Growing Citrus: Lemons, Oranges, and Limes

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Citrus Fruits in the Home Garden

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Although Citrus is a subtropical genus, fragrant and flavorful citrus fruit can be grown almost anywhere. From lemons and limes to oranges and grapefruit, citrus trees are fun and rewarding plants to grow—but not without some work! Here’s how to grow citrus trees at home.

About Citrus

Citrus plants are native to tropical and subtropical regions of southern Asia, Australia, and the South Pacific, but have been brought to all corners of the globe thanks to human cultivation. These woody plants range in size from small shrubs to large trees, and their fruit is just as variable in size and shape—just take a walk down the fruit aisle at your local supermarket! Standard-size grapefruit and orange trees can grow 18 to 22 feet tall, whereas dwarf citrus varieties only grow 8 to 12 feet tall (or smaller, if kept in containers).

Gardeners in the warmest parts of the United States (USDA Hardiness Zones 8-11) can grow citrus outdoors year round, while colder-climate gardeners (Zones 7 and colder) should consider growing lemons, oranges, limes, and other dwarf citrus trees in containers to enjoy fresh citrus fruit, too. Read more about growing citrus in containers here.

Lemon trees in containers

Most citrus varieties are self-fertile, so only one tree is typically needed for fruit production. On average, fruit bearing begins when the trees are between 3 and 6 years old. However, exact timing will depend on the type of citrus, the cultivar, your climate, the health of the plant and its care, and other factors. Flowering is not seasonal, but occurs during warm weather and regular rainfall. In fact, flowers and fruits may appear on the plant at the same time!

Planting

When to Plant Citrus Trees

Early spring is the best time to plant citrus trees outdoors in the parts of North America where they can be grown outside (Zones 8-11), since they’ll have the entire summer to settle in before cooler weather arrives. If frosts occur in your area, wait to plant until a spring frost is no longer a threat.
In the citrus belt (a loosely defined area including southern California, parts of Arizona and Texas, and Florida), trees can be planted at any time of the year.
Citrus can be planted indoors in containers at any time of the year.

Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site

Warmth helps citrus fruit mature and sweeten, so citrus trees should be planted in a warm, sunny, and wind-protected area—planting along the southern side of a house or other structure will provide all three features. In cases where sweetness isn’t a concern (with lemons and limes, for example), extra warmth is less important.
Citrus trees need well-draining soil. If they sit in too much water, the roots can rot. If the soil is not well-drained, plant the trees on a slight mound to prevent waterlogging.
Citrus trees prefer slightly acidic soil, so consider testing the pH of your planting site and amending accordingly.
Standard-size citrus trees should be spaced 12 to 25 feet apart and dwarf citrus trees should be set 6 to 10 feet apart. The exact distance depends on the variety. The bigger the fruit, the farther the distance.

Orange trees

How to Plant Citrus Trees

After unwrapping or removing the tree from its container, first inspect the root ball. If the roots seem tangled or like they’re growing in circles, gently score up and down the sides of the root ball several times with a knife. This breaks up the bound roots and encourages them to grow outward.
Dig a hole that’s about 1.5 times the width of the root ball and about as deep as the root ball is tall. Like most trees, citrus trees should be planted slightly above the depth that they were at in the container; planting too deeply can cause water to pool around the trunk, leading to rot and disease. Planting slightly higher than the surrounding soil ensures that water will run away from the trunk.
- Note: If planting a grafted variety of citrus, make sure that the graft union is 4 to 6 inches above the soil level. If planted too close to the ground, roots may form from the graft union, defeating the whole purpose of grafting!
Place the tree in the hole and backfill with soil. When the hole is half filled, spray with water to settle it and flush out air pockets, then continue filling with soil. Water again to settle the soil after the hole is filled.
- Tip: Do NOT add special soil or fertilizer to the planting hole. It’s best to let the tree get used to the soil nutrient levels and consistency that are already present in the planting site.

