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Why does my Naval Orange tree produce oranges that taste like lemons?
I live in SoCal and I have a lemon tree about 15 feet from my orange tree. For the last two years my oranges have become small (they were almost the size of grapefruit a couple of years back) and no longer look like navals. I get tons of oranges but only a half dozen tasted sweet the rest were like lemons.
Looks like I should have given more information. I have had the house for 10 years and the trees were allready mature when I bought. Until 2 years ago the fruit from both trees was execellent. I did not think orange and lemon could cross pollinate because the two are often grafted togather. Thanks for all of your answers.
9 Answers
- LarLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
you might follow the branches that the fruit are coming from to make sure they aren't the growth from below the graft, coming off of the root stock. If they are allowed to grow they will take the "energy" away from the quality part of the tree.
- 1 decade ago
If they're only 15 feet away, it's not surprising to know that those two trees might have pollenated each other.
When they pollenate, or "exchange pollen", they are transfering different genes with each other to produce produce fruits. Pollenation can occur when it's a windy day and the pollen flies everywhere, or it could be just a random breeze that carries them back and forth.
Your orange tree might have been exposed to more lemon pollen, and that's probably why. Also, I don't recommend planting trees so close to each other, since they do grow fairly large.
If your lemon tree is older than your orange tree, and that your lemon tree is larger, then it could mean it has longer roots, so it is able to suck up more water than your orange tree can, leaving your orange tree slightly dehydrated.
And.. wait for your oranges to be really ripe, and have them at a certain time. Pick them early and they will always be sour, no matter which fruit it is.
- mjefferson96Lv 51 decade ago
check the ph of the soil, if that is ok, then you must be getting them cross pollinated with the lemon tree. I am familiar how to hybrid my vegetables like this, such as the Mina's Blended Beauty pumpkin I invented but I have never tried with fruit trees yet. Cross pollination can be done by hand or by nature via insects. The lemons probably taste a little like oranges too. The are probably just too close together. Move them farther apart and plant some flowers in between to give the bees another pitstop before going from tree to tree.
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- Anonymous1 decade ago
i used to have the exact same problem..but it was because i used bugspray and chemicals around the orange tree, that may be an issue i couldnt really figure it out so i just ripped the tree out.
- 1 decade ago
did you buy a grafted tree? A sucker from the original root stock may have taken over....
- Anonymous1 decade ago
because it's not ripe
