iskhan
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Not producing fruits trees

Hi Everyone

I've following trees with age:
Sapodela more than 6years, Guava more than 3 years and Pomegranate more than 8years, Lemon more than 2 years and date palm more than 10 years.
All of them are flerishing very well but none of them giving/producing fruits.

What can I do? Please suggest some thing.

Regards
ISKHAN

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applestar
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Wow this will be interesting for me since I’m not familiar with growth habits of most of these tropical/semi-tropical plants.

What I would suggest is that you provide a little more information so members who ARE familiar with them can offer suggestions — Are they planted in the ground? When you describe their age, were they grown from seeds or were they purchased at a certain size?

What kind of care are they getting? Do they get enough direct sunlight? Are you fertilizing them? Do they bloom?


...I could tell you that I have many citruses grown from seeds including lemon “trees” grown from seeds in containers (too cold during winter for them to survive outside) and the first one that started to bloom at all was maybe 5, 6, or 7 years old. But it still wasn’t able to set fruits. I’m hoping for another flush of flowers this winter that I will be trying to hand pollinate with a paint brush since there are no pollinating insects in the house (except maybe ladybugs that I release for pest control).

iskhan
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Hi
Here are the required information:
1) They are planted in containers on roof top.
2) They were grown from seeds.
3) They get direct sunlight 5 hr in winter & 8 hr in summer.
4) They not bloom yet but Pomegranate produces one or two flowers once a year.
5) I used Organic fertilizer sush as Eggs shell powder, Banana compost etc.

Regards
Iskhan

imafan26
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You need a bit more patience, most of your trees have a few years to go, if grown from seed. If you want faster results, cuttings, air layers, or grafting will give you fruiting trees sooner. Usually within 2-3 years, depending on the tree growth and canopy development.

From seed citrus trees will take about 5 years to bear fruit. Most people will grow citrus from cuttings or grafted from a known tree. Fruit quality can vary from tree to tree. If a citrus tree has not borne fruit despite good culture after seven years, it may be sterile and can only be used for root stock.

Sapodilla will take anywhere from 5-8 years to bear from seed.

Guava takes 3-4 years to bear fruit, but like other trees that require pollination, the fruit may not be true to the parent.

Date palms 4-8 years to fruit. Most palms are very slow growing.

As far as tropical trees go, most of them will need to be in a very large pot or in the ground, the trees are massive and need good canopy coverage if they are to bear fruit. Citrus are temperate plants and can do well in pots with good drainage and proper fertilization. Guava is a weed and very hard to get rid of.

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applestar
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Oh good! @imafan knew when they could potentially be mature enough to fruit. But obviously, they have to bloom in order to set fruit. So there is that. If your pomegranate has bloomed, then you may want to try hand pollinating in case there are no pollinators visiting your roof-top garden (how cool is that?! — I do live in a house, but one of my dream remodel/rebuild includes a flat-rooftop balcony/veranda over the garage.....)

I have seed-grown pomegranates — I think three though I might have lost one last summer — mine is being kept stunted because what I’m trying to do is grow bonsai wannabes, even though these are not dwarf/nana typically used for bonsai. And I KNOW they grow whole bunch of twiggy shoot growths. I think if growing for fruits, you would need to prune and train the growths pretty selectively. Also try making the branches droop sideways — easiest is to hang weights or tie them down to stakes. This encourages more flowerbuds to develop for more bloom and fruits.

Fruit trees tend to be heavy feeders, meaning they do need extra nitrogen... I would think especially so while they are still immature and need to grow. If you want to stick to home made/kitchen scrap fertilizer, one really great way is Bokashi fermenting/composting, so you might want to look into that.

I started watching a Japanese blogger/blogger on YouTube who uses fast growing weeds to culture/extract necessary enzymes as a starter and fertilizer. All you need is clean source of green weeds and unprocessed natural sugar. I’ll go grab the link in a minute.

He uses this “juice” directly on his plants as fertilizer and growth promoter after diluting, and also mixes it with bran, more raw sugar, fish and crustacean meal (dried/ground up) and fish bone meal to make Bokashi. This Bokashi is also good fertilizer and it can also be used to ferment/compost kitchen scraps. Bokashi starter is also commercially available, though it is probably not as biologically active since it must be thoroughly dried and possibly even pasteurized to be shelf-stable.

I also keep a vermicomposter during the winter time. I don’t during the summer because it gets too hot, and I realize this is not always an available option everywhere. I use the vermicomposter leacheate and vermicompost fof container plant fertilizer, and I put some worms in each container to nursemaid the plants.

...for a really quick plant pick-me-up, you can use unflavored gelatin (made from animal hooves, etc. — almost pure nitrogen) or agar (made from seaweed) to mix up a diluted fertilizer. Just heat with some water, dissolve, and dilute more with water.

