Lemon Tree Advice Please

[greenishfing]

Nearly a year ago I bought a little Lemon tree from Aldi. I took the couple of little lemons off that were growing and it has been in the unheated greenhouse ever since. It now has nine or ten lemons on of various sizes some of which look pretty much full size. A couple of them seem to be changing colour slightly (or it may be wishful thinking). Does anyone know how long they take to ripen, do they ripen in Winter and is there anything I can do to encourage them.

It would make my day to have a G and T with my own lemon in it.

[Lisasbolt]

Over here in spain orange and lemons have 2 seasons, some are ready in November and others in February. My oranges and lemons are ready about mid to end of February. You can by special feed to give them a few times a year and if it is still in the original pot i would get some to give a good feed or you most likely won't be getting any more fruit to set next year. Wait till after you have picked the lemons.

[Alison]

Mine was outside in the summer but is now in my conservatory. The lemons have ripened in the past few weeks and it's now full of flowers. Although cool in there I'm assuming warmer than a greenhouse so beware of frosts if we ever get any.

[TrixC]

My parents grow a number of varieties of citrus in their garden in the north of New Zealand. Their lemons have fruit on them all year around - they don't seem to have a definite season like some citrus. That might differ in the UK climate though where the plants shut down in winter.

I don't think there's anything you can do to encourage them to ripen more quickly.

[skeggijon]

Ours usually take anything between 6 months and a year to ripen.

[peachmonster]

I treated myself to a small lemon tree for Christmas! I understand that the fruits do take ages to ripen. Like Alison, mine will live in the conservatory for the winter and outside in the summer.

I'd be interested to know what other people use to feed their lemon trees, I read somewhere that they need a different feed in the summer and the winter.

[skeggijon]

You do need different feeds. I use Chempak feeds. You can get both the winter and summer feed from fleabay for about a fiver each.

[greenishfing]

Well I have now decided the lemons are definitely changing colour and it is not wishful thinking.


G & T with homegrown lemon is getting closer.

[peachmonster]

You do need different feeds. I use Chempak feeds. You can get both the winter and summer feed from fleabay for about a fiver each.

Thanks for that advice skeddijon!

[Snadger]

Mine has a few lemons hanging on it but because I forgot to water it, it passed permanently wilting point and dropped nearly all its leaves. I was wondering if new leaves will grow? Its on a window sill indoors but isn't much to look at at the moment!

[skeggijon]

Starloc is the real expert with citrus trees, but haven't seen him around for awhile.

You could try giving it a water with some feed. Water from underneath and use warm water - 18-20 degrees. When the water has soaked the compost, drain it, so that it isn't sitting in a puddle of water and place in the lightest place in the house. Then its just a matter of waiting and hoping.

[Kirk]

Give it a good soaking, then leave it.
It may take a while to produce new leaves from whatever branches are capable. The small fine roots that absorb water and minerals will get damaged first and they need to be remade. Then the leaves will be produced.
There is really little else you can do.

I would not prune it as you want the viable branches to produce greenery and you need to identify those.

I tend to put mine in a large pot now, plastic, so that watering is less critical. Lime is in one 32cm across and the same in height. My lemons were in slightly bigger.

[Jungle Jane]

This thread talks about a winter feed for lemons & positive talk of recovery.
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...aves_5369.html

[boatsman]

I don't always bother to wait for the lemons to turn yellow. In tea they are OK if they are still green. My lemon tree doesn't have much fruit at the moment and its only about 2.5 metres high. The snow last winter didn't do any damage as the tree is very open and snow doesn't pile up on the branches and break them with the weight. On the other hand my lemon-lime tree which is just over a metre high and is very compact was damaged by the snow last year and several branches were broken by the weight. It didn't appear to affect the amount of fruit as I had quite a bumper harvest and the tree is now full of blossom again.

[starloc]

Citrus fruits ripen with cold wether summer heat provides the sugars andd flavour and the taste from acidity is from winter cold the crop with winter chill has a better taste than the yellow/green ones sold cheaper in supermarkets ,
Summer heat is not so important for lemons but winter cold is, limes on the other hand dont want the cold as they turn orange and taste strange so eaten while green, oranges need very high temp in the summer to get the sweetness hence why not so popular to grow in the UK and one reason why i have moved to Bulgaria as i get summer heata and winter cold ( -23C last night....27C on christmass day )
The cold weather also makes them flower as well (winter chill hours), but not too cold, just below 12 C (about 400 hours neeed to prevent necessaty for drought stressing the tree to flower)
Feeding most people usedd to use tomato feed, this gave great problems as not enough nitrogen to hold leaves in the winter andd grow in the spring, so a high nitrogen feed is best in the summer to build them up, winter they need less nitrogen, i tend to use one feed all year long now if using commercial feed as it is easier but i tend to mix my own