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| How long does it take for a lemon tree to bear fruit |
How long does it take for a lemon tree to bear fruit may seem like a simple question but it as actually surprisingly complicated. The first issue is with it its inheritance, that is to say that a lemon tree is a not a true species, meaning that it did not originally exist in the wild. Recent research has indicated that modern lemons are in fact a hybrid between bitter orange (itself a cross between the pomelo, Citrus maxima, and the mandarin orange, Citrus reticulata) and the citron - Citrus medica. This means that every single seed grown lemon is subject to genetic variability. On the up side, this is the reason why there are so many thousands of citrus cultivars. It is also the reason why there will be variability as to when a seed grown lemon tree will bear fruit which can be any time from ten to fifteen years! So while propagating lemons from seeds is indeed very simple, using this method as a way to produce commercially fruit plants is a terrible idea.
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| How long does it take for a lemon tree to bear fruit |
This leads me to cuttings. Lemon trees grow well from cuttings but you will have the same ten to fifteen year wait form then to fruit. That being said, assuming your cuttings will be from the same mother plan, at least they should bear fruit in the same year.
To avoid the many long years required to wait before a lemon tree naturally comes into fruit, the lemon tree production industry bypasses this wait by grafting their preferred varieties onto a rootstock. This has the result of stressing the tree which will bring the plant into maturity and therefore into fruiting condition maybe as early as two years but usually three to five years.
Now once your lemon tree starts producing flowers it still does not mean that it will set fruit. Young plants are often prone to blossom drop. This is when many of the newly forming fruits fall off well before they can begin to grow and can happen for one or two years until the plant becomes older and more established. Blossom drop can be caused by one or more factor notably due to an excess of fruits, too much water, low nutrients, extended periods of drought during the growing season or exposure to cold.
For related articles click onto the following links:
AT WHAT TEMPERATURE DO CITRUS SEEDS GERMINATE AT?
CAN I GROW A LEMON TREE IN THE UK?
CAN I GROW A LEMON TREE OUTSIDE IN THE UK?
DOES THE BUDDHA'S HAND CITRUS HAVE SEEDS?
HOW TO GET RID OF BLACK MOULD ON A LEMON TREE
HOW TO GROW A LEMON TREE FROM CUTTINGS
HOW TO GROW AN ORANGE TREE FROM SEED
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