If you are an avid gardener and someone who loves harvesting your own fruits, lemon trees are an interesting prospect. But Do Lemon trees grow all year round?
No, lemon trees do not grow all year round! It is just not possible for a fruiting tree like the lemon tree. The tree needs enough energy and resources to develop fruits and flowers.
It is actually best that a lemon tree does not grow all year round as it would end up getting too big.
Besides, constant growth throughout the year would mean your lemon tree needs more energy and resources. This would mean that your lemon tree could display poor fruiting or at least lemons that don’t taste very good!
Need tips for growing your lemon tree? Here’s how much water lemon trees need.
Why Lemon Trees Don’t Grow All Year Round?
Growth requires all of a lemon tree’s resources. In the case of lemon trees, they cannot afford to dedicate all their resources toward growth. In times when the tree is flowering and fruiting, resources will be necessary there.
Lemon trees will not be very likely to grow throughout the year. Here are some situations that require a halt to lemon tree growth:
- Flowering
- Fruit development and ripening
- Winter season and unfavorable weather
- Disease or injury
- Insufficient resources
- Conditions are inappropriate to support growth
Read all the reasons why your lemon tree isn’t producing lemons.
Any of the above points would be enough to inhibit lemon tree growth at any time of the year. In particularly unfortunate times, a few of these situations may overlap. This could require correcting before the tree exhibits any growth.
When Do Lemon Trees Grow?
Not all seasons provide the right temperature at which lemon trees readily grow.
Seasons like the fall and winter will not be enticing times to grow. Instead the lemon tree may go into a sort of survival mode. Or it may resort to saving energy to help fruit start developing from the flowers.
Lemon trees do show exceptional growth at certain times of the year. It is mainly in the spring and summer seasons that lemon trees will be likely to grow the most. That’s even with the presence of flowers and semi-developed fruit.
How Much Do Lemon Trees Grow in a Year?
Lemon trees can take years and even decades to attain their full-grown size. This makes gardeners wonder how many lemon trees can grow in a single year.
A standard lemon tree can grow to a height of 20 to 30 feet. However, it can take a lemon tree between 20 and 25 years to reach this maximum height! But, don’t worry as it will start to bear fruit much sooner (3 to 6 years).
So, you can guess that if it takes this long, it must be growing a certain amount each year. Lemon trees can grow anywhere from 6 to 12 inches per annum.
This might not seem like much compared to the 360 inches (30 feet) it can potentially grow. When you add up the 6-12 inches a year, it makes sense why lemon trees take so long to grow.
Do Lemon Trees Produce Fruit Twice a Year?
Throughout the year lemon tree growers will look forward to that time when they get to harvest lemons. But, be warned it will be a long wait! Lemons take months to develop and ripen.
But there is some good news after all. Some lemon trees will even produce lemons twice a year. An example of this phenomenon is the Meyer tree which can produce lemons twice a year if conditions are favorable.
Otherwise, the Lisbon lemon tree has lemons on its tree all year round! This isn’t because it produces lemons all year round but because the lemons take a long time to ripen per batch.
Conclusion
When growing regular flowering plants, year-round growth is desirable. But when considering fruiting trees such as the lemon tree, growth throughout the year comes at a cost! The cost is lemon fruit.
Lemon trees do not grow all year round as, during the course of the year, resources and energy are contributed towards flower and fruit development.
A lemon tree can very well take all its life to grow. That means the tree may take 20 to 25 years to grow to its full 30 feet height!
FAQs
Do lemon trees produce lemons all year round?
Lemons trees can produce lemons twice a year but not exactly all year round. Other lemons trees produce lemons once a year and they take a long time to mature. This could be why it always appears as if the tree is bearing lemons.
