Hi everyone, thanks to all who have welcomed me, haven't had much time to reply so, Happy New Year to all!! Hope 2007 is all you hope it to be
Our lemon tree which is about 7 yrs old has healthy foliage, but the fruit is woeful. Last summer we only managed 14 lemons. This year the fruit so far is small, very green still and some of them already falling off!!! Any ideas greatfully received. We are complete novices as far as growing own veggies, fruit and even plants of any sort for that matter, but willing to learn.
Oops!!! On closer examination the fruit is bigger and more abundant than the last time I looked and the hubby says they shouldn't be ready until about August!!! I did say I was a novice...! Obviously he knows more than I was giving him credit for.
All citus have to have a good supply of water right through the fruit growing period otherwise they are dry inside, don't look very good or fall off alltogether. It will be too late for what is on the tree now but you must never let it get dry. They need good free draining but very regular watering.
Cheers guys!! It does get a regular dose of nitrogen, as we had heard that tip before....maybe he needs to 'go' more often!! We do try to keep up with the watering, but as we are on water restrictions have to balance out what needs it the most. We had heard from rellies in UK that you could trick it into yielding more by depriving it, then watering more!!! Obviously false info... so thanks again, will keep up with watering as much as poss!!
Hey Kanga - just realised we had another Aussie on site... WELCOME!
We need all the translators we can get.
I don't disagree with your pommie advice though. If your water supply is limited, water once WELL each week. Ensure you water directly at the stem and right out to the drip line pretty heavily. A bit here and a bit there does nothing for citrus. If you can build up soil around the drip line it will help to keep the water where the plant can get it. I prefer those little round metal sprinklers for citrus... you can whack them underneath and they do a good job. I like to water from top down, but local orchards just tend to use drip systems.
Once you start a watering program with citrus, you'll notice that the leaves suddenly begin to curl and look weird. The tree is telling you that its getting too much water and if you ignore it, it will start dropping its fruit, to further get your attention. So pull up on the water and see if it stops. A good manure mulch is a pretty safe bet with citrus, but pee would work too.
All the best with it.
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." - Charles Schultz
Hey if you are on water restrictions, then use the water from your washing machine or any other grey water. That stuff is just too good to waste when you are short of water.
I bought a proper citrus tree pot for my lemon tree where I put water into like a funnely bit and it self waters the plant - which would suggest they do do fine with being watered a bit here and a bit there? Not that I want to disargee with u boots
Good point Chadspad - if it's in a pot, that tends to hold water in the base then your water is actually getting to the roots. If you don't soak out to the dripline on a tree outdoors, and just sprinkle like you would surface vegies or lawn, it doesn't make it to the roots - so its just a waste of time, and precious water. Citrus trees roots strive downwards before they spread across. So drip irrigating, or sending pipes down into the soil to water, is also a good way of getting the water where it works.
I gave up on those 'proper' pots some time back, Chadspad. I found anything that was put in them tended to get root rot, and they had to be repotted too often for my liking. But I am far from a fussy gardener, and tend to just whack things in pots long enough to get them going and then I like getting them in the ground.
I think I mentioned once before, that my houseyard citrus sits in huge open based pots (tree trunks) and they do very well like that, because I can water straight into the trunks and fill them so the water just keeps going down. The citrus in the orchard is just normally planted and they have not done half as well as the ones up at the house. So, I think you might have hit on the compromise that works!
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." - Charles Schultz
On closer examination the fruit is bigger and more abundant than the last time I looked and the hubby says they shouldn't be ready until about August!!! I did say I was a novice...! Obviously he knows more than I was giving him credit for. 
so thanks again, will keep up with watering as much as poss!! 
