Latest Key Points for Growing Lemons

Lemons taste sour, and many people do not like to eat them, but nowadays lemons are mainly used to infuse water or squeeze into juice as a drink, and sometimes they are also a cooking seasoning for some chefs. Moreover, the economic benefits of lemons are now steadily rising step by step, and many friends have thus been attracted to develop lemon cultivation. But many beginners do not know how to grow them, and do not know what to pay attention to when growing lemons, so below the editor will introduce to everyone what to pay attention to when growing lemons!

1. Fertilizer and Water Management

After lemon trees are successfully planted, nitrogen fertilizer should be used as a top dressing in the first two years, with the aim of promoting the formation of the lemon tree canopy, but the nitrogen fertilizer should also be controlled in an appropriate amount. This is because excessive nitrogen fertilizer will cause excessive vegetative growth of the lemon tree, making it impossible to ensure nutrition, and excess nutrients will lead to early ripening of the fruit, causing flower and fruit drop. When using nitrogen fertilizer, attention should also be paid to the application of compound fertilizers such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. In autumn, organic fertilizer is used as the base fertilizer for lemon trees, to provide sufficient nutrition for the tree body and promote flower bud initiation as well as flowering and fruiting. When fertilizing, special attention should be paid during the fruit expansion period and the shoot emergence period. Farmyard manure can be used as fertilizer, but it must be fully decomposed, and more urea and phosphorus-potassium fertilizer should be applied as top dressing. Also, the lemon tree is a fruit that is extremely intolerant of drought, so watering and irrigation must be done in time.

2. Intertillage and Weeding

Intertillage and weeding are an essential step in growing lemon trees. Intertillage is to make the soil looser, so that the tree roots can extend and stretch better, and at the same time it also enhances the permeability of the soil. Weeding is to prevent weeds from snatching away nutrients such as nutrients, water and sunlight from the young trees. Especially before the high-temperature and drought season in summer arrives, carrying out intertillage and loosening the soil in advance before the drought makes the soil looser and has a certain effect on reducing water evaporation. Intertillage should be done at least three times a year, at least 10 cm each time, but be careful not to damage the roots.

3. Pruning and Training

Young lemon trees have strong growth ability and a high flowering rate, and are very prone to producing excessive vegetative shoots at places where branches bend and on scaffold branches, which affects the tree shape of the tree body. Therefore, the pruning and training of lemon trees requires hanging them up with ropes so that the secondary main branches do not bend. Remove the sprouts on the scaffold branches to promote the development of the lemon. Lemon is a fruit that grows very vigorously, so pruning should not be too heavy; leave more branches and leaves so that sunlight can penetrate into the canopy. Timely pinching and short cutting prevent excessive vegetative growth of the lemon, and waste branches such as diseased and disabled branches and dead branches should be gathered and burned.

4. Protecting Flowers and Fruits

As mentioned earlier, lemon trees have very vigorous growth ability. In order to prevent the occurrence of excessive growth with many fruits and low quality, root cutting and water control on the fruiting branches can be used to control its excessive growth. In the early stage of growth, about three sprays of paclobutrazol can be applied to inhibit the growth of shoots, and spraying before they mature in September can promote the formation of flower buds. If there is continuous rainy weather, especially in spring, the petals should be appropriately shaken off, which can accelerate the turning green of the lemons and also prevent pests such as tortrix moths from affecting the normal growth and development of the lemon tree.

The above are the points to pay attention to when growing lemons. Lemon is a very extreme food, known as the “king of sour fruits”. Those who like sour things cannot put lemons down. Those who do not like sour things stay far away from lemons. Although many people do not like to eat them, its market indeed still has a very large demand, so the prospects for growing them are still good. Everyone can consider it according to their own conditions and changes in market demand!