Here is the kumquat. It fruits every year and is blooming now but it has lost some branches and is infected with wax bugs.

in reference to the Lime: It looks like its healthy and if its been in the ground 5 years, the roots are well set. You would be risking a full year of transplant shock recovery if you moved / lifted it.

Make sure that the root stock has not taken over (post a picture of the graft area if not sure) and fertilize. It should be producing after five years... then again, if it was grown from seed, you may have a few more years to go.

It may already be getting ready to bloom just by hearing you talk about it!

Here is the trunk. It was a nursery tree but the graft isn't obvious in this photo. I feel fairly comfortable about the depth this tree is planted but you can tell it has some trunk disease. I recently pulled all the St. Augustine grass back to help keep it drier. I'm skittish about fertilizing much because I have read in several places that high-nitrogen fertilizers encourage scale bugs and I already have lots of them. I fertilize a couple of times a year with an avacado/citrus fertilizer that inclues a lot of minerals. I have tried some agricultural oil treatments but have to be really careful because of our 95 degree summers. Just today I orderd some "Garrett Juice" which has a lot of ingredients that help encourage good microbes and suppliments the soil for ailing plants. Will I get limes or will my efforts continue to be.......fruitless?

Here is an end-of-summer update photo of the fruitless lime. The trunk is looking much better and it has just put out a new growth spurt. Hope it turns woody before the winter frosts. I think it's funny some of you are showing off potted citrus plants that are barely taller than their pots and they are loaded with fruit but I can't get this tree to make a single fruit. It better be mindful of the parable about the fig tree!

In the background to the right of the lime is a small blood orange. To the left of the lime is a small kumquat and a larger satsuma. The satsumas didn't fruit much this year but were loaded last year.

Looks good John. I suspect it is a Bearss lime; they tend to be late producers. I don't like the root crown being exposed for inground trees; it invites lots of diseases and critters. I would add 2 or 3 inches of new composted soil to cover the crown and slope away from the tree. Other than that, keep doing what you are doing, except maybe remove the grass out to the dripline... do you see how green the grass is around the tree? It is because it is stealing the fertilizer from the tree. Also notice the tree is growing strongly in one direction; that means it is getting more food, water, or sun on that side. Since it is inground, you can't turn it; but you can put more fertilizer and water one the shorter side to encourage root growth on that side, which will be followed by leaf/branch growth on that side.

Thanks Johnmerr, I need to take a look at the tag from the tree. I saved it so I could know what variety it is. The tree fruited the first year I planted it but the fruit was underdeveloped. It started out lopsided so I guess it had stronger roots on one side. I'll try a little extra food on the thin side and pull the grass back a little further. I have resisted removing all of the grass because I wanted to achieve a more natural fertilization method that would rely on biological activity of bugs, bacteria, and fungi in the vegetation, all of which should be adding their waste products to the soil. I would be content with a slower growth and less fruit if I could do so without relying on commercial fertilizers. I know I still have options for compost and manure.....maybe I need to devote more time to finding a good source for compost. Most local manure has the dreaded bahaia grass seeds that I don't want in my yard.

As per Johnmerr's suggestions, I have pulled the grass back beyond the drip line this weekend. It sure looks nice this way. The kumquat in the background could probably use the same treatment but I ran out of weekend before I ran out of chores. I'm going to experiment using a vinegar spray instead of Roundup to keep the grass-free zone. Maybe I'll get limes next year! If you want limes, you just gotta have limes but my lemons have been soooo much more productive for the effort.

ou know you don't have to use Round up just put a mulch of thin grass clippings (if freshly cut grass is placed instead of hay/dry grass) Make it a very thin wet mulch so it can dry in a day or two and then add a little more on top letting it dry etc until you have a thick mulch of dry grass) on top of the grass/weeds you want removed. Otherwise, any mulch would eliminate weeds and grass around the tree as well as keep the soil life active. Some tree bark mulch would be very acidic so you could either leave the bark in water (changing the water now and then to remove the tannins) or exposed on the ground for a few weeks before you mulch your tree with it. Hmm.... if I remember well some plants are organic fertilizers for fruits and (even though you need to mow them now and then) they could keep your weeds down as well as fertilize the tree. Your orchard could look a bit "messy" though having those tall flowers under the tree. They fertilize tomatoes very well also. Maybe you were using the wrong fertilizer also. It looks like your tree has a lot of nitrogen as it grows very quickly (with high nitrogen it needs to make a lot of roots to support the new growth above ground and probably has no energy left to make limes). Vinegar is a bad idea! Try using compost as fertilizer. The graft area is also way too close to the ground. Perhaps the hole you dug initially was too big also when you planted the tree...

Why not get a book about the no work organic garden? It would make your life ten times easier and remove 95% of the chores in traditional gardening.

I would not use acetic acid under the tree to remove the grass. Acetic acid 10% (pickling vinegar) works pretty well as a weed killer, but it really is meant to be used on hard surfaces, and not in an area where it could be leeched down to feeder roots. I would be very fearful of burning those very tender feeder roots. Instead, carefully peel back the grass, then just mulch. Round Up is actually safer to use, but really not necessary if you don't mind using a little muscle, in peeling back the grasss :-) I would also make sure your tree's trunk is not getting hit by your lawn sprinkling system, as this can promote a variety of fungal infections, including foot rot. You want your tree to be drip watered or watered with micro-sprinklers, all allowing for water to percolate downward at the drip line.

Patty S.