Brite Leaf Citrus Nursery
We are a family owned and operated citrus nursery in Central Florida. We started in 1998 selling to commercial grove owners. We recognized that many homeowners wanted fresh fruit in their own yards, so we added sales to homeowners in 2001. A few years later, we added sales to garden centers. Our commitment to quality shows throughout our business and we know you will be able to see it in our trees. Customer service is very important to us, so please contact us today for your citrus tree needs. Learn More About Us
- Our trees are 26 – 30″ tall and about one year old.
- We grow our trees in the same pot that we grow commercial trees. It is a 4 inch square pot that is 14″ tall.
- The pot is equivalent to a “1 gallon” capacity.
- This “sleeve” is perfect for shipping because you get the entire root ball and soil rather than “bare root.”
- Getting the soil with the tree greatly increases your success with your new citrus tree.
- We grow a standard size, budded tree.
- We also offer dwarf rootstocks for some varieties.
- We now offer a rooted cutting/bush type plant for some varieties.
Standard and Dwarf grafted trees are approximately 26 – 30″ from the soil line to the top of the tree.
Rooted Cutting/Bushes are 12 – 15″ from the soil line to the top of the plant.
Our grafted trees are approximately 1 year old.
Our rooted cuttings are approximately 6 months old.
We recommend planting standard trees 15 feet apart. You can plant closer, but pruning will be needed at some point.
Dwarf trees can be planted 8 feet apart if planted in the ground. If you choose a container, then we recommend a pot that is at least 14″ deep and around 16″ in diameter. A 10 gallon equivalent works great.
Dwarf – up to 8 feet tall in the ground, less if kept in a pot.
All others – 12 – 15 feet tall in the ground, less if kept in a pot (more pruning will be required to keep in pot).
Fruit production depends on age of tree and care. Typically, our trees will bear a few pieces of fruit within two years after you receive it. The amount of fruit will increase each year. Some citrus varieties are more prolific (kumquats, limes, calamondins), so you will have more fruit in the first year.
Don’t forget to “feed” your trees so they will feed you!
To see when you can expect to harvest your citrus fruit, see the harvest chart on the education page.
Citrus trees respond well to pruning. You can do it almost anytime. It is best to prune when the tree is not blooming to avoid cutting off future fruit production.
Due to the widespread occurrence of Citrus Canker and Citrus Greening (Huanglongbing), the USDA placed the entire state of Florida under quarantine. It is against the law to ship or move trees outside the state unless you receive USDA certification and comply with the USDA compliance agreement. It is still against regulations to ship trees or citrus plant material to California, Texas, Arizona and Louisiana. This regulation exists to protect the citrus industry in those states. Likewise, it is illegal to bring citrus plant material into Florida from anywhere!
