Talk Quesada forum

My (only) Orange Tree has had a very poor crop this year. However the Lemon tree next to it has had a bountiful crop of fruit. As a relative newcomer to these fruit trees is this a normal occurrence. Previous years the Orange tree has been quite bountiful also. Any help/advice in caring for these fruit trees would be appreciated. Thank you.

It is most likely that the orange tree is 'biennial bearing', whereby you can typically have a good crop every other year not every year. So not that you are doing anything wrong per se. Likely then next winter the tree will produce lots again. Our orange trees are like that whereas the lemons just keep going year in and out... I think it is that the heavy cropping deters flowers setting as much in the same year, thereby meaning a smaller crop the following year. We are still learning to look after our citrus trees. You can buy specific citrus fertiliser from the garden centre. My OH also gives them Epsom salts every now and again. He also maintains the oranges need to be picked by around now ( I'm down to last few ) , again to encourage flowering... This doesn't seem to affect the lemons so much. Interested in what others may say from their experience....

Thanks for the response and info.

Do not rotavate around citrus trees, their roots are very shallow and easily damaged and this can cause poor fruit production.
Richard

Thanks Richard.

orange trees need to be pruned properly to allow the sun to get to the heart of the tree...mine crop twice per year but after pruning the next crop is reduced...get them pruned every 2 years

Hi Jim, any advice on how to prune correctly? Thanks

I have a field with arround 200 orrange trees. This year has been bad for oranges since I spoke with few people arround.

Regares

Last Spring’s high winds tore a load of blossom off our tree and a month or two later more winds ripped embryonic oranges off too.

Last Autumn’s olive harvest was significantly reduced because of these winds as well.

Now, nature has a way of correcting these imbalances so, next year should see a bumper crop

Thankyou Ros4111 and Glassfull.