Gardeners have been urged to follow one piece of advice when growing lemons in the UK this summer. Lemons can be easily grown in British gardens. As they begin to ripen over the summer months, they can be used in a number of cooking recipes as well as in refreshing smoothies and fruit salads. If you are growing lemons in your garden this summer, experts say there is one rule you should always follow.
Lemons, like all plants, need to be watered regularly. However, some plants require more watering than others. To give your lemons the best chance of turning into the most delicious and juicy fruits they can be, you need to know exactly how much water they need as the days get hotter over the summer months. According to BBC Gardeners’ World, lemons growing in the UK should be watered once a week.
This is less than many other plants in your garden, which might require watering once per day, especially during a heatwave.
Additionally, you should use collected rainwater for your lemon trees if it is possible. You should also feed them weekly with liquid seaweed and a citrus fertiliser.
Lemon trees, as well as orange trees, thrive in high humidity. They are watered more in summer than in winter, when experts say to water them “sparingly”. Meanwhile, if you only have tap water available, you should let it stand for around 24 hours to make sure that chlorine has evaporated.
Once a week is quite a lot for lemon trees, but it is needed in summer. In winter, you would normally water them only once per month.
In summer, you know you are watering too much if you notice leaves dropping off the plant. If your lemon tree is young, you should prune any smaller fruits to give your larger ones a chance to thrive. This should be done until the plant is more mature. You should focus on growing larger fruits rather than many small ones.
Additionally, make sure your lemon tree is in a sunny and sheltered spot. A great place for this is in front of a south or west-facing wall, where they have the best chance of thriving due to the humidity.