How long do lemon trees live?

A healthy lemon tree (Citrus limon) planted in the ground often lives 50 years or more. With good care, some lemon trees pass 100 years. Potted trees can live for decades too, but they need fresh soil, a bigger pot as they grow, and enough light. A grafted nursery tree starts to fruit in 2 to 3 years. After that, it keeps bearing for as long as it stays healthy. Cold, poor drainage, and disease shorten a lemon tree’s life more than age does.

Lemon trees are a long-term planting. If you buy one, you want to know how many years of fruit you will get.

Plant your lemon tree in the ground if your winters stay mild. Grow it in a pot if you need to bring it inside for winter. Both can live a long time with the right care.

How long do lemon trees live?

Lemon trees often live 50 years or more. University of Minnesota Extension lists this fact about the fruit: “Lemon trees can live up to 100 years.” Few home trees reach that age. Hard freezes, wet roots, and pests end most of them sooner.

Commercial groves replace trees well before that. Growers pull trees when yields drop, not when the trees die. A backyard tree has no such deadline. It can keep growing and fruiting for decades.

How often do lemon trees bear fruit?

Lemon trees can flower and set fruit more than once a year. Julia Morton’s Fruits of Warm Climates (Purdue University) notes the lemon’s “more or less continuous state of growth.” That is why a tree can hold flowers, green fruit, and ripe fruit at the same time. A grafted nursery tree starts to fruit in 2 to 3 years. A tree grown from seed takes much longer and may never fruit well.

The heaviest bloom comes in spring. After a flower is pollinated, the fruit takes 6 to 9 months to ripen. Indoors, shake the flowers or flick them with your fingers to move pollen, since there are no bees to do it.

What boosts a lemon tree’s lifespan?

Good care adds years to a lemon tree. Prune it at the right time to remove dead and crossing wood. Feed it with a fertilizer made for lemon trees from spring through summer, while it is growing.

Do not overwater. Wet soil leads to root rot, one of the most common ways to lose a lemon tree. Plant in a well-draining mix or soil. Learn the signs of an overwatered lemon tree so you can catch the problem early. Protect the tree from frost. Lemons are more sensitive to cold than oranges.

What is the life expectancy of a Meyer lemon tree?

Meyer lemon is a hybrid, most likely a lemon crossed with a mandarin. It stays smaller than a true lemon, about 6 to 10 feet tall, and it handles more cold. Meyer lemons grown from cuttings live a long time. Julia Morton’s Fruits of Warm Climates (Purdue University) says they “have a long life, remaining in full production for over 30 years, perhaps much longer.”

How long will a lemon tree produce fruit?

A lemon tree produces fruit for as long as it lives. The size of the crop depends on the tree’s age, size, and health. A young tree in a pot may give you a handful of lemons. A mature tree in the ground can give you far more. Yields drop when a tree is stressed by drought, cold, or pests.

How long do indoor lemon trees live?

Indoor lemon trees can live for decades. They fruit the same way as outdoor trees, but they often bear less, because indoor light is weaker. Pick a compact type such as Meyer or ‘Ponderosa’ for a pot. Move the tree outside for summer, and repot it with fresh soil every few years. Read more about growing an indoor lemon tree.

Should I pick all the lemons off my tree?

Leave lemons on the tree until they are full size and fully colored. Most lemons turn bright yellow. Meyer lemons turn a deeper yellow-orange.

Lemons do not get sweeter after you pick them. Pick a few at a time as you need them. Ripe lemons hold on the tree for a while, but they get dry and lose flavor if you leave them too long.

An example of an old lemon tree

One of the best-known old lemon trees grows at Logee’s in Danielson, Connecticut. In 1900, William D. Logee ordered a ‘Ponderosa’ lemon from a company in Philadelphia. Logee’s tells the story this way: “The original tree thrived. It became so big in its pot that William decided to plant it directly into the ground.” The tree still grows in the same spot, inside the greenhouse now called the Lemon Tree House.

FAQs

References

• PennState Extension, Grow Your Own Lemons
• University of Minnesota, Growing Citrus Indoors
• University of Maryland, Growing Dwarf Citrus