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Citrus plant without a fruit

PraveenS1
Growing in Experience

Citrus plant without a fruit

I have four similar plants belongs to citrus family about 5 year old now. I could not get any hint whether its lemon or lime because I haven't seen any fruit yield at all. Any idea dear experts? All suggestions are welcome.

 

Citrus.jpg

 

Citrus1.jpg

EricL
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: Citrus plant without a fruit

Hello @PraveenS1

 

Your trees look very healthy, when was the last time you applied fertilizer to them? Was there a time that flowers bloomed on the tree but they all wilted and fell off? Some of the reasons that your trees don't bloom are poor watering practices, incorrect temperature, insufficient light, lack of nutrients in the soil, disease or pest infestation, or a bad rootstock.

 

If you have been fertilizing your trees and they contain a lot of nitrogen this will discourage your tree from flowering. I suggest backing off on the fertilizer and trying some phosphorus or bone meal. I also suggest looking at using Manutec 1kg Epsom Salt, but I suggest testing your soil's pH levels first.

 

Let me call on our experienced members @Noelle and @Adam_W for their recommendations.

 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

 

Eric

 

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Noelle
Kind of a Big Deal

Re: Citrus plant without a fruit

Just to add to @EricL 's post:  If the trees are seedlings (that is, not grafted on to a rootstock) they could take at least 5 years before they flower. Seedlings are very variable and often slow to flower for the first time.

 

The trees look healthy enough but I agree that maybe too much high-nitrogen fertiliser has encouraged them to put all their energy into growth, rather than flowering. I don't think they need Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate) as they are quite green - this treatment is usually used for trees that are yellowing. I would look to perhaps adding a dressing of superphosphate around each, under the outer perimeter of the foliage canopy, at the rate of a good handful per square metre of soil surface.

 

Keep the soil moist but not wet over summer to maintain health and vigour.

Adam_W
Workshop Legend

Re: Citrus plant without a fruit

@PraveenS1 agree on all points made so far. Feed with a balanced food for citrus, I'd keep grass etc. well clear of around their bases too. Epsom salts can help with fruit-set but won't do much if they are not even flowering.
One way to work out what they are is the leaves. Citrus leaves have loads of oil glands and that oil is very aromatic, same is on the skin of the fruit. If you crush up some leaves you'll find the fragrance matches the fruit - lemon leaves smell like lemon, orange like orange, mandarin like mandarin etc.

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