Loved this article and helpful photography of signs to look out for, and how to correct problems.
I grow lime and lemon in bonsai soil (very rocky), and they have been healthy since I started growing them from seed 2 years ago. Since I live in a climate that gets icy in the winter, I bring them indoors to protect from frost.
Have also got a grapevine going on its third year now, and an apple tree going on its second year. Got a gooseberry last year that flowered, but something happened to all the opened flowers, and it never made fruit. I don't know if it was from the rain, squirrels, or first year transplant shock.
Never had any fruit on my trees... yet. I'll keep in mind your tip to remove the first fruit to help it produce more.
Did you plant all of them from seed? Are they all indoor plants that you move outside when weather is good? I'm not familiar with bonsia soil but want to grow some tiny plants year round indoors. I bought a bunch of seeds to try it. Mandarin, red banana, and coffee are the trees. Also have a lot of grape seeds to plant
I pick first flowers and first fruit on most of my plants now. It makes the tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, all produce more. Something I didn't mention in this post was pruning. I also prune to make the plants grow. Like on the indoor lemon tree, the branch is very skinny and tall. If I cut a third of it off, it should produce more branches. 1/3 of branch pruning stimulates plants to grow bushier. Pruning to the Bottom of a branch stimulates it to grow taller. At least that's what I read and do with good results usually
Yes, I grew all from seed, from produce. Very cheap that way. I could probably keep them indoor all year, but I like them to get some full sunshine to improve their health and vigor. When winter comes, I just use neem oil to rid of bugs in the soil, and spray the leaves with pyrethrum.
If I ever want to get fruit, I would probably need a big pot to let it grow big, and probably get a proper dwarf rootstock and graft to a tasty fruit scion.
Looks great! Can you spray pyrethrum on edible plants or just because it's not edible? I use that inside for the brown recluses.
If you get flowers you might try hand pollinating with a q tip. You grew from seed so it'll take 5-7 years to get full fruit production. It's probably too soon.
Thanks for the tip.
My spray can says it is okay to use on edibles, but you have a wait a few days for it to break down, and of course you want to wash it off. It works great as an instant killer for things moving on the surface. Since it is a naturally derived plant source, I don't feel so bad using it for indoors.
Yes it's great! I use cedar oil as a yard/perimeter/and surface water treatment, peppermint as a mouse/rat/spider repellant indoors, and pyrethrum on outdoor clothes and in the hidden crevices the brown recluses like to hide. It works really well. If I had a large enough space I could grow a bunch of flowers, I think in the Daisy family, to make my own. Ancient Romans used to do that. Ground them into a powder. Mum's or daisies I think.