lemon trees

[katieh1]

I don't know if anyone can help me, being as this is about lemon trees.

My lemon tree is producing fruit but it is dropping it before it gets much larger than a ping pong ball. Also the fruits have funny pointy bits on them and a sort of scale.

I posted here in the hopes that maybe a fellow warmer climate reader could help. Organically if possible?


Tx

[Two_Sheds]

can you post your location into your profile, so people can see where you are? It will affect the advice you're given

[katieh1]

Sorry, done that. I'm in tropical North Queensland. At the moment most peoples lemon trees are finishing, and mine are just starting so I' ve got something wrong somewhere. Its very dry at the moment so I'm watering the tree, but not too much, don't want to spoil it. I did wonder if there was just too much fruit on each " bud" as there are three or four fruits on each twig. Should I break some off? Should I feed the tree? Should I use oil?

( I'm a pomm, and I'm much more used to stone fruits and berrys. Those are exotic here , something I have difficulty geting my head around. I'm just getting used to tropical veggie growing, something there isn't a great deal of info on.)

[Tam]

http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.co...h-tropical.htm This might help with the vegetables.

[Tam]

"Maybe you don't appreciate the limitations to citrus growing in the tropics. Most of them don't adapt at all well, with oranges, for example, poor, greenish imitations of the one we know.

In Thailand, where I have visited numerous fruit markets and which climatically is much the same as Cambodia, the only good locally grown citrus are limes, some mandarins, and pommelos. Thai pommelos, by the way are unbelievably delicious and for my money beat most other tropical fruits available there (but preparing them for eating is quite laborious)."

I copied this from another site and I think I've read something similar before. If you have anyone closeby who successfully grows lemons I would check and find if you are trying with the same type.

[daylily]

I started some citrus in pots a year ago, so I'm not going to be too much help, but they flower and fruit continously all year round, at the same time. Trees tend to drop excess fruit by themselves - this is considered normal - and do need a good old soak every now and then.

About feeding and the bumps, as Tam says, you really should consult your successful neighbours, it can just be a variety thing or some local problem and feeding will depend on soil and weather, as they also need a bit of a rest period too.

Scales - we are advised to rub off with insectidal soapy solution, but the trees are usually little indoor ones.

Hope that is some help for you.

[Tam]

Southern Hemisphere Tropical climate - I'll try again for the vegetables, I don't know what happened there.

[Tam]

That last link does work.

[katieh1]

Thank-you....very useful site. i tried my neighbours about the lemons and was met with balnk stares. Apparently lemons just happen, back to the drawing board.

[SMS6]

My partner asked me to put up a citrus question for him so maybe this thread is as good a place as any. He loves trying to grow from pips and has had several attempts at this but so far none of his resulting trees have flowered.

I looked it up and discovered he was pruning them a little too much so was cutting off the branches that might flower and he's now taken this on board but still no flowers coming. Some of them are 4 years old now, do you think they'll ever flower and fruit?

I have recently bought him two bushes - one's an orange citrus and the other one's a lemon. Both are flowering and fruiting.

[daylily]

I don't think it's to do with pruning or much else, rather than it is a seedling. I don't specifically know for citrus but a lot of tree seedlings will flower about 8-10 years of age , some later.