...this might be another good ref :arrow: Subject: natural fertilizers

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applestar
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I mentioned trying some of the techniques used by the Japanese vlogger in this thread starting around this link post —
:arrow: Subject: Applestar’s 2019 Garden

iskhan
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I'm waiting for blooming than pollination required like my Pomegranate tree which produces 1 or 2 flowers once in a year why it not blooming fully?
Actually I'm not agree that tropical trees need to be in a very large pot or ground.
My targets are following:
Image

Image

Image

Image

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applestar
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I would LOVE to get that kind of production from mine as well — some things I know you need to do according to what is required for each kind of plant are —

- feed regularly with appropriate formula plant food (commercial or home made). Be sure to include micro nutrients and minerals. If using organic methods, create/maintain soil biology that allows fertilizer to be broken down to plant-available forms
- prune and root prune appropriately
- PLENTY of sun and/or supplemental light as required (be aware of shade needs, too)
- soil/growing medium must be appropriate for the plant, including pH
- repot and/or uppot as necessary
- water as appropriate
- be aware of dormant/rest period needed by each kind of plant

~~~ I probably am aware of what needs to be done, but haven’t been able to actually DO IT consistently and continuously :oops: ~~~

...I don’t know if anything in this thread is relevant to your situation, but I’ll include it FYI...
:arrow: Subject: Date palm plant dying :(

...ther maybe other threads that are of interest to you — try using the site search box at top left of each page :D

iskhan
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My Pomegranate tree which produces 1 or 2 flowers once in a year why it not blooming fully?
My above question is still there

imafan26
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The usual reason for plants not blooming well is that some condition is not being satisfied. In Karachi, you should be warm enough and you should be getting enough light on the roof if there are no shadows from other structures limiting the light. I have gotten pomegranates in pots that are only 2-3 ft tall to bloom and fruit so they do not need to be in the ground.

These are semi arid plants of desert regions so they like a soil that is well drained and slightly more neutral to alkaline. However, I had mine growing in the garden with a pH of 6.4 so it probably is not that fussy. I really did not fertilize mine very much. That being said, my garden is super rich in nitrogen from years of miracle grow. I only now am starting to get the opposite problem since I have cut nitrogen a lot and I have added more alkaline compost and lime to make the pH rise a bit.

If the tree has good canopy coverage, you may not be fertilizing at the right time. When any plant is in an active growing period, they do need a bit more nitrogen. You need to recognize when the plant has stopped growing and is moving into a dormant period. For some trees it is easier, since they are seasonal to know when to start or change fertilizers. Once the new growth has half matured switch to either a low nitrogen fertilizer or use bone meal which has very little nitrogen and drop a few banana peels in the pot and bury it to give the plant a good source of potassium. Potassium helps with root and fruit development. Phosphorus will lower the nitrogen and encourage blooming.

Univ of Michigan did a phosphorus study a few years ago and found that plants bloom best not so much from the phosphorus but from the relative lack of nitrogen. In other words, the plants have a choice depending on the resources available to it. If it has enough growing space and lots of nitrogen, it will choose to grow rather than fruit. If nitrogen is limited and the plant is mature and healthy enough to support fruit, it will flower and fruit. Pomegranates as far as I know are not hard to pollinate and they don't require a friend.

I looked up some info and found out that pomegranates fruit on new wood. As Applestar mentioned, when and how you prune your trees may be a contributing factor. It would be better to prune the pomegranate to induce more new growth and better branch development. Citrus trees do not like to be pruned very much. Guava can be hacked back regularly and needs to be thinned since it will have multiple trunks.

I don't grow sapote (zapote) or what is known as chico (filipino). My mom has neighbors who do grow them and the trees are still small and under 20 ft, but they still take up most of the front yard. She lives in an older subdivision with no HOA. In Hawaii, most average middle subdivision lots are between 5000-8000 square feet. Newer homes are built on zero-lots with as little as 3200 square feet and maybe a 10 ft deep back yard and one side yard, with strips along the driveway. HOA's in Kapolei actually would not allow most fruit trees since there is not enough room for them to grow and they have 15 ft height restrictions. I live in Mililani which has a well known and widely disliked design committee that does not allow "vegetative crops" in the front yard. Of course I would love to tell them that grass is technically edible and they also have a 50% grass requirement for the front yard and have cited people for cementing their narrow 5 ft grass strips for more parking space. People also like to remove the city trees and cement the curb strips too. 1. they are forced to pay for a $100 city tree they don't even want, 2. They will be cited for weeds if they don't maintain the parking strip. 3. Who wants to deal with all that dog poop!

