What age do lemon trees start fruiting? | 3 Years: Plus tips for Fruit Sooner

Lemon trees will start producing fruit after around 3 years. You can encourage the plant to fruit as early as possible by planting into good quality soil and watering regularly. This will ensure the plant establishes a strong root system, healthy stems and is ready to grow fruit and flowers.

This article will explore when lemon trees start fruiting and how to get your plant to fruit as soon as possible.

Lemon trees start fruiting after 3 years

Most lemon trees will take around 3 years before they start fruiting. When you purchase lemon trees they can be as young as 1-2 years like mine or they can be 3 years or older. Larger trees that are at least 3 feet high are likely to be closer to 3 years old and you can get fruit from them in their first season at your home.

If you buy a smaller lemon tree, a foot high and non-grafted you can be waiting another 2 years before you see fruit.

Grafted vs seedling lemon trees

Grafted lemon trees will start fruiting much sooner than seedling trees. Grafted trees are grown by attaching a young shoot to an established root system of a hardy citrus species. The root stock itself is usually 2-3 years old when the new lemon stem is grafted on. This means that by the time you buy it and get it home, it can be ready to fruit by the next spring.

Seedling lemon trees are grown from a seed. They tend to be sold as smaller plants and can grow rapidly when planted in the soil or in a pot. These plants will take at least 3 years before you get fruit but it will be worth it. Lemon trees can fruit for 30 years or more and if you take care of they will produce fruit every year.

How long it takes for a lemon tree to bear fruit indoors

It will take around 3 years for an indoor lemon tree to bear fruit. This is the same amount of time that you would expect for an outdoor tree. They key to getting an indoor lemon tree to fruit is to make sure that it is in a bright position and it gets pollinated.

For indoor lemon trees, hand pollinating is the best method. Simply get a small paint brush and gently move the pollen from one flower to another. This is the most reliable way to make sure that the flowers get pollenated so the fruit can set. Outdoors, plants will be pollinated by insects or the breeze so you won’t have to worry about doing it yourself.

How to get lemon trees to fruit earlier

Here are my top tips to get your lemon trees to fruit earlier. It is important to allow your tree time to establish and grow a healthy, strong root system before it fruits and there are some things you can do to help it along.

1. Good soil

Good soil is essential to support your lemon tree to grow a strong healthy root system so it is ready to grow healthy stems and leaves for years to come. For lemon trees in the ground I always like to prepare the soil with aged cow manure and compost. I will mix through worm castings if I have them and add a handful of aged chicken manure.

For potted lemon trees, choose top quality potting soil. Look out for a potting soil marked as premium. This will contain slow release fertilizer and will drain well which is perfect for your lemon tree. Mix through some extra chicken manure pellets to give your plant an extra boost.

2. Grafted trees

For the fastest fruit production choose a grafted lemon tree. These lemons will be grafted onto an established root system which will be at least 2 years old. These strong root systems will support your plant to grow rapidly and produce fruit sooner.

For the fastest fruit production, get a grafted lemon tree. Read the label and it should tell you whether the tree is grafted. Look out for the join down the stem, this is where the top shoot has been attached. Look out for a healthy graft that has healed completely.

3. Advanced trees

Choosing the largest lemon tree you can afford will give you fruit quicker. Small lemon trees can start from as cheap as $15 but they can get to $100 plus for a 5 year old tree. Larger trees actually to grow fruit quicker.

It is important to find a balance between getting fruit as quickly as possible and saving money. Choosing a tree that is $30-$40 will give you a tree large and old enough that you should get fruit in your first spring and summer season. These trees are usually around 3 years old.

4. Regular water

Regular water is important when lemon trees are first planted out to help them establish. Lemon trees growing in the ground do best with water every week in the warmer weather. Water them deeply around the base of the plant, keeping water off the leaves and stems if possible.

5. Fertilizing

Fertilizing lemon trees is essential for lots of fruit as soon as possible. Fertilizing lemon trees is easy but you do need to remember a few steps. Apply pelleted chicken manure at the start of every season, water on iron chelates and trace elements at the start of spring and mulch the plant well. You can use a citrus fertilizer instead of pelleted chicken manure.

For more on how to fertilize lemon trees check out my previous article here: How to Fertilize a Lemon Tree | 6 Easy Steps

6. Prune in Fall

Pruning your lemon tree at the end of the growing season in fall is a good way to reduce the leaf coverage and get the tree ready to grow more fruit in the next spring. After the tree has finished fruiting, remove any branches that are crossing over and rubbing against each other.

You can reduce the stem length by 1/3 without damaging the tree. This is a great way to shape the tree, aim for a wine glass shape with branches pointing upwards.

Following these easy tips you will get fruit on your lemon tree as soon as possible.

Age lemon trees start fruiting | Summary

Lemon trees start fruiting around the age of 3 years. This will be enough time for the roots to establish and for stems to get strong enough to hold the heavy fruit. Grafted lemon trees will fruit earlier than seedling trees and the larger the plant is, generally the sooner it will fruit.

Follow my easy steps for getting fruit sooner and check out my other lemon tree articles for more: