How many Lemons should I allow?

I have a small tree that I bought last year. I had 7 lemons the first year.I have a picture of it on this site. It had hundreds of blooms this winter, and now has about 50 small lemons growing. Should I allow them all to grow or pull some off? Also should I wait awhile to see if the tree aborts some on it's own? Right now they are still very small, but starting to grow.

Joe

It's a little clearer than the one by Buckeyejoe name. Looks like I need to bring it in one more time. talking about a low of 25 Sunday morning. Brr.

You can expect a significant number of blooms to not materialize and later, of those that do, many of the tiny fruits will abort or turn black. Once they are about the size of a pea you should be able to see how many the plant will try to keep. At that point it makes sense to reduce the number to probably no more than half a dozen...if you don't want to stess the tree or produce more but smaller fruits.

Very well said, Newton. Early fruit production can slow or stunt the growth of a young tree and put it under extra stress. As you mentioned removing any fruitlets will allow the tree to grow larger and enjoy better vigor. However, if you purposely wanted to keep a tree small...fruit production could be another tool to use in addition to top and root pruning. Bonsai is a typical example of such.

New here. Nice site. I started my first Meyer Lemons in 16" pots last spring. I harvested 3 dozen wonderful lemons from December through February, after I moved the pots into my sun room. Yesterday I discovered a spider mite infestation, so moved trees back onto porch. I sprayed with insecticidal soap which appears to have done the trick. Can I now rinse the leaves now, or should I let the soap stay on a week? Also, last fall I had a branch break under the weight of 5 growing lemons. Any suggestions?

Brian, Welcome to CN . Take a piece of white printer paper, with one hand hold the paper under a branch, with the other hand shake the branch. Check the paper to see if anything is moving. If so spray again if not you should be fine. With spider mites I also use insecticidal soap by spraying 2-3 times over a 2 week period.

branch break. You can help support the branch by staking I use bamboo about the dia. of a pencil. Gently place the banboo stake in the soil of your container and loosely tie the branch to it.

It sounds like your lemon is doing very well, what type is it? and where did you get it from?

By the way, my little tree produce 41 lemons. Smaller than last years, but just as sweet. I think it weakened the plant and it lost most of it's leaves durring the winter, but has rebounded and looks to have a decent crop again this year.

buckeyejoe, Your Photos and postings got me. I had to order another lemon tree. You doing a great job,