Help mature lemon tree has never fruit

[Peekaboo]

 Hi guys I have this lemon tree for the pass 7 years and it never gave me fruit,maybe a deficiency? here are some pics for reference.

[Doug]

I had a misbehaving lemon tree a while back. I read someplace (maybe on this site?) to do something counter-intuitive to citrus care: pile on the wood chip mulch. It worked, and the tree is now green, healthy and productive...with no other changes. Probably a deficiency of some kind.

[simon_grow]

You may get more answers in the Citrus forum. Was this tree purchased as a grafted tree or did you plant it from seed? It sure looks large enough to fruit. What kind of fertilizer do you feed it and how often? I would bring down the height of the tree to remove some of the vertical vigor. If it were my tree, I would bring it down by at least half. My Lemon( Meyer) is on dwarfing rootstock and it about 3-4ft tall and has over 150 lemons so you don't need a tall tree to get good production.

Your leaves look a little pale and may be lacking in some of the micro and trace elements. Applying an ultrabloom type fertilizer in early Spring may get your tree to start fruiting.

Simon

[jbaqai]

Could be any reason , but I can sure you my experience

Have potted draf persian lime tree was in similar situations, i removed from the pot and remove the soil too, found out roots were wrapping around. Changed the soil , cut some roots and put in bigger pot

It bounce back with soo many lime that's now it's breaking branches

Latter I also realized that I use put manure as organic matter, read some articles indicating that citrus and manure is no no. Not sure if that is proven thing . But now my citrus plants are manure free (liquid or solid )

Most importantly, someone here (I think it was Rob) mentioned to use the following product , you can try that too


1 pint Citrus Nutritional Spray

http://www.homedepot.com/p/100599817

[Peekaboo]

Tree started by seeds so I'm not sure about the rootstock,I've just ordered a tub of jacks citrus feed with triple iron and 1 pint of ag nutritional spray.I'll be doing multiple foliar sprays and see if the issue has been corrected.gonna keep you guys posted.

[BrianL]

If it's from seed it still might not be mature even after 7 years.  It may also not be a lemon depending on source since citrus hybridize.  Just graft on a scion of a lemon if that's what you want right now. 

[Central Floridave]

Maybe you are taking too good of care for it.  Try starving it some of nutrients.  Maybe that will trigger it to flower.  Good luck!

[Peekaboo]

Thanks guys will try a thing or two.

[Mark in Texas]

According to leaf tissue analysis citrus prefer a 5-1-3 NPK with a good micro package including manganese.  They are heavy feeders so feeding should begin when they come out of winter dormancy if applicable.   Here's probably the best all around food with the correct NPK ratios, high performance, biggest bang for the buck.  https://www.amazon.com/77900-Performance-Fertilizer-25-5-15-25-Pound/dp/B008JSIKCU/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_1

[Mark in Texas]

Your leaves look a little pale and may be lacking in some of the micro and trace elements. Applying an ultrabloom type fertilizer in early Spring may get your tree to start fruiting.

Simon

Simon, ultrabloom as in high P, typical of that marketing scheme.  Don't care of the food has micros, if it is a high P food like a 10-55-10, it will induce micro deficiencies.  P is one the most over rated and abused macros thanks to the marketing efforts of vendors who hawk P just because it's needed for good blooming.  Hell, they all are. 

[Mark in Texas]

If it's from seed it still might not be mature even after 7 years.  It may also not be a lemon depending on source since citrus hybridize.  Just graft on a scion of a lemon if that's what you want right now.

Good strategy and you're right - seedlings usually take a long time to produce compared to a grafted tree which will produce next season.  Cut low and do t-bud or bark grafts on selected shoots.  I did just that to a key lime tree and now have a very vigorous cocktail tree of 4 varieties.

[greenman62]

yeah, i would sevrealy cut it back.
though, i think you dont want to cut more than 1/3 at a time anyway.
Does it get a lot of sun ?
some of my trees get a lot of sun on top, but the bottoms are in shade most of the day.
if that is the case, you might not want to cut it back that much.
hard to tell from a snapshot.
but, its certainly a good candidate to graft to.
my satsuma perked up after adding iron and epsom (magnesium)
but, thats all dependent on your soil.

[sapote]

The second photo shows those nasty spikes on the branches, and this tells the tree is either a root stock took over the graft or it was from seed. I see all citrus grafted trees have suckers with long spikes as in the photo. I have not seen a citrus rootstock sucker that has fruit yet.

[bbudd]

Same thing here in Thailand
Mine took a full 8 years before it had a single fruit
Worth waiting for tho
Lots of fruit now

[Mike T]

Lemons sometimes struggle in warm climates and rough skinned and meyer do better but they just aren't the same. A good fertiliser with plenty of K,P,Ca,Mg and maybe zn might work wonders and once they start flowering they often bear well.As already said too much of one element can cause deficiencies of others.

[Peekaboo]

Mark my jacks order is in,I'm about to mix up a rate as you suggested of 1/2 tsp per gallon of water in my back pack sprayer and do a foliar spray.I did purchase a 95% sufactant as well,gonna keep you guys posted.

[Peekaboo]

Mark a bit off topic what are some cheap soil ammendment do you recommend for modifying clay soil? I'd like to make it suitable for planting,it has worms in there but hard to drain.

Cheers

[spaugh]

Urban legend maybe but some people say tap a nail in the trunk to stress the tree into trying to reproduce itself.  Never tried, have no idea if it works.  After 7 years I might give it a shot if it was my tree. 

[spaugh]

The second photo shows those nasty spikes on the branches, and this tells the tree is either a root stock took over the graft or it was from seed. I see all citrus grafted trees have suckers with long spikes as in the photo. I have not seen a citrus rootstock sucker that has fruit yet.

This is most likely the issue.   

[Mark in Texas]

Mark my jacks order is in,I'm about to mix up a rate as you suggested of 1/2 tsp per gallon of water in my back pack sprayer and do a foliar spray.I did purchase a 95% sufactant as well,gonna keep you guys posted.

That'll work for sure.  The N sources are a good blend of nitrate and urea.

Not much you can do for clay except mulch from the top down.  Been working it all my life.  Key is to fracture the sides and bottom of the hole before planting, NEVER amend the backfill, and correct any root spinout before you drop it into the hole.

[pineislander]

Repeated planting of deep rooting cover crops like pigeon peas can help break up clay soil, plus I know they grow well and make a good Trini Pelau. You could try planting one every foot or so, when they get 2-3 feet cut off at the roots and plant again. The roots will decay and provide some pathways through the soil.

[Mark in Texas]

Repeated planting of deep rooting cover crops like pigeon peas can help break up clay soil,

Spent months researching green manure crops that would do just that before planting my niche crop.  Chose yellow sweet clover, hairy vetch and elbon rye.  Blue lupine and daikon radishes are another good "biological soil plow".  Turnips, even sunflowers although they will get invasive.  You must select crops that will work in your area.

[Lory]

Lemon seedlings can take VERY LONG to fruit especially in warm tropical climate as yours.

I had a seedling who did the same before: 5 years old full of thorns and with an upright canopy




It's even worse if your lemon has some water/nutritional deficiencies, it will take centuries to fruit.
I advice you to remove the big thorny suckers that grow upright at the base of branches

[Lory]

Your leaves look a little pale and may be lacking in some of the micro and trace elements. Applying an ultrabloom type fertilizer in early Spring may get your tree to start fruiting.

Simon

Simon, ultrabloom as in high P, typical of that marketing scheme.  Don't care of the food has micros, if it is a high P food like a 10-55-10, it will induce micro deficiencies.  P is one the most over rated and abused macros thanks to the marketing efforts of vendors who hawk P just because it's needed for good blooming.  Hell, they all are. 

Thank for the hint Mark, i feel ashamed that being a chemist i've never thought before about this P issue before! 

[brettay]

Citrus trees grown from seed won't produce fruit until a specific node count is achieved and this often takes many years.  If you prune it back this resets the node count to the remaining nodes so if you want it to produce fruit this is not a good idea.

-Brett