Growing Lemons & Oranges

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Citrus Fruits

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Although Citrus is a subtropical genus, northern gardeners can grow lemons, oranges, and other citrus trees in containers to enjoy fresh citrus fruit.

Standard-size grapefruit and orange trees can grow 18 to 22 feet tall, whereas dwarf varieties only grow 8 to 12 feet tall.

Most citrus varieties are self-fertile, so only one tree is 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 (lemons, oranges, grapefruit, etc.), 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. Flowers and fruits may coincide.

Planting

Citrus trees should be planted in a sunny and wind-protected area.
In the citrus belt (a loosely defined area stretching from southern California to Florida), trees can be planted at any time, however, spring is the best time for container-grown plants.
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.
If the soil is not well-drained, plant the trees on a slight mound to prevent waterlogging.
To plant 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.

Care

A few weeks after planting, and for the first few years (before bearing age), feed the tree a balanced (such as 6-6-6) fertilizer. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
For newly bearing trees, provide nutrients to continue branch and leaf growth, but also to replace nutrients lost by fruit forming. A citrus blend 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.
Mulches are not recommended for citrus trees, but if trees are located in a cultivated plant bed where mulch is used, keep at least 12 inches of bare ground between the tree trunk and the mulch. Pre-emergent herbicides may be used to prevent weed seeds from germinating.
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.

Pests/Diseases

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

Harvest/Storage

Depending on the climate, citrus fruits may take 6 to 8 months to ripen.
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.
Undamaged citrus fruits can be stored for several weeks at cool temperatures.

Recommended Varieties

Limes - ‘Bearss’ and ‘Rangpur’
Sour Oranges - ‘Bouquet de Fleurs’ and ‘Seville’
Lemons - ‘Eureka’ and ‘Sun Gold’
Grapefruits - ‘Red Blush’ (pink flesh), ‘Marsh Seedless’ (white flesh), and ‘Star Ruby’ (red flesh)
Mandarins - ‘Clementine’ and ‘Satsuma’
Tangelos - ‘Minneola’ and ‘Orlando’
Sweet Oranges - ‘Valencia’ (Valencia), ‘Ruby’ (Blood), and ‘Washington’ (Navel)

Wit & Wisdom

Make your own air freshener: Slice some lemons, cover with water, and let simmer in a pot for about an hour.

See more household uses for lemons.

Recipes

Planting Times

Reader Comments

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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.

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!

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 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.

citrus tree fruit not juicy

There are different reasons why a citrus fruit is not juicy. The fruit of young trees can be dry and you need to wait for the tree to mature. Drought and lack of water can certainly lead to a dry fruit, especially for young trees. A brand-new tree needs to be watered twice a week for the first year. Young trees should then get watered once a week. Once established, trees like a deep watering twice a month.The quality of the soil is also important. Try a good acid-loving fertilizer such as the kind used for camelia and rhododendron. Finally, citrus fruit will loose juiciness if overripe; sometimes fruit stays on the tree and overripens; it’s important to monitor and test the fruit as it begins to ripen.

Bitter limes

I live in S. Miss. I have a well established lime tree with good soil and the tree gets fairly good sunlight. The tree produces a lot of fruit but they taste terrible. Very Bitter.
How can I fix this. Thanks

growing limes and bitter taste

If the limes from your tree taste bitter, there are a couple of common reasons. First, the fruit from young citrus trees isn’t usually sweet. Also, bitter fruit is often attributable to freeze damage suffered the previous or current winter. Finally, some varieties will be sour before they are ripe due to the high acid content so do not harvest too early.

valencia sweet orange

I have two trees almost 4years old they're about 6 ft. tall. They look very healthy but they don't flower I'm wondering if they are males, i might add that some time back I think they went through a freeze. What can I do for them to flower and start producing fruit? thxs.

Orange You Glad You Asked?

