My Little Lemon Tree
My so-called “everbearing” lemon tree, has not born a ripe lemon since last November. It had quite a lot of blooms in the spring, but, it’s September, and, though carrying two dozen lemons, the leaves don’t look so well. I recently gave it more iron, organic plant food, alfalfa meal, worm castings and biodynamic compost, and dropped daily watering to twice per week deep watering. I’m hoping that helps. I could have been watering too much. There’s a long sucker branch that’s grown out of it this year. Are you supposed to cut those off?
There is one bloom on it now. I’m not sure what to make of that. One of the green lemons is starting to turn yellow, but it’s got a ways to go.
I should have not taken on so many different fruits and vegetables for my first garden, since I didn’t know anything about gardening. But, I did, so any advice is welcome! Thanks for stopping by! – Kaye
I would cut the sucker and try and start a new plant with it. Never grew lemons, but suckers usually take energy from the plant, so that would be my best guess.
Ok, thanks! I’ll cut the sucker, but, don’t think I will bother to start a new plant, as I don’t have room for another citrus till I take out my driveway, haha. Also, they need to be grafted, so you don’t have to have two, I think. – Kaye
I think it’s great that you are experimenting in your garden with new plants! I wish I could grow citrus trees here without having to take them inside in the winter.
I agree with removing any suckers off any type of plant as it does take extra energy away from the rest of the plant. Perhaps thinning out the branches to get more sunlight into the fruit will help them to ripen. From your photos it appears as though you have a slight infestation of whitefly. An closer picture would confirm this. They could also be mealybug. It’s hard to make out which they are. Both of these insects can be treated similarly without subjecting your beautiful garden to toxins. Whitefly will cause your leaves to yellow and eventually brown and curl. They will suck the sap out of your lime tree. You can rid your trees of whitefly a few different ways.
-You can use rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab and wipe them off but this is tedious.
-insecticidal soap
-horticultural oil
-biological controls (other insects that will feed on them)
-I use Basic H2 to spray any pest in my garden. It is a natural surfactant that is safe on all plants and animals including humans. I have a link on my blog to more info on Basic H2 if you are curious. I also use it as a fruit and veggie wash.
-get rid of all infected leaves from your garden since whitefly will attack almost all plants. They don’t discriminate.
Good luck with your little lemon tree!
-Melissa
Thanks so much, Melissa! I’m staying inside editing my watermelon episode till it cools off around 5, then I’ll go out and take your advice! I’ll let you know how it goes! – Kaye
So much to learn. Am I just not in touch or something Kaye, that looks a lot like a lime to me? I agree w/ cutting the sucker…they drain the tree and never bear fruit.
Yeah, looks like lime, but trust me, I had wonderful Meyer lemons last fall. Fingers crossed they make the change to yellow! – Kaye