Viewing post #736913 by tarev

kylaluaz said:Okay, well, we all are experienced gardeners here and at the same time we're all beginners at some aspect of it or many aspects of it, so some of us thought it would be a friendly place to share our beginner questions right here in MAG.

I'll start.

This little lemon tree is covered in buds and I hope I can get lemons from it!

Here it is right after I up-potted it from its one-gallon container:


Here is some of the enthusiastic budding it's rewarded me with so far:


I've heard that I can pollinate the open blooms (when they open which should be any day now) by hand, with a Q-tip, or a toothpick! I gather this just means touching some pollen on one flower and then lifting that and touching it to the pollen on another flower?

Anyone here done this before? When I get to the open flower stage I'll post more pictures but I'd love to know if there are any tricks to it.

And please use this thread for any and all questions you might feel you're at "beginner level" -- we can have our own little "Q&A"!

I have a citrus tree called Calamondin tree, flowers looks similar to your little tree. I grow mine in a big container, outdoors year round in full sun, since our area does not have snow, just mild winters and occasional winter rains. My tree likes lots of water, and the various insects that gets attracted to it like butterflies, bees, even hummingbirds does the pollination for it. But initially first year I have neither blooms nor fruits, 2nd year I got blooms, then third year I got both and it has been actively doing it every since. I only added some compost during Spring since the soil gets depleted eventually. With our drought situation here, I realized I really have to step up watering, otherwise my blooms and fruits gets delayed. Calamondin is called Philippine lemon or calamansi in my home country.