Lemon Trees

[ol' boy]

I have the most unlikey, 28 year old lemon tree growing the worst area.
Surround by a Gumtree and other ground cover plants that have just taken over.

I never feed it
Never water it
Its not in full sun, in fact, its in a rather crappy place
And amazingly, it produces fruit (although not the greatest).

So, anyone here have there own tried and tested treatment for a Lemon Tree?
Cheers

EDIT: i have read a few Gardening sites regarding Lemon Trees, but they get all fancy with all that Green Thumb Speak

[enf]

I have one that gets a bit ragged and I'll have to have it trimmed. The original owner of the house planted it, and had the foresight to place a 50ml PVC pipe down to where the roots would grow. When its really dry, just drip the hose down the pipe...works a charm.

[ol' boy]

Thats one thing i wondered, is it ok to Prune a Lemon Tree?
Great idea with the pipe in the ground to get water down.

[enf]

Thats one thing i wondered, is it ok to Prune a Lemon Tree?
Great idea with the pipe in the ground to get water down.

I think you can be pretty thorough with them, but don't prune the hell out of it on my say so. If its that old, then if pruned correctly it should deliver really good fruit. Perhaps hire a professional to give you advice and prune it properly. Watch and learn.

In fact I'll take my own advice and do that myself. Mine is looking pretty ragged. I have cut away the lower parts, but I haven't actually tended it well in years.

[Godzilla]

I have quite a few fruit and citrus trees (About 4 citrus and 9 fruit trees)

Clear out all grass and weeds from under the tree.

Lots of manure and water. (Take a leak under it when you need to, the tree loves it)

White oil and bluestone dust takes care of the bugs and scale.

Also if you have any lumpy growths, a bug has infested it (they call it lemon tree cancer but its not), cut about a inch away from the growth near a bud and bag and bin the offcuts so the bugs dont return.

Key point is fertilizer and the most important thing is water and direct light, lemon trees have shallow roots so plants/grass growing around the base will compete with it for food and water.

If clearing out growth around it, dont dig deep as you may damage its roots.

Make sure it get full sun, clear out anything around it blocking its sunlight.

Edit just saw the pruning question, not a problem, prune away, in fact if you want more growth pull off all the lemons growing on it and it will put its energy onto producing fresh growth instead of fruit.

If cutting into old wood you wont get growth there again, if cutting into green, cut near a upwards facing bud, that way the new growth will go into the direction of the bud.

[Rick]

I have a huge lemon tree in my yard, its technically named a lemonade tree, the fruit it produces is amazing and the taste is like fresh squeezed lemonade, sweet but tart, we actually make our own lemon syrup cordial and we use NO added sugar, so refreshing on a hot day, over ice with soda water , I refuse to use sprays and fertilizers, I guess it thrives so well as it right next to my under cover BBQ area, and we all just simply piss on it

[fandtm666]

give it a good prune then start pissing on it but keep dogs away from it
because their pee will kill it

[ltdslip]

Also if you have any lumpy growths, a bug has infested it (they call it lemon tree cancer but its not), cut about a inch away from the growth near a bud and bag and bin the offcuts so the bugs dont return.

Gall Wasp?

I like to give the stink bugs a little squirt of confidor to quicken their demise.

[ol' boy]

Thanks guys.
To be honest, it really is planted in a crap area (wasn't my idea)
And it is over run with self seeding Agapanthus plants, the pricks have spread everywhere
On top of that, its 2 feet from a Gumtree and some other native tree.

And because of that, the taste and flavour of the lemons is rather below par.

I really should just go buy a better variety and plant it in a better location
But i cant wait 6 years for fruit.
So i guess, i'll give this one a Birthday and see what happens.

Will clear all around the Lemon Tree
Give it a good organic feed
And water the tits out of it.
Some pruning and see how we go.

[gulliver]

We have alemon tree for about 14 years.I used to pee on it when I was in the backyard.The fruit became all dull and with lines and groves on it.I send a picture to the Don Burke show and he said I must have bad neighbors using chemicals.I stopped peeing on it and the fruit became good again.

