How to Fertilize a Lemon Tree Correctly During the Fruiting Period

Everyone is surely very familiar with lemons, especially for some female friends it is something all too familiar; in summer, soaking lemons and honey in water to drink can have a beauty and skin-nourishing effect, so in summer lemon water is an essential drink for beauty-loving women.

How to Fertilize a Fruiting Lemon Tree

The fertilization principle for fruiting lemon trees is to apply heavy, deep autumn fertilizer and post-harvest fertilizer, and to supplement pre-flowering fertilizer and fruit-bearing fertilizer according to the condition of the tree, achieving light application in the first half of the year and heavy application in the second half.

When the spring shoots begin to sprout in February to March, carry out the first fertilization, supplementing with some quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer according to the vigor of the tree. Trees that are weak and bear many flowers should be given more; trees that are strong and bear few flowers should be given less or none. The amount of nitrogen fertilizer accounts for 10 to 15% of the annual total, promoting vigorous growth of spring shoots and spring flowers.

The second fertilization is after flower drop and before fruit enlargement; combined with fruit retention and pest control, spray 0.3% urea solution multiple times to promptly replenish the nutrients lost by the tree after flowering and increase fruit set.

The third fertilization is in July to August, precisely during the period when autumn shoots sprout and fruits enlarge. This fertilization is large in amount, with nitrogen fertilizer accounting for 40% of the annual amount and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers each accounting for 50%. Dig 2 fertilization pits at the drip line of each tree, 30 to 40 cm deep, to ensure that the autumn shoot mother branches are robust and spring flower differentiation is good.

The fourth fertilization is after harvest in November and before the temperature drops, applying heavy, deep fertilizer. Dig deep pits on the other two sides of the autumn fertilization, applying nitrogen fertilizer at 40% of the annual amount and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers at 40% each, mainly using organic slow-release fertilizers such as green manure and residue manure.

The amount of fertilizer applied is determined according to the yield of each tree over the past two years. Based on an annual yield of 30 kg per tree, apply 0.3 kg of pure nitrogen, 0.2 kg of pure phosphorus, and 0.2 kg of pure potassium per tree, equivalent to about 0.6 kg of urea, 1.0 kg of superphosphate, and 0.5 kg of potassium chloride. According to experiments, for a 15-year-old large lemon tree, applying cow manure 4 times a year at 150 kg per tree gave an average yield of 48 kg per tree; applying 500 kg per tree gave a yield of up to 73 kg per tree.

In addition, when spring flowers and fruits suffer losses, quick-acting fertilizer should be applied immediately to promote fruit set from May and June flowers and increase the yield for that year.

Growth Characteristics of Lemon Branches and Shoots  

Lemons have strong growth vigor, producing 3 to 5 flushes of new shoots a year, with repeated shooting, flowering, and fruiting. The shoots are long and robust, with good yielding ability.  

Spring shoots, February to April: the time of new shoot sprouting is relatively consistent, and the number is large; the shoots are short, fine, dense, and neat, most of them differentiating flower buds and forming fruit-bearing mother branches.  

Summer shoots, May to July: the branches grow robustly, with strong vigor, absorbing more nutrients, dark green leaves, and a triangular cross-section, and they easily form water sprouts.  

Autumn shoots, August to October: most are fruit-bearing mother branches for the following year; affected by flowering and fruiting, the number produced is relatively small, and the branches are slender and not fully developed.  

Winter shoots, November to January of the following year: affected by low temperature and nutrients, the number produced is small and nutrition is insufficient, making them prone to yellowing.

Pruning Lemon Trees  

The main purpose of pruning young trees and trees that have just begun fruiting is to build the canopy framework so as to expand the canopy faster and better. Pruning of young trees is suitable in winter; during the growing season, pinching and necessary heading back should be carried out, retaining branches and leaves and auxiliary branches as much as possible. Pruning key points:  

1. Pinching long shoots  

Young trees tend to produce long shoots. After the shoots of each season emerge, except for retaining 8 to 10 leaves on long shoots before pinching, all the rest should be pinched as tender shoots. Leaving a length of 20 to 25 cm is appropriate, to plump up and strengthen the canopy, branch early and branch abundantly, thereby expanding the canopy as quickly as possible.  

2. Promptly removing water sprouts  

Water sprouts disrupt the tree shape and waste nutrients, so they should be removed promptly.  

3. Bending branches  

For upright shoots with vigorous growth, the methods of bending and propping are suitable. Bend down the stronger branches and prop open the branch angles to 40° to 50°. Applying bending and propping measures to young trees can make them bear fruit 1 to 2 years earlier.  

4. Bud rubbing and shoot releasing  

For young trees, bud rubbing and shoot releasing can be carried out in summer, that is, releasing one flush of autumn shoots, to help expand the canopy as quickly as possible.  

5. Summer shoot pruning  

Vigorous young trees produce more vigorous shoots. Because vigorous summer shoots do not easily produce autumn shoots and are also unfavorable for flower bud differentiation, bud rubbing and thinning are carried out from May to July. Therefore, they are all cut off in early August, so that more autumn shoots are produced from late August to early September. Most of these autumn shoots flower and bear fruit the following year.  

6. Cultivating auxiliary branches  

Generally, small branches produced within the canopy should be retained as long as they are not water sprouts or overly dense branches. These small branches are often good fruit-bearing mother branches for young trees.  

7. Thinning flowers and buds  

For buds and fruits appearing on weak young trees before the planned fruit production, they should be thinned promptly to promote nutrient production in the tree and quickly form a fruiting canopy for production.  

How to Grow Potted Lemon Trees  

1. Soil selection: The soil should mainly be loose and fertile, with good drainage performance. The suitable planting season is autumn and winter, and the best choice is a clay pot. A round large hole with a depth and width of more than 0.8 m each can be dug; while digging the hole, farmyard manure and lime can be applied at the same time, then mixed with the surface soil, and pig and cattle pen manure can be placed in the top layer.  

2. Planting: When planting, choose a time when rain is distributed, place it in the courtyard or on a thick balcony, and plant the lemon sapling selected from the market starting at the center of the clay pot, then fill back the hole; the root soil can be about 20 cm above the surface soil.  

3. Fertilizer and water management: When planting, water can be applied at the same time, and then in the first and second years of youth, choose nitrogen fertilizer as the nutrient, which can be applied in autumn, with the amount controlled at 150 g; after fertilizing, water to promote germination. Watering lemon trees should be done little and often, and lemon trees are not tolerant of drought, so they can be watered directly. In late autumn, and for potted lemon trees, they should not be exposed to strong sunlight for long periods; in hot summer, they can be moved to a shaded place.  

4. Cultivation and weeding: Cultivation refers to turning over the soil; a specially made small shovel can be used to turn over the soil around the lemon tree. The best time is summer, which can loosen the soil and reduce water evaporation, and the number of cultivations can be guaranteed at 3 times a year; care must be taken to avoid damaging the roots, and weeds under the canopy must also be removed promptly. 

Many people have eaten lemons, but may not know much about growing them. Through the above introduction by the editor, you surely have a rough understanding now. In fact, for any kind of fruit, if growers want to obtain a bumper harvest, they must put in effort.