Hi Dancinglemons!

Hope you are well. I wouldn't force anything g to bloom unless you know what you are doing. This is what I have learned and applied by a reusable member here named Tapla, Al.

When individual nutrients are available in excess, it not only unnecessarily contributes to the total volume of solutes in the soil solution, which makes it more difficult for the plant to absorb water and nutrients, it can also create an antagonistic deficiency of other nutrients as toxicity levels block a plant's ability to take them up. E.g., too much Fe (iron) can cause a Mn (manganese) deficiency, with the converse also true, Too much Ca (calcium) can cause a Mg (magnesium) deficiency. Too much P (phosphorous) can cause an insoluble precipitate with Fe and make Fe unavailable. It also interferes with the uptake of several other micro-nutrients. You can see why it is advantageous to supply nutrients in as close to the same ratio in which plants use them and at levels not so high that they interfere with water uptake. I know I'm repeating myself here, but this is an important point.

What about the high-P "Bloom Booster" fertilizers you might ask? To induce more prolific flowering, a reduced N supply will have more and better effect than the high P bloom formulas. When N is reduced, it slows vegetative growth without reducing photosynthesis. Since vegetative growth is limited by a lack of N, and the photosynthetic machinery continues to turn out food, it leaves an expendable surplus for the plant to spend on flowers and fruit. Plants use about 6 times more N than P, so fertilizers that supply more P than N are wasteful and more likely to inhibit blooms (remember that too much P inhibits uptake of Fe and many micro-nutrients - it raises pH unnecessarily as well, which could also be problematic). Popular "bloom-booster" fertilizers like 10-52-10 actually supply about 32x more P than your plant could ever use (in relationship to how much N it uses) and has the potential to wreak all kinds of havoc with your plants.

In a recent conversation with the CEO of Dyna-Gro, he confirmed my long held belief that circumstances would have to be very highly unusual for it to be ever beneficial to use a fertilizer in containers that supplies as much or more P than either N or K. This means that even commonly found 1:1:1 ratios like 20-20-20 or 14-14-14 supply more P than is necessary for best results.

The fact that different species of plants grow in different types of soil where they are naturally found, does not mean that one needs more of a certain nutrient than the other. It just means that the plants have developed strategies to adapt to certain conditions, like excesses and deficiencies of particular nutrients.

Your plants should give you blossoms as it matures unless it was started by seed or not on a good rootstock. If it was taken as a cutting from a mature plant or a mature flowering plant was grafted onto root stock, it should flower.

Good luck

MIke

Oops!

I meant to say REPUTABLE member. Auto spell was not working:-)

Mike

don't think extra fert would help if its already strong and healthy.

how are you growing your Kaffir? in ground or in pot? full sun, partial sun, lots of shade? if in a pot do you bring it in for the winter and provide extra lighting, etc?

i've read that citrus needs a "rest" period in order to bloom. either from being cold in the winter or having dry conditions in the summer.

I wish I understood why my pint sized little Meyer likes to fruit, while my larger lime prefers not to fruit, but I don't. More importantly, why does my pollinator crab-apple fruit profusely but it's mixed-apple counterpart not? Answer me that question and I'll be your friend for life! Either way, chalk me up as another 'Do Not Over Fertilize' guy.

Everything Mike said is correct. Oversupply of one, or all, nutrient(s) WILL be detrimental, and could be severe or even catastrophic. The macro and micro nutrients are just ionic minerals in the soil solution that are exchanged in tiny amounts with some other mineral on the root hairs. Even the "Macro" nutrients are in relatively small amounts. We're talking PPM, parts per million! If you have an incorrect percent composition of nutrients, the hairs will pull up too much of something or to little of another, since they are only exchanging atoms and electrons and can not choose sausages or tomatoes for optimal nutrition like a person can, for example. To much nutrients in general could actually reverse the processes, and instead of roots pulling up water and nutrients from the soil, the soil will pull water and nutrients from the tree. Scary thought!

What would you do with the fruit? It tastes awful, is full of seeds and very little pulp.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas