How to prevent blossom drop on an orange tree?

VijayWani

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some help with my orange and lime trees.

For the past two seasons, I’ve been struggling with severe blossom drop.

The trees put on a massive show of flowers, but in the end, less than 5% actually convert into fruit.

Right now, both trees have a lot of flowers on them again.

Since they are right in the middle of blooming, I want to do everything I can to save this year's harvest.

I would love any suggestions on how to resolve this and help the fruit lock in.

Thanks in advance,

Vijay

MitchellMc

Hi @VijayWani,

It's worth mentioning that citrus trees naturally produce far more flowers than they can support as fruit, so a significant amount of blossom and tiny developing fruit dropping is normal. A tree covered in flowers isn't necessarily expected to turn a large percentage of them into mature fruit.

The main thing I'd concentrate on while they're flowering is keeping conditions as consistent as possible. Make sure the trees are receiving regular deep watering and aren't cycling between being very dry and very wet. Avoid heavy pruning or making any major changes while they're flowering.

I'd also avoid applying insecticides while the trees are in bloom, particularly when bees and other pollinators are active. If you're not seeing many pollinators visiting the flowers, that could also contribute to poor fruit set.

You might also like to try hand-pollinating some of the flowers to improve your chances of fruit setting. This can be particularly useful if you aren't seeing many bees or other pollinators around the trees.

It's quite simple to do. Take a small, soft artist's paintbrush or cotton bud and gently brush around the centre of an open flower to collect the yellow pollen from the anthers. Then lightly brush this pollen onto the sticky centre, or stigma, of another open flower. Repeat this across a selection of flowers around the tree.

Orange and lime flowers are generally self-fertile, so you don't need another variety nearby. You can even transfer pollen between flowers on the same tree. I'd do this during dry weather when the flowers are fully open, and repeat it over several days as new blossoms open.

Could you let us know whether the trees are planted in the ground or pots, what you've been feeding them with and roughly how often they're watered? A couple of photos of the trees and surrounding area would also help our members identify anything that might be contributing to the excessive blossom drop.

Here are a few helpful guides: Top tips for growing citrus fruit and How to grow, prune and care for an orange tree, and How to grow a lime tree.

Let me tag, @Sugar, @rbaus, @Pcan and @MrsW, who have all dealt with citrus trees not fruiting to their full potential, to see if they have any thoughts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell