I’ll definitely wait for others to comment, but I’m guessing your conditions are right for the tree to produce growth? My Meyer just started putting out new growth after doing nothing for 5 months.

My variegated pink lemon has started sprouting new growth the past week -

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Most of the rest are either in some state of blooming/fruiting or are just sitting there, although my FW Tango is in major distress with branch die-back (was received distressed over the summer), but is sprouting from the bottom just above the graft.

It seems that variegated lemon wants to be a big tree. It is just sprawling across the back of of my little basement reflective structure.

My limequat has 3 new branches and lots of leaves. I can see it's about to explode with new growth all over, wherever there's a thorn, it has small green growth.

Huh. so I guess it is normal that citrus produce new growth even at this time of the year. I thought there was something wrong with my citrus

Completely normal, when they are happy and comfortable, they will want to grow:))

That's good to hear. Btw, I acquired and potted this tree (and my Yuzu) back in late November 2016. It's now about 4 ft tall(not counting the pot) and with the new growth it should probably reach 4.5 or 5 ft. It is probably a little over 2 years old. If it flowers for the first time this year can I just let it be and not remove them? I want the fruits so badly already

Some say remove the fruit to focus energy on vegetative growth. I personally would just leave the fruit on and if it grows to maturity, excellent. Your tree is starting to get very big for indoors so you probably won't care too much about vegetative growth so leave the flowers on and see what happens.

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more pics when I get back in town.

I have two and both started putting out new growth earlier this month. It's only one shoot per plant though. My previously dormant and leafless pomegranate has put out a lot of leaves as well.

I would have preferred they waited until the sun was a little stronger but oh well. I upped their fertilizer dosage on their last watering and am hoping the new growth will develop well despite the weak January sun.

Hey guys I am really happy that my satsuma mandarin is flowering for the very first time but I'm confused.. Why are the flowers on the new growth? The leaves aren't completely out yet. I thought it only flowers on established branches?

That's how they fruit, my unknown variety lemon tree is blooming on the tips of the brunches also and for the first time as well.

Yes but what I'm asking is if its normal to be producing flowers on new growth that hasn't even fully leafed out yet. Look at the leaf that has the flower on it, its still in the process of growing.

Yes the flowers appear on the new growth when some foliage is shed because of stress and the tree is in a hurry to put out flowers. That is my observation with my trees.

Yes sometimes it happens when there are some leaves on branches and less flowering occurs, that is ok, the tree will not die back but hang in there until warmer and brighter days.

The problematic one is when there are no leaves at all and lots of blooms start to appear, that is the extremely stressed tree going for last run.

Thanks Sunshine!

Heruge My tree did the same on flowering with 5 series of blooms until the limbs started dyeing back. It probably put out 300+ flowers with all fruit dropping after forming and growing to blueberry size. I lost about 9/10 of the tree.

Steve

So my tree will lose all its leaves because it's flowering on new growth?? Sigh I haven't done anything to make it stressed, In fact I've been doing everything to make it happy

Something nice to smell and pleasant to look at before spring rolls in.

Variegated pink lemon- lots of flowers and new growth

Limequat ton of flowers, some new growth

calamondin- new growth

Meyer- full of flowers

Heruga, no one is saying your tree will loose it's leaves, relax and take care of it, it will do fine, there are leaves on it making food. It feels your panic :)) just joking!

Heruga - as sunshine mentioned stress floweing is when ur tree has defoliated or is in the process of . I have even read some growers withold water then water n fertilize to mimic stress flowering for better crops.

If your tree is otherwise healthy flowering is a good sign . I have many trees which flower n have new growth throughout winter though my preference would be to supress new growth as they are leggy due less than oprimum light levels.

I don't know why my tree lost all of its leave. The constant flowering was not the cause. It was because my tree lost all its leave that the constant flowering endangered the trees life. Your tree may do just fine after the leaf drop stops.

Steve

Thanks everyone. Now if it flowered indoors, theres no way it will get pollinated unless I do it myself right? Is there a specific way to do this? I was thinking of getting a qtip and rub one flower and then go to the other

citrus don't need to be pollinated. Sit back and enjoy.

What, really? Don't all plants in general produce fruit after they have been pollinated from their flowers? Is citrus like the only exception? I am confused how this works..