Hi, Mario: You’ve given us a lot of info about your trees, but there are still some holes in what we would need to know for a better analysis, like where you are, watering and sun info, etc. But for starters, Valencia oranges are self-pollinating, so that shouldn’t be an issue (of course, if they aren’t flowering, it’s a moot point). They went through a freeze, you think, some time back… but we don’t know when this was. Nonetheless, they seem to have survived it OK. One thing about Valencias is that they do best when they have a true dormancy period during which they can really cool off for the winter, with minimal moisture. If you have yours outside in the ground in a warm climate, you might consider trying to put them in containers next winter and moving them into your garage, where at least it would be somewhat cooler. They could be rootstocked, in that the main growth energy of your tree is going not into the scion orange, but into the original rootstock (assuming that the trees weren’t grown from seed to begin with)–but this doesn’t seem to be happening. They do need lots of sun, so be sure about that, as well as moderate water. One other possibility is that they simply aren’t mature enough yet, even after 4 years–this sometimes happens. So we recommend keepin’ on keepin’ on, making sure that they get lots of sun and good water this year… and then trying to afford them some coolness next winter so that they can shut down, take a rest, and get ready to produce those blooms. Thanks for asking, and good luck!

Orange Tree

I have an orange tree that sprouted another trunk out of the ground, the oranges that it produced are juicy and a good size, orange in color but taste and smell like lemons. The older part of the tree produced many oranges, somewhat juicy, not sweet at all, and turned brown very early in the growing process. Can you tell me why this happened and should I cut the new trunk out?

Orange tree

Most sweet orange trees are actually grafted on to sour orange tree roots, because the sour orange is much more resistant to disease and bugs. Any shoots from low on the tree will produce sour oranges. These can be delicious in marinades, and make ok lemonade, or can be used in various ways, but will never be sweet from that branch. If you have no sweet branches that remain on the tree, you might contact a nursery about the potential of a graft, now.

Best Citrus Fruits to Grow in Nigeria, Africa

Hi,

I am looking into commercial citrus fruit cultivation in Nigeria. Please advise which citrus fruits grow best in this region and to what diseases/pests they are most vulnerable. In addition, can you please advise on resources that i could check online for more information.

Orange tree fruit ripeness/year round care

I have an orange tree that is fully grown. It produces fruit, depending on the water it gets, some years are sweeter than others. I did not harvest all of the ripe oranges last year and they are finally starting to all fall off, because they have rotted or have been eaten by birds. There appears to be new fruit growing, I see blossoms and I also see oranges that look healthy. The oranges are not fully ripe, should I let them ripen even though new blossoms are forming? Is there ever a point where I am supposed to pick all of the fruit off the tree? I'm also pruning it because there are dead branches all throughout tree. It is still very full and continuing to produce.

Start Pickin' on Me

Hi, DeeDee: Sounds like you have a really nice tree–congratulations! Listen, depending on what variety you have and where you are, it’s perfectly OK to leave ripe fruit on the tree for a while, say, a few months. But not for a whole year, which means only that the carried over fruit will (for lack of a better term) just get in the way of the space and energy that the tree is trying to put into new growth. So we would certainly take down anything that is old, but then we would stand back and let the tree do its thing. But this year, make sure all the fruit is off before next year’s crop starts. If you want to leave it for the birds, put it up high in a wire basket. Thanks for asking!

Trees for food and self-sustainability

I am looking to increase the amount of food that I produce in my relatively small New Orleans lot and I wanted to find out if you have any tree recommendations. I’m considering lime and avocado currently and am looking for any other suggestions. Any recommendations or resources you can point me towards for our area would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help.

Chris

Orange tree with small fruit

I have an orange tree that is at least 20 years old. The fruit keeps getting smaller each year? How long does a mature tree produce good fruit?

Not Done Yet

Hi, Pamela: Your tree may not have reached even half its life span, so something is going on here. If you can’t see any evidence of disease (odd leaves, misshapen fruit), then it may be that your tree is not getting enough of the right nutrients. Trees like yours should be fertilized at least three times a year, particularly with nitrogen. Have your soil tested and then consult with a local nursery/ag store or your county extension agency to create the best plan of fertilizer action. Thanks for asking!

Lime Tree Help! Help!

Good Afternoon

I have planted a lime tree that was germinated from the seed for approximately three years now. I would have planted on the ground and it could be about 5" 6" but seems not to be bearing any fruit at this time. I know trees derived from the seed takes a longer time to develop. But can you provide guidance to get the tree flowering or even moving.