Starting Citrus Trees from Seed

Citrus trees can be started from seeds, but they usually don’t breed true, which means that you may not get the same quality fruit! It’s also possible that citrus trees grown from seed won’t flower or fruit at all. Nonetheless, growing a citrus tree from seed is a fun experiment.

To start citrus trees inside from seeds, remove the seeds from the desired fruit. Soak the seeds overnight in water and plant them ½ inch deep in moist potting soil.
Cover the pot with a plastic bag or wrap and let it sit in a warm and sunny spot for a few weeks until the seeds start to grow. Then, remove the plastic but keep the pot near a warm and sunny window as the seedlings grow.

Care

How to Care for Citrus Trees

A few weeks after planting, and for the first few years (before fruit-bearing age), feed the tree a balanced (such as 10-10-10) fertilizer. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
For newly fruit-bearing trees, provide nutrients to continue branch and leaf growth, but also to replace nutrients lost by fruit forming. A “citrus blend” fertilizer is ideal.
Check manufacturer’s directions, ask a garden nursery, or consult your local cooperative extension as to how often and how much fertilizer to apply during each year of a tree’s growth.
Because of citrus’ shallow roots, mulches are not recommended for citrus trees. If the trees are located in a cultivated garden bed where mulch is used, keep at least 12 inches of bare ground between the tree trunk and the mulch. Pre-emergent herbicides (NOT post-emergent) may be used sparingly around mature trees to prevent weed seeds from germinating, but hand-weeding is preferred. (If using herbicides, be sure to follow dosage and application instructions carefully.)
Don’t plant groundcover plants around the base of citrus trees, as the trees have shallow roots that will struggle to compete for nutrients.
Citrus trees bloom in the spring and fruit starts to develop shortly thereafter.
Fruit thinning is unnecessary for citrus trees, as they typically experience something called the “June drop.” In late spring or early summer (May or June for most of the country), citrus trees naturally drop a number of their immature fruit, which allows the tree to focus its energy on maturing the rest of its fruit.

Pests/Diseases

Aphids
Spider Mites
Root and Crown Rots
Fungal Leaf Spots
Fruit Flies
Tristeza Virus spread by Aphids

Harvest/Storage

How to Harvest Citrus

The length of time required for the fruit to ripen depends on the type of citrus and the cultivar. Some oranges can take up to 15 months to mature fully, while others need only 8-12 months.
Citrus fruits will not ripen off the tree, so refrain from picking them too early.
The best indicator of ripeness is taste.
Harvest the fruit by cutting them off with pruning shears or by pulling the fruit stalk from the tree.

How to Store Citrus Fruit

Undamaged citrus fruits can be stored for 3 to 8 weeks at normal refrigerator temperatures.
Prolonged exposure to cold temperatures can decrease the fruit’s quality, so consider leaving the fruit on the tree and only harvesting when needed.

Recommended Varieties

Grapefruits - ‘Red Blush’ (pink flesh), ‘Marsh Seedless’ (white flesh), and ‘Star Ruby’ (red flesh)

Lemons - ‘Eureka’ and ‘Sun Gold’https://www.almanac.com/content/how-make-pomander-balls

Limes - ‘Bearss’ and ‘Rangpur’

Mandarins - ‘Clementine’ and ‘Satsuma’

Sour Oranges - ‘Bouquet de Fleurs’ and ‘Seville’

Sweet Oranges - ‘Valencia’ (Valencia), ‘Ruby’ (Blood), and ‘Washington’ (Navel)

Tangelos - ‘Minneola’ and ‘Orlando’

Wit & Wisdom

Make your own air freshener: Slice some lemons, cover with water, and let simmer in a pot for about an hour.
Make pomander balls for the holiday season.
See more household uses for lemons.

Recipes

Vegetable Gardener's Handbook

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Reader Comments

Lemons

SQUEEZE THE LEMON, AND USE THE JUICE TO MAKE ICE CUBES, STORE IN A BAG IN FREEZER, AND ENJOY LEMON CHILLED DRINK.

