[Arid_gardener] Mystery: Disappearing lemons

[Dick]

Attention Master Gardeners:

Can any of you citrus experts come up with a reasonable explanation for Gloria's total absence of fruit? A short crop set might be explained by one or a combination of several environmental factors ganging up on the home owner but ". . . not a single one." is difficult for me to explain. 

If you can demystify this phenomena for Gloria, please reply to all. I have a beautiful Sweet Lemon variety that always has an abundance of fruit  despite anything I do. It looks like a lemon, smells like a lemon but has the flavor of stale chalk.

Someone correct me if I am wrong. I've always assumed citrus to be self polinating but, even if not, a lone  bee straying on its way back to its hive would surely have fulfilled a couple of the stamen. 

Dick Gross, M G V, U of A Maricopa County Cooperative Extension


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gloria Bancroft" <gbancroft at w-link.net>
To: "Dick" <rkgross3 at cox.net>
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page


> Thanks so much for responding to my email so quickly. We did have tons of 
> blossoms on our lemon tree last spring.  We have only lived here for 3 years 
> so we're not sure how old the tree is. However it is at least 8-10 feet high 
> and very full. The past 3 years we have had abundant lemons that have been 
> quite large and very juicy. We just can't figure out why there is not even a 
> single lemon on the tree this year.
> 
> Gloria
> gbancroft at w-link.net
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dick" <rkgross3 at cox.net>
> To: <gbancroft at w-link.net>
> Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2007 10:03 PM
> Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page
> 
> 
>> Gloria, you would almost have to shoot a lemon tree to keep it from 
>> producing in this valley. Did it have blossoms in the spring? An 
>> unhealthy, imature tree might shed all the fruit if under stress while 
>> blooming; it is a self preservation reaction, a dry spell, excess 
>> fertilizer, irrigation in the wrong place are a couple of factors that can 
>> affect a young tree's ability to hold and ripen fruit. Most healthy citrus 
>> will rain green fruit from pea to golfball size to the ground until it 
>> reaches a balance. You will swear nothing will be left to ripen but you 
>> can be sure that whatever sticks will be only that which can overcome 
>> whatever stresses the tree is under at that time. Citrus may be several 
>> years old before it has the strength to reproduce. A young tree may shed 
>> all the imature fruit the first and second year it blooms but a couple 
>> will usually sneak through the maze. Feed and irrigate your tree properly 
>> and you can't fail in this climate.  A juvenile fruit tree with an 
>> underdeveloped root system is under a lot of stress without having to 
>> support a family.
>>
>> Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer
>> U. of A. Maricopa County
>> Cooperative Extension
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: <gbancroft at w-link.net>
>> To: <arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu>
>> Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2007 2:19 PM
>> Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page
>>
>>
>>> Gloria
>>> 85248
>>> gbancroft at w-link.net
>>>
>>> Our lemon tree had a lot of blossoms on it this spring but now there are 
>>> no lemons on the tree. What happened?
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Arid_gardener mailing list
>>> Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
>>> http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener
>> 
> 
>
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