Lime and Orange dropping young fruit

Both my Lime and Orange trees are dropping their young fruit. They are only young trees. Would this have something to do with it? Any other causes?


Mike

How big is the fruit? Are the trees in the ground or in containers?

The trees are in the ground and the fruit are only tiny - very early after the flower.


Mike

I'm pretty sure that is normal.
Citrus trees bear many more blossoms than the fruit they can support.
the tree gets rid of some of the tiny fruit, you will be left with ones that will grow to full size.

Mine is doing the same thing. It is normal..

It seems to be the Lime and Orange I'm having the trouble with - they don't produce as much fruit as the lemon and Mandarin which means there is no fruit at all once they have dropped a few.

Mike --- I use Citrus fertilizer just before the bloom. Perhaps you should try it or have you already done so. They will abort some as that is natural no matter what I do..

Mike-N-NZ, I don't want you to take this question as a suggestion that you are mistreating your trees, but have you done or omitted doing something basic to good citrus care? Or has nature dealt you some bad conditions? Excessive fruit drop can be related to STRESS, such as, unseasonable heat wave, change in watering pattern, to much or to little water, sunscald on the trunk and lower limbs, etc., etc. Some fruit drop is inevitable following a good bloom and fruit set. But that does not seem to be what you are discribing. Tplant's comments on use of a citrus fertilizer are on target, but be sure it is a citrus formula. Too much nitrogen will cause problems.

This message was edited Mar 3, 2009 10:59 AM

Ditto this is normal and is known as post bloom fruit drop. It is nature’s self-thinning mechanism that adjusts the number of fruit to the tree's bearing potential. Fruitlets that are defective are also shed at this time. There are early fruit drops and again slightly later in the year. Only about 2% of citrus blooms set fruit and go on to mature. Young trees will not support many quality fruit and the fruit diverts energy away from tree growth. It’s hard to do but pulling all of the fruit off young trees will allow them to grow stronger and produce more fruit in the years ahead. Most citrus experts say to pull the fruit for the first three years but I have never made it past the second year. It’s a very tough decision but I have seen good results from my younger trees when I was not so impatient. Too much fertilizer before fruit set can cause problems. It works better to fertilize often and heavier after the fruit has set. For me fertilizing in late February, May and July keeps me synchronized with the growth flushes, but your timetable would be different from mine.
Oldude

Thanks for the response. I have been fertilizing regularly (twice yearly) and have good , healthy looking trees so maybe as suggested there is a natural thinning process taking place and it is just a matter of waiting few years for better results.


Mike