Meyer Lemon Tree

I live in the southern portion of Alabama (Mobile County) and planted a Myer Lemon tree earlier this spring (added citrus spikes). At one point the tree had blooms and showed evidence of producing lemons (flowers/small green lemons). It's outside in plenty of sun, I have not watered the tree because I think it receives a generous amount due to rain. At some point all of the blooms fell off as well as the small green lemons that were trying to grow. What am I doing wrong? I love meyer lemons and would love for my tree to produce. It's planted next to a peach tree that produced wonderful sweet peaches.

Meyer lemon tree

An old adage says “nothing good comes easy.” This may be an example. Lemon trees thrive in sandy loam soil that is moist but not soggy, and fertilized with a 6-6-6-2 (6% nitrogen-6% phosphate-6% potash-2% magnesium) mixture after planting. (Sources vary on the fertilizer recommendations.)

Leaf drop can be a sign of too little water, too cool nights, or too much temperature variation. However, over watering can leach nutrients from the soil and cause root rot. If the roots are damaged they can’t take up the nutrients the plant needs. But even if the roots are fine, the plant needs to be able to access certain nutrients. Do a soil test, find your cooperative extension here https://www.almanac.com/content/cooperative-extension-services , and try to save it.

Black lemon buds

I have a four year old pink lemonade tree that blossomed beautifully and then the tiny budding lemon fruits are turning black and falling off. The leaves no longer look healthy. Help!!

Lemons Dropping

Hi Jane,

Lemon trees generally drop their fruit prematurely when the tree has either been watered too much or too little. I’m not sure which is the case with your tree, but if it is planted in a pot and the soil is wet, don’t water it more. If it’s planted in the ground, the tree won’t need hardly any watering at all and should thrive on just rainfall. We hope this helps!

Confuzzling Lemon Tree

My Lemon tree has baffled me on what's wrong with it. It's on a regular water schedule and gets plenty of sun. It is dropping leaves every couple days, after said leaf yellows a good bit. Meanwhile, it's blooming like crazy. Absolutely perplexed as to what could cause it. We live in western NC and so I'm worried if it'll survive winter without many leaves on it.

Lemon farming Problems

great information, keep doing a great work

citrus plant growth

I have planted some citrus plants boughts form nursery 15 days ago but not growing still their leaves shed away citruse lemon and other orange plant......
Why they are not growing....

Citrus Plants

It’s not unusual for trees to experience some level of “transplant shock” after they’ve been planted in the ground; dropping leaves can be a result of this. The trees will also take at least a few weeks to settle in, and even then, they’ll start growing out their roots before you see any signs of growth above ground. This is a good thing, since a tree with weak roots won’t stand for long!

If your area is dry and sunny, make sure that the trees are getting watered enough. But if it’s been rainy in your area, you shouldn’t need to provide extra water, which can drown the plants.

Lime tree

I have a lime tree that was producing good limes, my husband planted a lemon tree right beside it and soon the side next to the lemon tree started producing yellow limes that were bitter. My husband died last year and I have not been able to take care of the trees so the lemon tree died and my lime tree only produces a few good limes on the opposite side of the dead lemon tree and the rest are yellow and bitter. Is there anything I can do to get my lime tree to be healthy and produce good limes again?

Satsuma Mandarin SoCal.

I live in NW area of Los Angeles, CA and have a Satsuma Mandarin (Semi-Dwarf) Seedless tree that is approx 5-6 years old. We are finally getting a good fruiting from it but wondered when can I start shaping it as it seems that one side is more "bushy" (seems to be more branches and leaves on one side) if that is a correct term. It gets great sunlight (full sun starting about 10 am until dusk). Is there a science to trimming/pruning it? I want the other side to start sprouting branches so I won't have to put something on it to support it.

