It is wonderful to be able to pick your own lemons.
You cannot beat fresh fruit! Lemons are essential in everyone's home because they provide us with shade, beautiful perfume when they flower and are an important ingredient in many recipes.
Lemon trees are very particular about their growing conditions.
They like sunny position, very good drainage and do not tolerate frosts.
The varieties available to the home gardener are Eureka, the Lisbon and the Meyer lemon.
Soil Conditions Lemon trees require a well draining sandy soil.
They do not thrive in clay soils because they hold too much moisture which causes the roots to rot.
Damp soils also lack oxygen and this prevents the lemon tree roots from respiring (absorbing oxygen).
If you have a clay soil there are several things you can do to improve the drainage.
The first is to apply gypsum the second is to incorporate lots of compost and animal manure and the third option is to build a raised garden bed.
Raised garden beds lift the roots away from the wet clay soil.
Fertilising Regime Lemon trees are what we call hungry, they require a lot of fertiliser especially nitrogen.
Nitrogen promotes leaf growth and the formation of chlorophyll, which is an essential part of the photosynthesis process.
Lemons require a lot of nitrogen, so they need to be fertilised four times year.
In warmer climates, this is easy, every time the season changes fertilise them.
But in cool/temperate climates you cannot fertilise in winter because the plants have shut down and will not absorb it.
I suggest you start fertilising in early September, then in early December, then in early February and the last fed in late March/early April, before the soil temperature cools down.
This regime should supply them with enough nitrogen to help them healthy.
Because they are gross feeder they need fertiliser like blood and bone, compost or a pellet organic fertiliser.
Lemons like acidic soils so do not use chicken manure because it is alkaline.
You may notice when the tree is producing lemons that it exhibits a nitrogen deficiency.
This is because it is putting all its energy into producing fruit.
It is easily fixed in spring by applying a high nitrogen fertiliser.
In autumn/winter the leaves may also show an iron deficiency.
This is usually brought on by the cold temperature of the soil.
It is easily fixed in spring by applying some Chelate of Iron.
There is no point applying it in winter because the roots will not absorb it.
It could also be caused by an alkaline soil which lemons do not like.
To find out whether your soil alkaline or not, you need to carry out a soil pH test.
If it shows your soil is alkaline, apply some sulphur to lower it and then in a couple of week's time you can apply some Chelate of Iron.
You can use Sulphate of Iron, but it does not stay in the soil as long as the Chelates.
I Some of the Common Pests and Diseases Lemons have their fair share of pests and two of the most troublesome are scale and leaf miner.
Scale is a sap sucking insect that is protected by a waxy coat and leaf miner is a caterpillar that lives under the waxy coating of the leaf and eats the tissue.
Scale appears when the tree is stressed due to lack of water and leaf miner usually appears in autumn/winter.
It is easily to control these two pests; all you need to do is spray white oil.
It dissolves the wax and zaps the pests.
Gall wasp in another annoying pest and is best controlled by using an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system.
It is a method that recommends using physical/biological and if all else fails chemical controls.
There is no chemical control for gall wasp, so it is important to research its life-cycle and interrupted it.
Pruning it out and using sticky traps is recommended, but remember you will not completely eradicate it, especially if your neighbours do not do anything.
Collar rot is a fungal disease that attacks the roots and appears on the trunk just above soil level.
The bark splits and cracks and affects its vigour, but the tree can soldier on for years.
Other symptoms are the leaves turn yellow and gum may ooze out of the trunk.
The best way to control this disease is to increase the air circulation around the trunk by removing the branches closest to the ground, remove any weeds growing around the trunk and apply a cooper fungicide.
This disease is common with trees planted in clay soils because they have poor drainage.
By improving it, you control the disease.
Thick and Tough Skinned Lemons Thick and tough skinned lemons are caused by lack of water.
It can also be caused by a nutrient imbalance of too much nitrogen and not enough potash.
This often happens when animal manure has been used completely substituted of a complete organic fertiliser.
You can fix the problem immediately by applying 250g of sulphate of potash, then in autumn applying one kg of super-phosphate and in spring applying 1 kg of complete fertiliser.
Potted Lemon Trees If you are growing a lemon in a pot it needs to be a minimum of 50cm across and the deeper the pot the better.
Pots are notorious for drying out over summer, so it is imperative that you regularly check the moisture level.
Adding watering holding crystals each spring is a great way to hold extra moisture.
It is also important to re-pot the lemon every two to three years as potting mix can run out of nutrients and can become water-resistant.
Fresh potting mix and fertiliser will help keep your lemon tree health.
The good thing is now that you can buy dwarf varieties which are ideally suited to pots.
Tip: Lemons need regular fertilising, but in pots be careful not to give too much.
If you provide your lemon with good drainage and lots of nutrients, you will have a tree that will last for years and will supply you with so many lemons you will wonder what to do with them all.
One of the nicest things about being a gardener is sharing your excess.
Lemon trees are tough and will survive with neglect, but you will not get much fruit and it is highly likely to be bitter and tasteless.
