Is there a problem with this?
Question:my brother started a lemon tree from seeds. it was looking really healthy with plenty of leaves last year. right now it loses leaves a lot but its growing new ones too. to me it should have more leaves like the bigger trees. and an uncle has a lemon tree and his looks the same. but i want to know if anyone think there's something wrong with it? my mom had the idea that maybe its getting ready for lemons. my brother thinks that if it was doing that then there would be buds growing. here's a picture of it. sorry if it's not too good.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p200/...
Answers:
My lemon and limes look like that on occasion. They key is fertilizer and regular water. I even trim back with few negative effect.You will be amazed what a good organic citrus fertilizer will do to create more blossoms. I water and let drain well, so with that, nutrients are flushed out. Fertilizing each month brings on a rush of lovely, fragrant blooms. I have on one 2 1/2 foot tree that has everything from buds to almost mature fruits, all at the same time! Perhaps, 30 lemons are growing at different stages, so with adequate water ( I water well and let drain every day in hot weather) and monthly fertilizing, I have fruits year-round, even indoors in cold weather when I have to hand-pollinate. If you do not water and fertilize, you will not see nearly as many, or the ones you have will drop off.
My lemon tree would loose leaves this time of year and start getting new leaves at the weather got colder.
Check to make sure you do not have any bugs and a grower if they need nutients.
It looks very healthy to me.
Overwatering can slow or stop growth.
The tree is healthy. It is a little stressed.( note the waves in some of the leafs) This could be from drought stress, or cool temperatures.Both would cause the leafs to drop.
Lemons, and limes don't like cool weather at all, and even have a hard time in growing in Northern Florida. If the temperature is dropping into the 50s at night this may be the cause of the leaf drop. You should keep it inside in the winter months.
Its hard to tell with out getting a better look at the tree, but it may be sterile. Meaning it won't produce fruit. If it does, remove them for the first 3 years.This just makes for a healthier tree in the long run.
Prune it back. It looks like you have a little string on one of the branches. Prune that branch back to just below the string, and the other branches, just the tips to give the tree a more even, uniformed look .It looks like you have 2 or 3 branches coming off the trunk just above the soil. Remove these completely. Give it a little fertilizer, and it should look good for the summer.
Citrus don't like to stay wet, but don't let it it dry out either. They prefer sandy soil, and like iron, and manganese. So use a citrus fertilizer, or something with these 2 micro-nutrients in it. Be careful these nutrients will stain your deck.
You may want to put it into a bigger pot next year.
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