General opinion seems to be not to let it fruit in the first year to encourage root growth. But I'm inclined to go with the neighbour, but maybe just let it have a couple of fruit.

I would agree with Raymondo.

When I put mine in, the first year I let it flower and then removed most of the fruit while it was still tiny (ie after the flowers were gone), but left just a few (3-4) to grow out. It certainly hasn't harmed the plant. The second year I just left it to its own devices and it set heaps of fruit and it is still growing happily now three years on, it sets heaps of fruit and grows at an astonishing rate so lettin it fruit certainly hasn't harmed it.

I fertilise twioce a year in early spring/late winter before the first flush of growth and then later in mid to late summer with a citrus food. All my citrus get treated this way and all seem to be doing well especially considering I had very heavy clay soil to start with!

regards,

Fiona

Thanks for that Raymondo and Fiona. I'll leave a few fruit on it if that happens. I presume it's not too late to fertilise? As I said, it's grown steadily over winter (just a mild one here in Melbourne this year) but there's no major spring flush as yet.

A lot of the flowers drop off in the first year anyway. And now's a good time to fertilise. I adopt the "less more often" pattern with fertilising citrus. Rather than two big feeds a year, smaller feeds every couple of months. Both methods work.

I bought a blood orange and mandarin tree on the weekend. The nursery people told me to thin out the fruit when it starts fruiting so that the tree won't be overladen with fruit and can concentrate on root formation in the ground (once I plant it out). They also suggest fertilizing once a month with complete mineral mix from September until March.

Depending on how much fruit will finally set, I will leave a few on the tree and get rid of the rest. Can't wait to taste my first blood oranges and mandarins. :)

Good luck with your lemon!

Same here... leave a couple to go to fruit. The ones you do pick, pick them when they are pea-sized. It's a sin to remove blossom from citrus trees.

Thanks for the input everyone - I'm like a hen with one chick as far as this lemon tree goes :)). It's the first one I've ever grown on my 'own'. We always had Lemon Trees while growing up in North Queensland but they were magical ones that were always healthy and fruited all the time ie Dad took care them and knew what to do! Pep - you are just down the road from me - I'm in Tarneit.

I'm going to go against the grain and tell you to remove all the flowers and fruit untill the tree is at least 8 feet tall and has a nice sized trunk on it. You can leave a couple of fruit on it if you want but remember that's going to cost you a few months or even a years growth if you leave more, life is short and lemons are not that expensive so I pull them off so I can get to those mature years with the 100s or 1000's of fruit faster. You neighbour fails to realise that your lemon tree is just like frankensteins monster, someone elses head grafted onto a different body.

The graft thinks it's mature, thinks it's old enough to have fruit, because it once was but it's not, not even close. Just missing a proper hard spring growth flush to go though the flower cycle slows growth down massive compared to a seedling that's doing it's own natural thing