Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

I have a lemon tree, started by seed from a lemon slice, which is about 10 years old. It has beautiful foliage and grows to about 8 to 10 feet tall each year. We live in an area with freezing winters, so I have to cut it back in order to get it into the house.

My problem is that it never blooms or has any lemons on it. What is the problem? Are two trees needed to pollinate each other? Will it never have lemons on it? I'd appreciate any feedback or help.
Thank you in advance.

Karen from Missouri

Answers:

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

Some citrus does need to cross pollinate. (05/12/2005)

By Linda

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

In order for pollination to occur, you need to have flowers first. Just having a second lemon tree nearby will not make your original tree bloom. :-)

Unfortunately, I have no idea why your tree doesn't bloom. Some types of fruits only produce flowers/fruit on old wood that's been around for at least a year. Maybe (big emphasis on "maybe"!) by cutting the tree back, you're cutting off the old wood that would produce fruit. Wild guess on my part. Other possibilities are too-short days (don't know where you live but this might be an issue if you're pretty far north), missing nutrients, and being root bound.

Maybe a Google search would turn up some info for you. Good luck! (05/12/2005)

By Lynne

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

I'm having a similar problem although my tree is only going on it's second season. It hasn't grown much so I moved it to a sunnier spot. I also just fed it citrus/tropical fertilizer. It hasn't been long enough yet to see results. I'm hoping it just needed some fertilizer. Also I found out that they need to be fed March through Sept. but check your species just in case. Good luck! Jennifer, (05/13/2005)

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

I found information on the Internet which stated that lemon trees planted from seeds take 15 years to bear fruit. I still have 7 or 8 years to go with mine. Be patient. (06/28/2005)

By Rosemary

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

It is worth knowing that the tree has not been grown on wild stock. If it has it may never flower. You may be able to graft onto it to produce healthy fruit. I have a one year old lemon that has fruit already. I also have a 3 year old lime that hasn't flowered. I think I will try spraying it with seaweed emulsion which is supposed to protect from frosts, and promote healthy flowering. I also have a citrus that grew from a seed and is a really healthy plant but hasn't flowered. I think I will try grafting onto it this year from Mum's orange tree which has great fruit in a similar climate. Good luck (07/08/2005)

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

From my experience, fruit trees grown from seed are never very successful - you would be much better off buying a grafted tree from a plant nursery. They graft the better quality fruit onto a strong rooted variety. Fruit trees need to be fertilized 4 times per year with a citrus and fruit tree fertilizer and if it fails to bloom give it a feed of Sulphate of Ammonia. You don't need two trees - just some bees to pollinate them. Hope this helps! (08/12/2005)

By Lyn

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

My lemon tree is blooming for the first time this year at 23 years old. Miracle Gro is the only fertilizer I have used. It winters in the house in an unheated room. (05/02/2007)

By Carol

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

My research into the subject has found that a lemon tree planted from seeds will not bloom or fruit for about 10 to 15 years, usually, and probably will not be the same as the original tree the seed came from. In other words, if you planted a seed from a Myers lemon the tree probably will not produce Myers lemons when it does bud and fruit. If you want fruit before then, you must graft a bud from another tree onto it. Simply do a search on google "grafting lemon trees" and about 100,000 sites with info will come up. Good luck. (05/11/2007)

By andy

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

13-13-13 is the food of choice for citrus trees. No you do not need 2 trees to make baby lemons. You must have a grafted tree to produce. My lemon trees are 2 years old producing approx. 40-50 lbs of citrus. It gets better every year. You must control the white flies and other bugs as well. The dark dirt looking stuff on the leaves are not helping the growth. (11/07/2007)

By Randy

Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

My 2 trees are about 8 years old, and basically abandoned until just now. I just trimmed back the bush to make it into a tree once again and I realized it's starting to bud. I've heard it just takes a long time to bare fruit, so just wait and see. (02/27/2008)