Citrus fruits are grown at home both to produce healthy fruits and for decorative purposes. In addition, during the flowering period they fill the entire room with their aroma, making staying in it like a fairy tale. However, it happens that a planted lemon does not bloom for a long time. What to do and how to get fruit from the plant?
Why doesn't lemon blossom or bear fruit?
There may be several reasons why a lemon tree does not form flowers or bear fruit.You need to thoroughly understand whether mistakes have been made in care, and also whether pests have appeared on the tree.
Incorrect vaccination
If the seedling was grown from a seed, then you should not expect a harvest or flowering from it. A fruiting lemon must be grafted. For these purposes, they mainly use the Meyer and Dioscursia varieties, which are capable of producing crops the following year. The rootstock can be an orange or grapefruit grown from a seed.
Incorrectly selected temperature mode
Lemon does not tolerate temperature fluctuations. If there are sudden changes, the plant may bloom profusely, but then lose color. It is recommended to grow the tree at a temperature of +20 - +24 °C. Heat negatively affects its growth and development, especially indoors.
Insufficient humidity
The lemon tree enjoys a humid indoor climate. Otherwise, buds with flowers will not form at all or will crumble. To humidify the air, use special devices or simply place an open container of water in the room. The plant is also regularly sprayed.
Abundant flowering
There are times when a lemon blooms but does not bear fruit. Experts recommend normalizing the number of flowers, removing unnecessary ones. If there are a lot of them, the tree will lose a lot of strength and there will be no more left to form ovaries. You can determine how many flowers to leave by counting the number of leaves on the plant. For every 10 leaves leave 1 flower.
Lack of vitamins and minerals
During flowering, lemon requires good nutrition with a high content of vitamins and microelements. They come along with feeding.
If you do not fertilize the soil, the tree loses color and does not form ovaries.
Diseases and pests
Lemon, like other indoor plants, can be affected by pathogens and pests. During the flowering period, fungal infections are considered the most dangerous. To prevent their appearance and development, it is necessary to control the level of humidity and regulate watering. Among the pests that attack the plant are:
- thrips;
- spider mites;
- Scale insects.
If a tree is sick, then it will not bloom, much less form an ovary. It is necessary to immediately take measures to destroy pests and pathogenic flora and improve the health of the lemon. Only after this will he be able to please with abundant flowering.
How to make a lemon bloom and bear fruit?
What to do if you want to see your homemade lemon blossom and enjoy its healthy fruits? It is necessary to stimulate flowering, provide proper care, improve the health of the tree and eliminate possible errors in care.
Vaccination and feeding
If the grafting is done correctly, then within 3 years the indoor lemon will be able to please its owners with a harvest. The most commonly used method is eye grafting. The cutting is grafted only if the branch contains a small number of leaves. You can perform this action in a split or behind the bark. The work is carried out during the period when the lemon begins to actively flow sap. As a rule, this happens in April or May.
For the rootstock, strong seedlings with thick branches are used, the bark of which comes away well from the wood. The growth should contain about 5 leaves. To ensure a high-quality operation, use a clean and very sharp knife. Strong alignment is achieved by tightly tying the grafted lemon.If after 3 weeks the petiole of the leaf near the eye turns yellow, then the graft has taken root successfully. Failure in this matter can occur when the bark is poorly separated from the wood.
Cultivating a lemon tree in an enclosed space requires that it be provided with proper nutrition.
The amount of fertilizer must be dosed correctly and applied to the soil. During the flowering period, the plant is fed 2 times a month, and in winter the application of drugs is reduced to 1 time per month. Organic and humic fertilizers are well suited for growing citrus fruits. There are natural supplements that contain a full range of essential microelements. To achieve abundant flowering, they must be applied from February to August.
Crown formation
In order for a homemade lemon to bloom, it needs regular pruning from the first year of cultivation. First, the tops are cut off so that after 3 years a crown with 7 main branches is formed.
It should be remembered that flowers form just at the tips of thin branches, so there is no need to constantly shorten them. Otherwise, flowering will never occur. When properly formed, the tree throws out flower stalks within 2 years after planting. The lower shoots must be pruned as soon as they begin to appear. Flowers do not form on them, and such shoots take moisture from the tree.
Pulling branches
With the onset of sap flow, the branches of the lemon tree become flexible. At this time, you can tighten them with soft wire, which will allow you to concentrate the supply of nutrients there. This will contribute to the active formation of flower stalks next year.
Holding the branches in a horizontal position gives the lemon crown a spreading shape, which is somewhat similar to a fountain.. The garter is removed around November, when the period of sap flow stops. The procedure should be repeated after 1 or 2 years.