Second question, every year or so, I get a branch that sprouts at the bottom and develops large thorns on the branch. What is the reason for this? Is this considered a "sucker" branch? I always cut them off.

Third question, how often should I fertilize it? The last couple of years I did it twice in the spring (March and in May) and seems to have helped it but am I supposed to do it in the fall? If so when?

Since the tree is in the middle of our side yard it gets watered about 5 mins every day with the grass, and not so much during the winter months unless it rains. It does get hot here in the summer so I assume that its ok. Since the tree is developing fruit now and is tasty I guess the watering is ok.

Thank you!

Orange tree gone all lemony

I bought an orange tree from costco, after 5 years it started producing nice round pieces of light orange, deep yellow fruit, they peeled like oranges, juiced like oranges, but are lemons. Some even have had navels, some with pointy bottoms. It is quite large and prolific, any chance it will turn orangey?

when your orange tree gives you lemons..

This transition may be because the original lemon rootstock (probably “rough” lemon) has taken over because grafted orange portion has died. So the rootstock is producing lemons (because that’s what it is)—or perhaps, as you describe, are sour oranges. It is not likely to turn back into an orange tree. But with a little sugar, you can make lemonade!

Growing Citrus in LIberia, West Africa

In my last comment I forgot to mention that the citrus I have already planted were all planted from seeds and it seems like nearly 100% are growing. These trees were planted about 2 months ago and the german plum and avocado trees are average of 1 foot tall and looking very healthy and the orange trees are about 4 inches and also looking very healthy. No fertilizer was used thus far. A few years ago I planted moringa trees that are now towering over my house and about 45 feet tall. These trees actually grew 4" to 6" per day and now bear plenty of moringa pods.

Planting an orange, Avocado, german plum, citrus grove - Liberia

October 15, 2017 I have 168 acres that seems to be suitable for growing citrus in Liberia, West Africa. I had the soil tested by the EPA and their report stated good for citrus growth.
I already planted about 200 german plum trees and about 200 local orange trees in nursery application. I would like to know about the best spacing for these citrus trees and any information you have regarding planting, fertilizer, care, weeding, etc. I am planning on about 10,000 trees spaced at 25 feet for oranges (most will be orange) and 50 feet for the german plum and avocado. Your input will be appreciated

Citrus Growing in Liberia

Dear Leonard Kragness,

I was very excited to see that you are growing citrus in Liberia. I have a contact who is seeking to do the same at this moment and is searching for places to purchase seed to start trees or to purchase trees to plant. Where did you acquire your seeds and/or plants? Where are you growing in Liberia? What sorts of agricultural extension services or other support services, networks, or organizations are available in Liberia? I really appreciate your help.

Sincerely,

Ben

Need informations

Hello Leonard,

I'm very happy to know that you are able to grow (oranges, plums, citrus, and avocados) I currently leave in Texas and my long time project is to grow Florida (oranges, grapefruit, tangerine etc...) in my native country Cameroon. Would you please help me get the right pieces of information and advice on how to get the seeds, have the soil tested by EPA etc... Regards, Thierry

citrus fruit

My citrus seems to be very small and fruit seems to be ripening too soon. It has some dark spots as well. It's been very rainy here, and I've gotten a lot of fruit, but I'd like to have healthier looking fruit. I battle curly leaf bugs too, as I live by a lake and midges come out of the lake and cover the trees at times, and then other spidery bugs seem to set in to get the midges. Sevin powder seems to help the best for this. What do I need to do to ensure they produce robust and healthy fruit? I have an orange tree, a key lime tree, and a lemon tree.

3yr old 12in lemon tree from seed

HELP!!! I love gardening Dec 2014 I got 4 seeds to sprout but only 1 plant to live. By Jan it was 3in 5 leaves. By Aug it was 6in but leaves keep dying when new one's grew. By summer of 2016 I repotted it to larger pot. But it's still growing leaves then dying leaves n growing leave . It still only about 12in high stalk is still skinny and green. I saw a video of one only 1yr old and it's beautiful he used Neptune seaweed fertilizer. Should I try that or is my 3yr tree ruined? So now what?

