If the lemon grows well but not fruiting, you are not the only one to ask you what you are wrong. The plant is there, beautiful lush, the leaves are green, fragrant, the earth is soft … but of the fruits, not even the shadow. And every year you delude yourself: maybe this summer, maybe with this fertilizer, perhaps moving it by two meters. Nothing. Just a nice decorative tree, practically.
I went there too. A huge pot on the terrace, full of expectations and zero lemons. At the beginning you think: it will be normal. Then a certain nervousness rises to you, and you end up Googlare “because my lemon does not make lemons” as if it were an esoteric mystery. But the truth is that there are very precise causes and, fortunately, also solutions.
In this article I will tell you about the most common reasons why your lemon is shy and refuses to frustify. Some are very trivial, others a little less intuitive. But I promise you that understanding where you are wrong, you can put everything back on track – without becoming an agronomist, eh. A few tricks is enough and a little patience (especially that). So no, it’s not a problem with black thumb. Sometimes it’s just a matter of light, age … or too much love. Yes, that too can be a problem.
Scorps because the lemons not fruit
Let’s start from the most underestimated of the causes: The plant is simply too young. If you have recently bought it, or worse you were still born from a seed (good, among other things, but you complicated your life), know that lemons are not early at all. On average, a lemon takes 3 to 5 years before starting to produce fruits. And it does not do it out of malice, it is that it must first put on strong roots, build a solid structure, learn to manage energy. Just like a teenager who grows quickly but still doesn’t know what he wants to do when he grows up.
During this phase you will see leaves everywhere, new branches that sprout continuously, maybe even some flowers that falls immediately. Normal. Indeed, excellent sign: it means that it is building the foundations. So if your plant is less than three years old, the best advice I can give you is … resigned. Pamper it, from the sun, a balanced fertilizer and wait. When it is ready, it will amaze you.
Lemon loves the sun, but not the shadow
One of the most common mistakes that are made with lemon is underestimated The importance of light. Even if it may seem like a resistant plant, it is actually demanding When it comes to sun: he wants so much, and he wants to direct it.
If it receives light for a few hours a day, or worse still only filtered light, it will tend to grow in leaves but not in fruits. In practice, it gives you back the energy that gives it, but if that light is little, will produce little. Here’s what you can do to help him:
- Make sure you receive at least 6-8 hours of direct sunshine a daypreferably in a point exposed to the south.
- Avoid positioning it in shaded areaslike north -oriented balconies or gardens covered by other plants.
- If it is in pots, consider moving it according to the seasonfollowing the path of the sun during the day.
- In the ground, he potted any trees or shrubs that shade himso as to free the passage of light.
I myself saw the change: the same vase, same plant, but from north to south … and it blossomed as if it were another. A small movement, a big difference
Too much love … it hurts
Now comes the part that hurts admit: Sometimes we suffocate the plant with too many care. Fertilizes every two weeks? Continuous prunings? Water every day even if the ground is still humid? Here, maybe it is appropriate to take a step back.
In particular, the excess of nitrogen It is one of the main causes of exuberant growth at the expense of fruiting. Nitrogen is good for the leaves, but if it is too much, the plant grows “leaf” and that’s it. A balance is needed with phosphorus and potassiumwhich instead stimulate flowers and therefore the fruits.
What to do? Stop fertilizing blindly. Use a specific product for citrusand always check the composition. In spring and early summer, a good fertilizer with more phosphorus is ideal. And maybe you also give a small break between one fertilization and another, so as not to stress the plant.
And then there is the pruning. Here too, never exaggerate. If your plant has become a jungle, yes, a nice thinly is there. But do it with criteria: remove the internal branches that cross, the dry ones, those that remove light from the central areas. The aim is not to make it look perfect, but give them breath. A well pruned lemon is like a airy house: light enters, the air circulates, you live better.
Observe, suitable, correct a little at a time. You will see that at the right time – and I assure you, it will arrive – your plant will explode of flowers. And those desired fruits, one day, will be there waiting for you.
And when you collect the first lemon, you will think: all this time … it was absolutely worth it.
Photo © Stock.adobe
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