Lemon Tree Going to Need Pruning Soon and Orange Blossoms
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Part 1:
I have a lemon tree that is going to need pruning soon.
When we bought out place this poor tree looked to be almost dead, only a few scattered leaves on the branches and maybe only 5 or 6 fruit on it.
It had been planted in thin soil over lava rock.
I built the soil around the tree up and leveled it out with cinders and mulch and added dolomite to fix the chlorotic leaves. It had a major branch broken off of it by a tree blown down in a wind storm last year. It made about 8 or 9 fruit last year. It is looking much better this year inspite of all that has happened to it, and has between 2 and 3 dozen fruit on it right now and is still putting out more blossoms.
It appears to be a Meyer lemon from the fruit shape and the continual production of blossoms.
I have not wanted to prune it in order to keep as much leaf on the tree as possible to give as much energy as I could. But, it is doing so much better now that I'm thinking that it might be time to consider pruning it lightly.
Because of my inexperience and the climate here, it very hard to decide when is the best time to do so. I'm looking for advice on pruning this tree.
Part 2:
The Valencia orange tree I posted about before is also still making new blossoms.
I'm a bit surprised at its doing this. I am now wondering if it is a Valencia orange. Will a Valencia produce fruit throughout a good portion of the year?
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Comments (6)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRelated Discussions
What is going on with my orange, grapefruit and lemon trees?
Comments (12)Amber, check with your local ag agent, or one of the well respected citrus tree growers/nurseries in your area, Maybe not the person you bought the trees from, as their knowledge sounds a little wanting. New citrus don't need a lot of fertilizer the first year, but after that year, you should start fertilizing in the early spring (after any chance of frosty temps have passed), then 4 applications during your growing season, which would be roughly February through Sept/early Oct. The spots - not sure, can't really see them up closely enough. Doesn't look like an insect. Looks more fungal in nature to me, which I find odd since you're in such a dry area of the country. The damage to the leaves in the first photo could be from snails, earwigs or other leaf-eating bugs. I try not to treat (except for snails, which I use an iron phosphate snail bait versus a metaldehyde snail bait, as metaldehyde is very poisonous to dogs, and dogs are attracted to it. No so for iron phosphate snail bait.) You can also use Sluggo Plus, which is iron phosphate and spinosad, which will kill sails, slugs and earwigs. Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: UC IPM - Managing Pests in the Garden: Citrus...See MoreOrange blossoms fall before oranges can grow
Comments (48)Yes, you can buy urea. Have you been told about the consequences? Everything that you did not write, I finished thinking for you, since I represent WHAT YOU NEED. I believe you should buy the least problematic fertilizer for the grower, and for the tree, in the long run. And, the effectiveness on the fruits is secondary. If you buy urea. - Urea causes strong branch growth. Do you want the tree even taller than it is now? - It is not known how Urea will act on boron. - Biuret 1% is a lot for citrus fruits. I don't know what the result will be. Biuret will probably hit the flowers hard, but at the same time it will hit the leaves ... You need to accurately calculate the dose. I don’t want to take it upon myself as to what dose is needed....See MoreIs it a BAD idea to plant a Lemon tree next to an Orange Tree?
Comments (46)Linda, I am afraid that I have tried many applications of Meyers and never like the result, in complete contradiction to John and many others to me anything that has a Meyer in it would be better with a traditional lemon. Meyers have a "dirty" taste most of the time and at best have a weak orange flavor. I cannot tolerate drinking anything with Meyer in it, or any fresh application. I have made cakes, curds, pies, lemonades, fish with lemons cooked or grilled on top, etc with Meyers and never particularly like the result, though cooked they are more tolerable then anything with the fresh juice. However I had to toss out the salmon I made as the orange undertone flavor was awful. I just tried a jar of preserved lemons I made with Meyers and they were very bland compared to traditional preserved lemons. I keep trying to like them but I haven't found anything I prefer with them in it yet, mostly just things I find less offensive. I used to cook professionally and used Meyers pretty consistently in many applications and still never cared for them (same with kumquats though I REALLY don't like Kumquats and don't even want to try them in things anymore). I am pretty sure I am a traditional lemon kind of girl, which means more Meyers for the rest of you that like them! ;) Also I agree that its likely that your rootstock is taking over, cut off any branches that have different fruit and take note if the leaves look different in any way to your orange, that way you can identify it earlier and remove branches before they fruit and steal energy away from your oranges. Take pictures so if it happens again years from now you won't be struggling to remember what they looked like. Its likely that your neighbor had a tree whos scion died back/was taken over by its root stock at some point. If your friendly with them and they are the ones that planted the tree ask them what kind of tree it was when they planted it and if it changed at any point. If they didn't plant it they may not know. If you show us a picture of the tree we could help you figure out when to prune it....See MoreHelp me with a lemon and orange tree
Comments (25)Okay, so you have enough room for 4 trees total. I would select a lemon, and orange and the Page mandarin. For the lemon, I would say the Lisbon will probably give you the shape you're after. It is more upright and dense than the Eureka. But, downside is, that is really is much more thorny than a Eureka, and the fruit tends to be inside the tree, as opposed to a Eureka, which bears its fruit on the outside of the tree. The Eureka tends to be more open in its growth habit, the Lisbon more upright. But shape can be changed by pruning. So, maybe rose gloves are in order :-) Both are very prolific producers, so you'll have lovely yellow lemons on your tree year round. For the orange, I would go with the Cara Cara because it's a navel for one, and because the flesh is pink, which is kind of cool. The Trovita is a nice juice orange, however, so it really depends on what you want for eating as well as for looks. The Cara Cara is better for eating out of hand. The Trovita better for juicing. Take into consideration what you want to eat, as well as for looks. You would then have a very nice citrus collection, and trees that will provide a nice, dense screening for you. Patty S....See More- 7 years ago
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