You cannot beat fresh fruit! Lemons are essential in everyone's home because they provide us with shade, beautiful perfume when they flower and are an important ingredient in many recipes.
Lemon trees are very particular about their growing conditions.
They like sunny position, very good drainage and do not tolerate frosts.
The varieties available to the home gardener are Eureka, the Lisbon and the Meyer lemon.
Soil Conditions Lemon trees require a well draining sandy soil.
They do not thrive in clay soils because they hold too much moisture which causes the roots to rot.
Damp soils also lack oxygen and this prevents the lemon tree roots from respiring (absorbing oxygen).
If you have a clay soil there are several things you can do to improve the drainage.
The first is to apply gypsum the second is to incorporate lots of compost and animal manure and the third option is to build a raised garden bed.
Raised garden beds lift the roots away from the wet clay soil.
Fertilising Regime Lemon trees are what we call hungry, they require a lot of fertiliser especially nitrogen.
Nitrogen promotes leaf growth and the formation of chlorophyll, which is an essential part of the photosynthesis process.
Lemons require a lot of nitrogen, so they need to be fertilised four times year.
In warmer climates, this is easy, every time the season changes fertilise them.
But in cool/temperate climates you cannot fertilise in winter because the plants have shut down and will not absorb it.
I suggest you start fertilising in early September, then in early December, then in early February and the last fed in late March/early April, before the soil temperature cools down.
This regime should supply them with enough nitrogen to help them healthy.
Because they are gross feeder they need fertiliser like blood and bone, compost or a pellet organic fertiliser.
Lemons like acidic soils so do not use chicken manure because it is alkaline.
You may notice when the tree is producing lemons that it exhibits a nitrogen deficiency.
This is because it is putting all its energy into producing fruit.
It is easily fixed in spring by applying a high nitrogen fertiliser.
In autumn/winter the leaves may also show an iron deficiency.
This is usually brought on by the cold temperature of the soil.
It is easily fixed in spring by applying some Chelate of Iron.
There is no point applying it in winter because the roots will not absorb it.
It could also be caused by an alkaline soil which lemons do not like.
To find out whether your soil alkaline or not, you need to carry out a soil pH test.
If it shows your soil is alkaline, apply some sulphur to lower it and then in a couple of week's time you can apply some Chelate of Iron.
You can use Sulphate of Iron, but it does not stay in the soil as long as the Chelates.
I Some of the Common Pests and Diseases Lemons have their fair share of pests and two of the most troublesome are scale and leaf miner.
Scale is a sap sucking insect that is protected by a waxy coat and leaf miner is a caterpillar that lives under the waxy coating of the leaf and eats the tissue.
Scale appears when the tree is stressed due to lack of water and leaf miner usually appears in autumn/winter.
It is easily to control these two pests; all you need to do is spray white oil.
It dissolves the wax and zaps the pests.
Gall wasp in another annoying pest and is best controlled by using an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system.
It is a method that recommends using physical/biological and if all else fails chemical controls.
There is no chemical control for gall wasp, so it is important to research its life-cycle and interrupted it.
Pruning it out and using sticky traps is recommended, but remember you will not completely eradicate it, especially if your neighbours do not do anything.
Collar rot is a fungal disease that attacks the roots and appears on the trunk just above soil level.
The bark splits and cracks and affects its vigour, but the tree can soldier on for years.
Other symptoms are the leaves turn yellow and gum may ooze out of the trunk.
The best way to control this disease is to increase the air circulation around the trunk by removing the branches closest to the ground, remove any weeds growing around the trunk and apply a cooper fungicide.
This disease is common with trees planted in clay soils because they have poor drainage.
By improving it, you control the disease.
Thick and Tough Skinned Lemons Thick and tough skinned lemons are caused by lack of water.
It can also be caused by a nutrient imbalance of too much nitrogen and not enough potash.
This often happens when animal manure has been used completely substituted of a complete organic fertiliser.
You can fix the problem immediately by applying 250g of sulphate of potash, then in autumn applying one kg of super-phosphate and in spring applying 1 kg of complete fertiliser.
Potted Lemon Trees If you are growing a lemon in a pot it needs to be a minimum of 50cm across and the deeper the pot the better.
Pots are notorious for drying out over summer, so it is imperative that you regularly check the moisture level.
Adding watering holding crystals each spring is a great way to hold extra moisture.
It is also important to re-pot the lemon every two to three years as potting mix can run out of nutrients and can become water-resistant.
Fresh potting mix and fertiliser will help keep your lemon tree health.
The good thing is now that you can buy dwarf varieties which are ideally suited to pots.
Tip: Lemons need regular fertilising, but in pots be careful not to give too much.
If you provide your lemon with good drainage and lots of nutrients, you will have a tree that will last for years and will supply you with so many lemons you will wonder what to do with them all.
One of the nicest things about being a gardener is sharing your excess.
Lemon trees are tough and will survive with neglect, but you will not get much fruit and it is highly likely to be bitter and tasteless.
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