Citrus trees need lots of light to produce well

Question: We had a lime tree planted alongside our house 2 1/2 years ago. The plant does not receive much sunlight. The first year, the tree produced numerous limes, but since then no limes have been produced. We have an automatic watering system and use Citrus Food, 16-4-8 with 2 percent iron for all citrus and fruit bearing plants. What am I doing wrong?

Off of the top of my head, and without seeing the tree, my first reaction is that possibly two things could be going wrong. First is the light. Citrus needs quite a bit of light to produce well, at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day. But you should still see some flowers or fruit, unless it is really dark.

Next is the fertilizer. If you are pruning that tree and adding quite a bit of nitrogen fertilizer when it is young, you put it into a juvenile stage and it may not flower. The tree will delay flowering so that it can be bigger, produce more fruit and try to take over the entire area open to it. Withholding nitrogen fertilizer and crowding plants gets them to flower earlier.

Stop pruning it, if you are, and withhold nitrogen fertilizer until after you see small fruits develop. This may take two seasons. Feed it nitrogen no more than the fertilizer label recommends and if you are not sure, then feed it lightly every few weeks after the fruit sets and then after harvest.

If the plant is in a windy location, it may affect fruit set. Irregular watering, dry and wet cycles can cause fruit drop.

Freezing temperatures during the winter may cause a loss of fruit due to a loss in small limbs or stems. Limes are very sensitive to freezing temperatures and wind.

For some general information on limes you might want to read through a fact sheet from Texas that I have attached to your e-mail. Not all of it pertains, but there is still some good information there.

I have attached it to my newsletter for those readers getting it. If you don't get this fact sheet, e-mail me at morrisr@unce.unr.edu or call me at 257-5509 and I will mail it or e-mail it to you.

Bob Morris is an associate professor with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.