There are at least 3 varieties of sapote being grown in the orchard at the garden where I volunteer. Brown sapote (chico), black sapote, and a green sapote. The location is less than ideal and the soil is not very good there for a variety of reasons. Irrigation is hit and miss and they like to turn off the sprinklers a lot. As a result most of the trees on the property are not as big as they should be considering their age. The sapote there are about 25 ft tall. It should be the fruiting season now. Fruiting will be hindered by low temperatures.

It gets to be in the 50-66 degree F. range this time of the year. Fruit trees of all kinds are heavy feeders. Here we do have tropical fruit fertilizer 6-4-6, 8-8-8 with slow N. I prefer fertilizers with micros for everything. Nitrogen needs to be managed so it will not suppress flowering. I feed fruit trees and most plants when they are actively growing. I do not usually feed plants in flower as they are often in their dormant stage.

There are exceptions for trees like calamondin which are perpetually flowering with only brief periods of growth and will carry fruit most of the year. I use a slow release base fertilizer, when I remember to fertilize everything March, June, September.

Most plants slow growth in winter and the fertilizer ( osmocote releases faster over 80 degrees so it will last longer in the cooler months). I supplement flower and fruiting plants with either citrus food which is slown N with micros 6-4-6 after every cycle. It will depend on the tree. Persian limes fruit only once or maybe twice a year so they only need to be supplemented then. Meyer lemons and calamondins can produce multiple cycles a year so they are supplemented like tomatoes and peppers almost every month 1 tablespoon per pot.

Occasionally, everything will get an extra boost of water soluble fertilizer when I have left over from fertilizing the orchids.

Although, I have a general schedule. I am hit and miss with fertilizing. Literally, the pots are so hard to get to and I have to throw the fertilizer and hope it gets into the pot.

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rainbowgardener
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imafan knows a lot more about this than I do. But I would suggest growing trees like these in pots that size is basically a form of bonsai. Like other bonsai, that means you will have to fertilize heavily/frequently. The trees cannot get the nutrients they need from such a small amount of soil; you have to provide them. The organics you mention like eggshells and banana peels aren't really fertilizer at all, they are compost. They add a small amount of nutrients very slowly. You will need to add actual fertilizer. Usually recommended "weakly weekly," I.e. take concentrated fertilizer and dilute it and administer every week, so there is constantly new nutrients added.

imafan26
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I grow most of my citrus in pots because it does dwarf them. I get decent production, but not as good as if they were in the ground and definitely not as good as the ones in the photos. I however, don't feed them as much as I should especially now that I don't miracle grow everything like I used to every two weeks. I raise the Kaffir limes for the leaves, so I don't encourage the fruit and will often pick them off. They are pithy and don't taste very good. I have a pomegranate now, but it is very young and it is for bonsai, not for fruit. I don't try to grow anything organically in a pot, it just does not work out for me as I can't really supplement them every week. In fact some of my citrus and taro are producing despite my neglect. I do have to repot them as a lot of them have lost more than half their media. Pretty much any plant that takes off in my yard, has probably gone through the pot and into the ground. I suspect to get that kind of production from plants in the pictures that they are very well fed and have enough root space and a rich media. I grow my citrus in pure cinder which does not contain any nutrients but, I don't have to repot the citrus often because there is very good root aeration. I do have to fertilize them regularly.

As for guava, it attracts a lot of pests, if I want one, I can raid the orchard at the garden for a couple of fruit. The white guava is best. Sapote is also available at the garden, but I don't like its' brown sugar/molasses sweetness. I would like to get a dwarf mango, but I don't know where I would put it.

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applestar
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Oh! I just thought of something regarding those reference photos of trees that are super-loaded with fruits — maybe they used gibberellic acid (growth regulator/hormone) to encourage fruit set?

imafan26
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You may be right. Superthrive does force plants to bloom, but you have to be careful using it. If the plant is not well grown with enough fertilizer or root space, it can actually kill the plant. The rate is 1 drop per gallon and it is best not to do that more than once a year. Growers will use superthrive to get plants to mature faster in order to sell them. It is better to make sure you use gloves when handling it. It is concentrated and I have had to change the container because I kept mine too long and it corroded the metal cap.

I don't use organic fertilizer as my main fertilizer. I do use vermicast when I have it, and sometimes fish emulsion. Generally, I do soil tests and only use recommended amounts. In pots. I usually use osmocote as a base fertilizer. For high feeders like tomatoes in pots, I use one cup of 6-4-6 with micros and slow N, as a starter and a tablespoon a month as a supplement. Pots need to be regularly fertilized since they are dependent on what the gardener gives them. Unless, of course, the plants go to ground and can mine the nutrients from the surrounding soil. I can always tell when some plants have gone to ground because they start to get a lot bigger than they should.



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