* adding aus.gardens into newsgroups as citrus are popular here in Oz *

(Dickee12) writes:
Hi all, we have come to own an orange and lemon tree in our back yard. The
Oranges are extremely bitter tasting and the lemons grow tto big; the size of
grapefruits, and are too pulpy.

1 How can we make the oranges be less bitter tasting?
2. How can we make the lemon tree grow normal sized lemons?
Pleae answer on my E-mail at

I have limited experience with citrus but find your predicament intriguing.

As far as the oranges, bitterness is probably determined by genetics,
so likely not much you can do. Seville oranges for marmalade are almost
inedible raw; maybe that is what you have. They are a flatter shape. I
have heard that a sprinkling of copper sulphate around a lemon tree will
lead to it producing sweeter fruit, so perhaps you could try that with
your orange? I can't say how much copper sulphate to use, but I would be
cautious to start with. Excess copper in the soil could kill it. Water
just once with a solution of a couple of tablespoonsful of copper sulphate
in water and see whether this gives sweeter fruit. Probably a better
course would be for you to learn how to make marmalade!

With the lemon, I would nurture the tree and fertilise it well, four
times a year as recommended, give it plenty of mulch and keep it well
watered. This should encourage it to produce lots of fruit, and to retain
them until they mature. The more loaded with fruit a tree is, the smaller
each is likely to be. (Usually fruit growers do just the opposite of this,
they thin out the crop so that the remaining fruit are a larger size. I
suggest that you aim for the reverse!) Some species of lemons have thick
pith, you probably can't do a lot about that. Myself, I like it, and chew
the pith right down to the zest as an after dinner pasttime!

Another newsgroup you could try would be sci.agriculture
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")