Pruning The Lemons Off The Tree

Question

I was told to prune off all the fruit in the first year and not let it set fruit so it will fruit better in the following years. Is this necessary, as I cannot get my husband to agree to remove the flowers and he counts the fruit, so I do not pick them off? I want a good fruiting tree not a poor one. Should the lemons remain or be picked off all the first year? Or is just the flowers it had on when planted enough?

Answer 1

I can’t find anything that says to remove first year lemons or blossoms. My son has one (in a pot) that he has had for several years that produces heavily and no removal was done. I did find one citrus site that said “Never prune a citrus tree – it will prune itself by developing dead branches, etc.” Just remove those.