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

In article , dickee12
@aol.com says...
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?

Are you sure they're not bitter oranges to begin with? If they are,
there is no way to make them sweeter. See:

http://www.the-banana.com/citrus.htm


2. How can we make the lemon tree grow normal sized lemons?

Sounds like a Ponderosa lemon. That's the way they are. See:

http://www.tytyga.com/citrus/pg8.html


Pleae answer on my E-mail at

Bill

--
We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet, and, amid all
the forms of life that surround us, no one, excepting the dog, has
made an alliance with us.
- Maurice Maeterlinck

"Dickee12" wrote in message
...
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

It sounds like you may have a sour orange and a Ponderosa lemon or rough
lemon. Sour oranges were once used as ornamental trees in Phoenix
landscapes, probably also elsewhere, but are now less common as people
convert to low water use trees. They were also once the most common
rootstock for other citrus. In young trees, suckers would often sprout
below the bud union and take over the tree if not controlled.

Similarly, rough lemon was once used as a rootstock and would also
develop suckers below the bud union. The suckers are usually more
vigorous than the grafted tree and the tendency for some people was to
allow the more vigorous shoots to develop. This resulted in the main
part of the tree being a sour orange or rough lemon instead of the
grafted tree.

Olin

So then, would it be possible to graft a branch of a desirable citrus to
these trees? Just wondering, since I have one of those "fruit cocktail"
trees growing out front, and have harvested oranges and lemons off of it.
(No grapefruit yet, but it is only about three years old.)

"DH" wrote in message
...
So then, would it be possible to graft a branch of a desirable citrus
to
these trees? Just wondering, since I have one of those "fruit
cocktail"
trees growing out front, and have harvested oranges and lemons off of
it.
(No grapefruit yet, but it is only about three years old.)

It's usually done with a bud graft. Wait to graft the bud until the sap
runs, i.e., the bark "slips". Might be a several months before you see
a new shoot and several years before you see any new fruit. The way we
usually do it is grow a sour orange from seed until the main leader is a
few feet long, then bud-graft the bud from the desired tree. When the
bud shoot is 18-24 inches long, cut off the sour orange leader. -Olin

* 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")

In article ,
John Savage wrote:

* 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?

My neighbour says they only turn sweet after a frost. Didn't see where the OP
was from.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

The most consistent empirical proof from history is the doctrine of human
depravity. -- Chuck Colson