[efab]

If going to prune it now is the right time as it won't harm the tree. In winter you should cover the wound, as the moisture Wong let it heal. I use water based paint for that. Cut the dead wood out and try and thin some of the heavy parts of the tree. If giving a good hard prune let it recover the falling season and produce only a small amount of fruit

[Uncle Fester]

If you decide to get a new one, go definitely the 'Lemonade' type as Rick described but don't pee on it.
Squeeze one fruit fresh with lots of ice and plain soda water, most refreshing drink in the day time before the first beer.

We don't do much with ours, just prune the inward growth nice and close so there is no stub.
If very dry weather we water once a week and really soak with the hose.
We occasionally get stink beetles, large, orange/red that squirt smelly stuff when you get too close. I just water them all off with the hose and stomp on them.
If you spay anything on them they will spray back.
I don't like fruit trees with a lot of branches and leaves, I want a lot of fruit. So I don't use fertiliser for growth, just potash for flower production.

If you clear any growth around the root zone and do a weekly soak, your fruit should taste better.

However if you get a new young tree it will need a lot of care with daily watering and monthly fertilising. Often good to start in a pot with a quality potting mix and mulch, nice mostly sunny position.

Our citrus collection is Lemonade, Tahitian Lime, Silverhill Mandarin(was just a stick and now 3rd year with over 20 fruit coming), naval orange, kumquat, calamondin (awesome squashed with skin in drinks or sauces but must be still green) and a wild thing that appeared out of nowhere with thorns that looks like a lemon but the leaves smell like mandarin yet to bear fruit(forgot the potash). I think my wife pulled it out and it grew back, now much bigger.

[Godzilla]

Also if you have any lumpy growths, a bug has infested it (they call it lemon tree cancer but its not), cut about a inch away from the growth near a bud and bag and bin the offcuts so the bugs dont return.

Gall Wasp?

I like to give the stink bugs a little squirt of confidor to quicken their demise.

Yep Gall Wasp, thats the correct name, couldn't remember it when i was typing the reply.

@ Oceanboy, dont be afraid to move it if need be, take a large area of the ground with it as Lemon tree roots are shallow and spread far.

Yes i also listened (like all good husbands, happy wife, happy home) to the Mrs and put mine where she insisted (against my advice) in the darkest corner we had, it almost died, then i managed to convince her to a slightly better spot, it only got a little better, then i told her to go F herself and im sick of listening to someone with no idea and got it where i originally wanted it, in full sun, the things massive now and thriving well with lots of growth and lemons.

Sometimes a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do.....

Agapanthers....i also have a few of them, they should be listed as a dangerous weed, last summer i removed a few with a pick and hit the roots with roundup, starting to think about removing all of them and being done with it.

[dashinson]

Talking about Citrus trees,about 2 weeks ago looking at my 30yo Orange tree doing poorly I gave it a dose of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate @ 1tbs/ gallon of water) and it's taken off with new growth all over , the grass around the base of the tree has grown thick and lush 4-6 inches.

Dash.

[dogsbreath]

Another Urban myth for lemon trees I heard was to sprinkle iron filings underneath as well.

[Rick]

Another Urban myth for lemon trees I heard was to sprinkle iron filings underneath as well.

Ah so thats where the rusty lemon comes from

[Godzilla]

Another Urban myth for lemon trees I heard was to sprinkle iron filings underneath as well.

Ah, reminds me of a old Greek man telling me to bury rusty steel around the tree roots to help it grow.

Never did ask him why or how that worked, nor did i try it.

[gordon_s1942]

Dont forget Trees need Bee's to pollinate as well as water and fertilisers.

I think if your really keen, you can do the pollination by hand.

Remember the movie, 'The Worlds Fastest Indian' and how he wanted his young next door neighbour to 'Pee on his Lemon Tree each day' while he was away.

[Dishtrackted]

Ive got a dozen citrus trees and 20 or 30 other fruit trees.
They like no root competition, a regular feed and regular water and sun
you can be brutal with pruning.
I wee on all of mine a lot.

Most of my ones are under gum trees and really close to their trunks.
Citrus is traditionally an under-story plant,yes they fruit more and are happy out on their own and pampered but they are tough and fruit and grow even when its not perfect conditions