Is anyone else in S.Florida having a problem with their lemon trees? Last year was great and lots of lemons, this year lots of lemons and they have all turned brown, I'm wondering if it's because of all the rain or possibly a missing nutrient? I think it's too late for this years crop, but am wondering if the brown lemon juice is still safe to use with iced tea. Sorry I can't post a pic, but it's raining hard right now.

You might have Citrus Rust Mite .. here is a link about it:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cg002

Jim, if it is just the skin turning brown, the juice should be fine. As X says above, could be the rust mites. Just cosmetic.

Otherwise, I'm not sure. Does the juice taste ok?

Did the lemons go from green to brown or were they yellow before?

Mine are green but a bunch fell off! Is that normal?

Sounds like you've had what is known as "June drop". Here's a link to a good article about fruit drop. Second page after the table talks about it best.

http://irrec.ifas.ufl.edu/flci...

Can be related to high temperatures alone, big temp fluctuations (which you did have in May, didn't you?) not enough water, or the tree just setting more fruit than it can support.

Doesn't sound like there's much you can do about it except make sure the tree gets enough water, and if you have a big fruit crop coming, that can be a big water demand.

Thank you, Elaine, that's my mom's name btw. We had a long mild spring then it hit the 90's and never stopped. It was shocking to us all let alone the new little lemon tree. I will appreciate all the lemons she give me no matter how many or few. The tree gets regular water but perhaps I will bump up for more as the temperatures get higher and higher. 'Supposed to be near 100 by the end of the week. Thanks.

Uh oh, Cheryl. This is a "new little lemon tree", huh? Hmm, you're not gonna like what I'm going to say now. If you have just planted this tree in the ground, you really should remove all the fruit the first year to let it establish a good root system.

If you're growing it in a pot, you can ignore that advice. It's not only in response to higher temps that you need to water more, but to give the tree enough water to size up the fruit, too. You'll know if you watered it enough when the lemons get ripe. When you cut them open they have little or no juice, just grainy, dry segments if it didn't get enough.

No worries, Elaine. It's a new tree purchased in Dec. but it's in a pot. It had fruit on it when we bought it. Is it odd that 2 lemons are finally turning yellow since we bought it in December? We've had a mild winter and it stayed outside all winter, on the porch when the frost hit those few nights. Maybe still too cool to ripen and grow as all this is happening now.

I'll have to count the little lemons on it. It almost seems as if the tree knows it's small and has to let go some of the weight before the fruit gets too heavy for it's wee little branches. I will keep watering as the weather gets hotter. I don't want dry lemons. It will be too late to rectify that by then. It will be interesting when the 2 have ripen.

I think it's normal for lemons to have flowers, and fruit at different stages of maturity on the tree at the same time. My little kumquat does that as well.

Citrus flower and fruit at the same time... We have them blooming all year round but there is a season for the fruit to ripen...

Thanks all for the advice, I did go to that web site , it's a lot of information but nothing said about the juice of the lemons. I decided to just cut one open and the insides seem normal. They have to mature a bit more if I'm to get juice. but thanks again for the help. Oh did I mention that all my neighbors who have lemon trees are experiencing the same thing?

Hello everyone!
I live in Southwest Florida and just got my first lemon tree. Does anyone know what this is? All of my lemons look like this... Is there any treatment that could help? do lemon trees need any kind of treatment that protects them in general?

All citrus are prone to many diseases and insects. Your damage looks like mites, which won't harm the fruit, but will weaken the tree in time. Spraying with insecticidal soap will take care of the mites, but won't prevent citrus greening virus that has spread from Fla. to Ca. The best you can do is give it good cultural care...feeding/watering, and hope for the best. Mealy bugs and Scale are other insects that can weaken your tree, but the soap will take care of them also.

I will try spraying!

Why don't you take that photo or a branch off the tree to your local extension office. They can diagnose the problem and advise you of any appropriate treatment. It does not look like citrus greening, which is devastating, to me but it's always best to have an expert check with citrus in Florida.

This is really important since you say this is a new tree. If there were more lemon trees in the nursery from the same grower it is likely this problem could be widespread.

Live in southeast Texas. Any comments.

The disease has spread west from Florida to Ca., but I don't think that is citrus greening either. The leaves look healthy in this photo, but the fruit not so much. Have you cut open a fruit to see what's going on inside?

This year my Meier lemons look like Jolie. It must've a rust mite. I used Need oil on the lemons, but I think they are dead and the tree must come down?
I had so much fun and gave many away to food banks here where I live. Please help

This year my Meier lemons look like Jolie. It must've a rust mite. I used Need oil on the lemons, but I think they are dead and the tree must come down?
I had so much fun and gave many away to food banks here where I live. Please help

Retnurse, Mites don't require removing the tree, but it needs to be sprayed.
You will probably get more answers if you start your own thread. More people will see it. It would also help to know where your tree is located.