Lemon tree problems

[LyssaM]

Hi all... in our second home in Albania we have some lemon trees... to begin with they did really well and we had quite a few lemons... but last year we didn't have a single one... Anyone have any clue about them? When I go in July is there anything I should look for in terms of disease or something? Having never had lemons before I haven't a clue about the growing... only the eatting (the BEST lemon curd in the world!!)

[Green Aura]

I don't know much about lemon trees growing in the ground, but in pots the main problems are watering and feeding - they don't like to be sitting in damp soil so you only water them when they're pretty dry and they're quite hungry I think.

The only disease I know of is scale (or scab?) which leaves white scaly patches all over the bark and makes the leaves shrivel up. You can clean it off with alcohol (isopropyl) - we used record cleaner which worked a treat

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along though to give more accurate help.

[LyssaM]

I thought of the feeding so when my inlaws went back to Albania I gave my mil a bottle of citrus feed but unfortunately due to the airline messing up they left their luggage and it's still here!! When I go I'll be looking at the leaves (I have internet so can take pics if I find anything)

I miss my lemons!

[Thomzo]

If they fruited well the previous year then I'd be surprised if they didn't fruit at all due to lack of feed. I would have expected the fruit to be a bit poorer and smaller perhaps but to not fruit at all sounds like either lack of pollination or some other problem. Did it set fruit and then drop them? Perhaps the weather conditions were bad when the fruit was setting. Or maybe there was a different reason, could somebody or something have stolen the fruit before you got there - birds perhaps?

Zoe

[Millymollymandy]

Or locals! It's not unusual where holiday homes are concerned. Did you see lemons on any other trees in the vicinity as it is usually a good indicator for weather problems affecting particular fruit trees - here if I have apples in my orchard so do all the other folk in the hamlet, if I don't, generally neither do they. A mile up the road can be a different story!

[LyssaM]

Well it's holiday home to us but it's the permanent home for my inlaws. MIL said that it didn't even get flowers on or anything!! and it's not just the one tree but both and the manderin tree only had a couple of fruits last year.

No one else around has lemon trees that I've noticed. Aunt-in-laws might but they're in the village on the outskirts of the town so it'd be different for them. Can't remember what the weather was like last year... there were lots of flooding... not Cumbria style where our house is but it still got flooded a bit... but this year it's been bad.... the weather we're having over here in the uk is SUPPOSED to be in Albania... so over there they've had our rain!! and it's been cold.

[Millymollymandy]

Oh I see, hmmmmm I suggest a bit of a google session! I've never had citrus trees so know nothing about them like if you need to prune them or what! I just know that fruit trees in general can be unpredictable so I guess citrus could be the same. Good luck and let's hope you get loads of fruit next year.

[fran]

I had a similar problem with a lemon tree in a pot. My son, a professional tree surgeon, came along, gave it a good pruning and lo and behold fruit! Don't know if this would be the same with yours in the garden though.

[LyssaM]

Got back from Albania this week and seen the tree for myself.. I'd forgotten we actually had two so it's confused me even more now I've seen that one has fruit and the other doesn't!! the condition of the leaves are both the same... they aren't that far from each other.. only about 6 metres or so away, and both get about the same amoutn of light and same about of watering! just plain weird, lol! Also have a manderin tree which is doing fine.

I'll tell my mil to give it a good prune to see if it helps... we also have cut back a nectarine tree as well.

[oldjerry]

I had no idea it was mild enough to grow lemons outside in Albania,but then I 've only a sketchy idea of where it is any how. In Southern Italy ,say south of Campagnia they do grow outside but a late frost will do for the blossom\fruit.(I think you said one tree is affected and another nearby is'nt that could be explained by it's position e.g. is it more protected,facing south etc?)If you think this could be the case,get the in - laws to chuck fleece over it next year when a late frost is expected,or spray with very cold water the morning after.One more thought,sorry to be so long-winded,it may well be that some strains of lemon,like other top fruit tend to fruit bi-annually.