Lemon Tree in BIG Pot

Question

One side of my lemon tree has small leaves and one side has larger leaves; always has. The lemons produce on the bigger leaf side. Any ideas. Maybe the way it was pruned in the beginning, Tree is 5 yrs old, planted in large pot. Nine lemons have been the max; pruned last year. About 8 feet tall now; straight up.

Carol Reeves

Answer 1

I suspect that a sucker has grown up from below the graft near the soil level and has dominated to become one side of the tree that appears different, probably the side that is not fruiting. The root stock is often a different variety, the desirabe fruiting stock is grafted on to the root stock. Suckers from below this point should not be allowed to develop.

If that is the case you have two choices, search for the bottom point of the sucker and prune it out just above the juncture, which may eliminate half of your tree. Then work with the remaining portion to encourage filling out of the vacant side, thinning and shaping until it regrows into a reasonably balanced foliar crown. Keep an eye out for new suckers coming up from below the graft.

If that is an unacceptable extreme, then the other option is to accept it as is, as an ornamental and live with the few lemons you get and not expect a perfect high producing lemon tree.