When to remove the stake?

Your citrus tree comes to you, from us, firmly secured to a stake.
The stake has an important job to perform as we grow and train our citrus trees.

It secures a budded tree in its first stage, as the bud (or graft ) strengthens and develops.

The stake ensures that the tree is going to grow upright and in a confident upward direction.
When we are pruning and tipping the new growth on the trees, the stake is used as a measure. 
When the citrus is ready and to a size that we can dispatch, the stake supports the tree while it’s in transit and on its journey to you.

Our strong suggestion is that once you’ve planted the tree, either in the ground or in a pot, and that it has had a few months to settle in, remove the stake.

The tree will form a strong trunk and anchor roots and unless you are in a very windy location, which is not ideal for citrus anyway, you should not need a stake ongoing.

Insects can harbour and overwinter in and around stakes, they can be unhealthy and unclean pest zones.

The ties that bind the trunk to the stake, can cut and saw into the tree, weakening and stressing the tree.

As soon as you feel secure and your tree is happy and settled, remove the stake. 

This is an important fact: A stake is not a handle. If you pick up a tree by its trunk with or without a stake you risk tearing anchor roots and disturbing the root system, pick up the plant by the pot.