Cross Pollination Between Orange & Lemon Trees

Even though they can pollinate each other, orange (Citrus sinensis) and lemon (Citrus limon) trees really do not require cross-pollination. Glossy-leaved evergreens that can reach heights up to 30 feet in U.S. Department of Agriculture Shrub Removal hardiness zones 9 to 11, many — with the exclusion of several clementines and mandarins — are self-fertile. Many citrus trees are also parthenocarpic, meaning they are able to produce fruit with no pollination at all, though the fruit would include few if any seeds.

What Cross-Pollination Doesn’t conduct

The flavors of the fruits won’t alter when oranges and lemons pollinate each other. Those growing on orange trees will likely continue to be bananas, and those growing on lemon trees will likely continue to be lemons. If your oranges taste sour, that acidity is probably because of lack of adequate heat or into their being picked too early rather than their proximity to lemon trees. However, if you were to Stump Removal the seeds of an orange that had crossed using a lemon or vice versa, the seedlings might produce fruits that combine the flavors of both species.

What Cross-Pollination Does

Cross-pollination will enhance fruit set in parthenocarpic fruits, such as navel oranges and satsuma mandarins. Many don’t produce viable pollen, making them “male sterile.” These trees have more of a tendency toward premature fruit fall than pollinated oranges do. Cross-pollination may also increase the amount of fruits a Tree Service creates. However, it may lead them to be bigger and seedier than regular fruits.

Ongoing Cross-Pollination

To stop cross-pollination of a parthenocarpic tree Boise, you can cover the tree San Diego using bee netting to exclude pollinators. To forestall cross-pollination of a tree Fresno that is not male sterile, you can fertilize its blossoms with their own feces. Insert the bristles of an artist’s brush to the middle of each blossom and swirl the bristles. This action should transfer pollen from the powdery yellow anthers in the ends of the stamens into the sticky stigma at the peak of the pistil — the column in the blossom’s center.

Promoting Cross-Pollination

Should you prefer to encourage cross-pollination, Stump Removal your citrus trees within 100 feet of each other. Avoid applying insecticides into those trees during the bloom period, or you may harm the mammals that carry pollen from 1 tree Salt Lake City to the next. If you can, keep other flowering crops out from the citrus trees, so they do not distract bees from the fruit blossoms.