I am administrative assistant for the CEO at a small credit union in Idaho. The CEO has a lemon tree in his office that also has a graft. One lemon has been grown from this tree with two slowly growing. The problem is that the lemon part of the tree seems extremely droopy and is losing leaves. There are at least ten blossoms on the tree, and that may be why. The grafted section of the tree is tall and strong, unlike the lemon section. What do you suggest? Should we trim some of the graft? We have citrus food, but have not yet added it because we are thinking we may need to change or at least till the soil underneath. I have attached a few pictures. Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated.
In the third picture the graft union appears to be just below the vinyl tie. The leftmost branch then appears to be growth from the rootstock. This is reinforced by the presence of winged petioles on that branch in contrast to wingless ones on the lemon. Such growth is usually removed so that the plant's energy is channeled to the scion.
It is normal enough for lemons to have fruit and flowers at the same time, so that's not a problem. It's also normal for branches to sag with the weight of the lemons. While the fruit is fun and interesting, I'd imagine that's not the reason for keeping this plant. The flowers would be the attraction for me. You can prune the fruit off without harming this tree. Just a suggestion.
