Dwarf citrus blooming

[Higgs Boson]

Yo, amigas y amigos - I have had terrible luck with dwarf citrus over the years (decades?). Finally got one that may make it, I hope I hope. As soon as I put it in the ground (I am skilled transplanter) it bloomed profusely. I was happy. All the blooms fell off. I was UNhappy. I fed it and cared for it, and now -- about a year later

-- it is blooming again. But in So. Calif coastal, that seems like a weird time to bloom. Usually, AFAIK, the oranges are ready for harvest in "winter". Anybody fill me in on what's happening - what I should be doing, or not doing?

TIA

[David E. Ross]

Is it actually an orange? If your plant is instead a lemon, they bloom on and off all year round. Mine is blooming right now.

If it is indeed an orange, it is blooming out of season. Avoid feeding from early October until early March. Although oranges are evergreen, they do have a form of dormancy in the winter.

[Higgs Boson]

I have a lemon that I planted not long after I bought the house, many, many years ago. Never stops producing. Though it's been forever infested with whitefly, like most everything in my beach community, there's plenty left for me & neighbors I give to.

Yes. it is a Washington dwarf orange.

I don't know why it is blooming out of season. I did some rescue feeding last summer, when it was not looking good, but that was months ago. Do you think the blooms will drop off, or will hang on through the "winter" and make oranges? In the latter case, will it really take a YEAR for the oranges to ripen? So...? any more of your educated feedback (and that of others) is welcome.

[David E. Ross]

I'm not sure if blossoms at this time will produce fruit. If they do, the fruit is likely not to ripen until the normal time at the end of next autumn.

Note that citrus is self-thinning. That is, many blossoms will fall off without forming fruit; and many small immature fruits will fall off.

[embertr]

I just noticed this thread and although I can't add anything regarding the orange issue it sounds as though we have some people here who are famiiar with Lemons. So I'll take the opportunity to ask a question if I may. I have a Dwarf Lemon which has 2 lemons and many blooms which came and went recently. While the blooms are dying as they've run their course I noticed also that I'm losing leaves like crazy. Is this a normal part of the cycle for these? I'm worried something is wrong with the plant.

Thanks so much.

Ray

[David E. Ross]

Is the dwarf lemon tree in the ground or in a pot? In a pot, it is too easy to feed it when the soil is too dry. When you then water it, the roots get burned. I did this once, but my tree eventually recovered.

Where are you? That is, what is your climate? I've seen this twice on my dwarf lemon when it got too much frost. Once, it recovered. The second time, it was already declining from old age and did not recover.

Check the leaves that have fallen. Hold them up to a strong light. Do you see tracings of tunnels winding back and forth inside the leaves? You have leaf miner, which can defoliate and even kill a dwarf citrus. See and .