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35 year old orange tree with no flowers or fruit

17 years ago

Hello all,

I'm new to this garden forum and hope someone can help. When I was 4 years old I planted an orange seed and I've been growing the tree for the last 35 years. First it was in a container in Maine and spent many years moving in and out during summer and winter. Each spring and summer it would have to grow mostly new leaves because of leaf drop in the winter. It never had a flower or fruit but I assumed that was because of the limited sunlight and climate.

I moved to Florida two years ago and planted it in the ground. It has grown bushy with many new leaves and looks the healthiest it ever has been, but still no flowers or fruit. Is it too late for my tree?

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Comments (8)

malcolm_manners
17 years ago
It will flower when it becomes tall enough. Age is irrelevant, but height (actually number of nodes away from the seed) is important. So if, over those years, you kept it small, it has some catching up to do.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years ago
I would personally like to congratulate you on keeping a containerized citrus (or any other tree) alive and doing well for all this time!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:565685}}
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audreyca
17 years ago
it must carry something of your memory that you treasure to care for it in thirty five years without having any fruit.
paradiseinfl
Original Author
17 years ago
I did keep it small -mostly pruning it because of the leaf drop every fall when I brought it inside. The tree's name is Olivia - I also named it when I was four or five years old so she is very special to me. She spent many years decorated as my christmas tree when I was single and broke.

Anyway, I'm so glad I found this forum, I spent some time searching other posts this weekend and discovered one by Dr. Miller that showed the different types of leaves. I believe my citrus tree is a minneola tangelo. When I get a chance I will post a picture of the leaves and see if anyone agrees with me. I also read through the information on how long it takes a tree to fruit. I'm glad I didn't give up on my tree. I thought all along that it was the age of the tree, not how big it was.

Thank you all for your posts.
terry_2007
17 years ago
It is a wonderful thing to develop a relationship like that with a plant! We have a few types of plants (not citrus, though) we have carried through our family for several generations. Hats off to you, and I bet you'll get some oranges eventually!

Terry
mersiepoo
17 years ago
Wow, you are amazing to be able to keep your tree alive that long! I've never had a plant that survived for 5 years, let alone 35! Congrats! I hope you get some fruit this year!
tsmith2579
17 years ago
May I suggest you fertilize it with superphosphate and Epsom salts. This will stimulate bloom bud formation.
paradiseinfl
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for all of your comments. I will try the superphosphate and epsome salts. Hopefully there will be blooms in our future!

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