P.S.

FYI, my leaves never turned yellow they are broad thick shinny and dark green. But as soon as I get new ones the old ones shriveled up n fall off and it branches off but leaves don't stay. And don't grow any taller. And stalk still skinny and bright green no bark at all like a new seedling.

citrus from seeds

I had the exact same issue with some Valencia oranges I planted from seed. UNTIL I stopped by a local indoor gardening shop. They recommended a liquid fertilizer called, Kelp Me Kelp You by Bush Doctor. I mix 1 cap in a 2 liter bottle of water. Remember to NOT over water your plants. Once a week at most. After 18 months I am 20-24 inches tall (above dirt level) with strong, deep green leaves and the plants are put outside daily but brought in at night until the temperature stabilizes a bit more for summer. Good luck.

Valencia orange from seed leaves turning yellow

I have some starts from seed from a family Valencia orange tree. They are now at the 3-4 inch range with 4-5 leaves on each start under a grow light 14 hours a day and still indoors in 5" peat pots. The leaves are starting to turn yellow from the tip in. Mostly yellow but looking closely, there is some very light green in the center vein. I have tried a light application of a 3-4-2 organic fertilizer but that almost seems to have sped up the yellowing. Help please. These are starts from a 60 year old tree that we had to finally remove due to the drought. I don't want to lose these.

yellow leaves

Hi, Steve, we hope we are not too late. In short, it could be nitrogen deficiency. See this page for pics of leaves, causes, and controls (the top images are of fruit; scrolldown for the foliage): https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1...

Note that while pH is not mentioned in the link page above, you might consider doing a soil test (orange should be 6.0 to 7.5) and amending as necessary. Click here for more http://www.almanac.com/content/ph-preferences

We hope this helps!

Follow up

I stopped by a local indoor gardening shop. They recommended a liquid fertilizer called, Kelp Me Kelp You by Bush Doctor. I mix 1 cap in a 2 liter bottle of water. After 18 months I am 20-24 inches tall (above dirt level) with strong, deep green leaves and the plants are put outside daily but brought in at night until the temperature stabilizes a bit more for summer. The plants are doing great and I am getting regular growth on the leaves and the stems are now bark instead of green.

Lime tree thinning fruit question

I live in Zone 9 and have a young (maybe 4-5 year old) lime tree. We bought our house 2 years ago and it was stick-like, pathetic, and had only a couple of limes. Since then, we have fertilized and regularly watered it. It looks so much healthier and had a huge amounts of blossoms this Spring. Now there are so many fruits growing, I wondered if I should thin them out to get fewer but better limes. Will there be a problem having too many new fruits growing on this tree? Thank you for your advice!

Thinning Citrus Trees

Lime and other citrus trees do not usually need to be manually thinned, as they experience something known as “June drop,” which is when the trees drop a number of their immature fruits in late spring or early summer. In most places, this event happens in June, but in the southern US, it can occur well before. We would advise waiting until the June drop occurs, and at that point, if you still think there are too many limes, you can thin the tree just a little bit more. Enjoy your bountiful harvest!

Orange Plantation

Please how many seedlings make a hectare in dwarf Orange
How many 100kg bags make a ton.

Orange tree care

I need someone to come over and spray pesticide on my dads very large orange tree
I have no idea of there is such a person for hire. Where do I start looking?

how to find plant care

If you have a computer, search for “tree care, YOUR TOWN, YOUR STATE” and see what comes up. You could also go to a nursery and inquire there. Cooperative extension services at universities can be very helpful. Click here http://www.almanac.com/content/cooperative-extension-services , click on your state, and inquire at the service nearest you.

GARDENING

MY QUESTION IS ; WHAT ARE REASON THAT SOME CITRUS FRUITS ARE NOT JUICY AND HOW TO INCREASE JUICE IN THE FRUIT.