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Mini Orange Tree

wwwilliams
12 years ago

I was given a mini orange tree as a gift, last year. The person that gave it to me got herself a mini lemon. Her lemon tree has been producing tons of cute little lemons. My orange tree has produced ~ nothing. Its grown. It looks healthy, but I haven't seen any buds, blooms ~ nothing. Not that I'm jealous, mind you, that my friend's lemon tree is fruitful and my orange tree is not. I'm just wondering if this is normal. If I need to give it something, talk sweetly to it or what. Please advise.

Comments (5)

  • houstontexas123
    12 years ago

    i have the same problem with mine, my lemon has flowered and has several fruit on it, while my orange trees has only grown its foliage.

    just keep it healthy and it may bloom later in the summer or early fall, when the weather changes.

  • stropharia
    12 years ago

    The "mini" part probably means they are grafted onto flying dragon rootstock, to keep the plants dwarfed. The lemon could be a Meyer lemon, which is an already small plant and is known for flowering and fruiting prolifically. Oranges sometimes take longer to fruit, and depending on what kind of orange you have, it could be many months before it is in season to flower. So to answer your question, this is probably normal. ;-)

  • windy3sheets
    12 years ago

    Same for me. I mail ordered 3 one year dwarf citrus trees last year. Key Lime, Meyer Lemon, and Orange. They are are all in an identical mix, and for the first 6 months they were in the same window box. The Lime and the Lemon have both bloomed, and the lemon even tried to grow lemons before I pinched them off. The orange, while growing nearly 2x as fast, hasn't bloomed once.

  • meyermike_1micha
    12 years ago

    You know

    Sometimes I wonder with the infiltration of so many root stocks and citrus grafted plants , that somewhere in this huge empire many are sold with immature grafted, or seedling plants that will take years to flower?

    How does one know what they are buying and how fruitful a plant will be unless they buy it in full bloom already? That is why I tend to look for trees already set in bloom, this way I know for sure what mine will do and who really is at fault. I hate second guessing, wondering if it my fault and that of certain fertilizers, or the actual plant gene pool or the plant sold itself as to why it will not bloom. Makes one wonder.

    I suppose buying from a reputable place that knows the background of their citrus might be a good start too.

    Good luck and I hope it does flower for you, because if it were mine, I would surely be a bit jealous eventually..Nothing wrong with that:-)

    Mike

  • windy3sheets
    12 years ago

    I think the problem, at least in Zone 6, is that you can't really 'find' citrus at the nursery.... Only at the grocery store. And good luck finding a meyer lemon or genuine 'Mexican' (key) lime.

    I've got another batch of citrus coming from four-winds that are supposed to be 2 year dwarfs(Meyer, key, Kiefer). My first batch of trees, supposedly dwarfs yet I can not find a graft line to save my life, are now 2 years old. I will be able to compare the trees and see for myself.

    I do have doubts that I was duped and purchased non-grafted trees originally, which were $20 for the trio. I only say this because apparently Meyer lemons produce early, which also happens to be my only tree that even tried to grow fruit. My lime tree did flower, but there were never any fruit. And the orange never even attempted to flower.

    Time will tell. But I agree, it's impossible to tell the age of a tree based on it's 'size,' and without seeing it before hand you have no idea if it's going to be the genuine article or not. Either way, I'll continue to keep them as best I can. The problem is they grow so slow... which is why I had to buy more to occupy my time.