Most trees have the male and female parts in the same flower. If they don't cross pollinate the can still pollinate them selves.

Steve

Heruga - I went through that exercise last winter because you will see so many articles and blog sites claiming you had to do it when the plants are inside... But it was basically all for naught. This overwintering year, I have left the flowers alone and they self-pollinated. And this happened both with the ones I have in the basement where I have a fan blowing across them AND with the ones I have upstairs in a guest bedroom with no fan at all. They just do their thing.

Heruga, I am not sure but it looks like your leaves have damage caused by mites.

Yea everyone tells me that but I don't think they're spider mites. Yes there are a lot of those red mites that you can actually SEE with your eyes that move fast. Doesn't match the description of spider mites at all. I think they are beneficial mites. I still wash my trees off anyway in the shower every 2-3 weeks. Really, I don't see any webs or anything. So I really can't tell what those yellow spots in the leaves are.

You need a magnifying glass to see them. They do not always make webs.

I didn't even need a magnifying glass. I can literally see them with my naked eye. I can see them move and I see their legs also. Now then you can't say they are spider mites can you?

I repeat: you need a magnifying glass to see spider mites. I doubt you are seeing spider mites with your naked eyes.

New Zealand lemonade between house and glass wall. Not quit inside.

Steve

Here's the picture of my ponderosa. It grew that branch, leaves and flower buds in 29days indoors out of where that massive lemon was on. I'm quite impressed with the rapid growth.

Hey so this will be my first flower and fruit on my satsuma mandarin but.. The fruits are growing and growing in size. It doubled its size since 2 weeks ago. I thought this mandarin was a winter crop? I see satsuma mandarins being sold from November to even now. This'll be ready by may of June! Isn't this fruit production a bit too early?

Remember that your tree is young and in a pot and the fruit in the store is coming from orchards of mature trees in the ground.

Enjoy your little fruit and hope they hold on for you to get to the point to ripen (they often drop off before then though). As it matures, it should eventually get on a more regular cycle.

Hmm ok. But why does it drop and how do I prevent it from dropping? One of my Sudachi fruit already dropped prematurely..

Citrus trees bloom and produce MANY MANY MANY more flowers and fruit, than the tree can possibly carry to maturity. If every flower produced a fruit, and the tree held onto every fruit, the tree would be crushed under its own weight. It is also a matter of the trees available energy supply. New small fruit compete against one another for the available energy, the looser is discarded, in favor of the stronger. It is very normal for a citrus tree to drop fruit it is unable to support.

Just wanted to add -- anyone with good vision can easily see spider mites -- along with their webs. They are not hard to spot in good light, unless you are not watching your plants carefully.

I just had one cataract removed and I can see up close with my new lens with a pair of 3.25 x readers.

I agree with Dave. Spider mites can often be easily seen by the naked eye despite their small size. But not always. If they have not yet made webs, then seeing them, especially if there are only a few of them, requires use of a magnifying glass.

Well those red mites on my citrus may be spider mites then. What do you guys use to kill them? Horticultural oil? Someone has told me insecticidal soap will not work on them because they are technically not insects and actually arachnids. Nothing has worked for me on killing these mites so far

Periodically dislodging them with a forceful stream of water will help to keep them in check but not kill all of them. I have used insecticidal soap and neem oil. Neem oil seems to be more effective.

I shower them with the shower head about every 4 weeks. And the population doesn't seem to be decreasing at all. I will try neem oil. Is there a specific brand you recommend?

There's an orchid grower I follow who had spider mites on her orchids and battled it for a year or two. Then she finally figured out that instead of using commercial horticulture oil that wasn't readily available in her area, she can make a substitute using mineral oil. It's basically water, a couple drops of dish soap, and mineral oil at 2% concentration. The DIY mineral oil won't be as refined and pure as the commercial stuff but you can give it a try. Horticultural oil works on spider mites through suffocation so it should work if you apply it properly and consistently. The orchid grower advised to use a good spray bottle for the oil to distribute even and thin layers of the oil m. Otherwise you might put too much oil on the leaves and suffocate your leaves as well. Citrus can endure a lot more abuse than orchids but it's still something to watch out for if you want to try this out.

Some information on horticultural oils for pest management http://ipm.uconn.edu/documents/raw2/html/831.php?aid=831