Success with Lemons

Wouldn’t it be great to have a constant stash of fresh home grown lemons? It’s not as difficult as you think. Follow these simple rules and you have it made.

Whether in the ground or in a large pot, there are only 2 issues: pest control and nutrition.

The Key to success is Pest Oil: Buy it ($10) or make your own.(0.50 cents)

Recipe (concentrate)

Pests 

The leaves and stems are under constant attack from sucking pests like scale, aphids and citrus miner. This leads to curled and deformed leaves or sooty mould that develops in the sap. This brings ants. The gall wasp is another constant threat because its young burrow into the stem causing damage. Thankfully, you need only PEST OIL to control all of these threats. Spray it on monthly and see the difference. You can easily make your own  or choose WHITE OIL. These oils leave a thin film of oil on the leaves and stems which stops pest action. Spray the underside of leaves as well. Add some seaweed solution to make it a foliar feed as well!

Nutrition 

The lemon tree is a ravenous feeder Ever hungry, it needs large amounts of added nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, trace elements  and water. Depending on soil conditions, most established trees will respond to a feed every 8 weeks. Fertilizers come ready mixed so simply follow the instructions on the packet. An established tree in the ground should be deeply watered at least twice a week and a pot bound tree thrice weekly.

Hot tip.

Put a thick layer of mulch around trees that are in the ground or coir around a potted tree. Citrus have shallow roots and love the coolness of mulch. This makes a huge difference in potted citrus which is susceptible to drying out.

Ensure continuous harvest

 Pick the lemons when they start yellowing very slightly. This will encourage new flowers and allow a more continuous harvest.

Make lemon pickle and Moroccon pickled lemon with the excess!