Tiny Yellow Lemons Are Falling Off

Question

This tree is planted in Houston, TX (several years, no fruit) and now has small green lemons growing on almost every branch but there are tiny yellow ones falling off. What is causing this? I got my first full grown lemon that fell off the bottom this week and is delicious but will the other nickel, quarter size green ones grow? Over the years they never have fully developed until that one the other day. Some leaves are “curling” and die, is that a fungus?

Answer 1

It sounds like your tree is not getting enough water so it is aborting fruit to try to help reduce the amount of water it needs. Increase water to the tree and this should help stop the fruit drop and leaf drop.

I will warn you that when you initially increase water, you may see increased leaf and fruit drop for a few days after. This is a citrus tree’s natural reaction to getting enough water after lacking enough. It is an odd way for a tree to react but is normal in citrus trees.