

Link for info an the ultimate in high density production: http://128.227.177.113/ACPS/

The links for the CITRUS FIELD DAY handouts are super informative.

Best,

Skinn30a