Hello :) I live in Valley Glen, CA and just bought a house that already had a very mature Tangerine tree in the middle of the backyard. In December (when we were going through escrow) the tree looked beautiful and had a ton of fruit. But after we bought the house and February and March came the tree would have less and less fruit. We would pick the fruit but there was so much we would think it would grow more fruit pretty quickly. It is now late April and our tree has no more fruit. This is a result of us picking the fruit of course, but it has not shown signs of growing more fruit. Is this normal? What's the normal fruiting season for tangerines in Califoria? This is also a hot temperature area of los angeles ("The Valley"). Two other important notes. 1.) We also have 2 mature grapefruit trees and both of those are full of fruits and still fruiting. We pick those less but the leaves on the grapefruit trees look greener and healthier. 2.) Our gardner said we have a 3-5 year old avocado tree growing within 4 feet of the tangerine tree. The avocado tree is only about 6 feet tall but looks great and is growing quickly. Can anyone out there help me find out if the lack of tangerines on my tree right now with summer approaching is normal or do you think the avocado tree has something to do with this? Since the avocado tree is only a few years old would it make more sense to move it in fear that it could kill the Tangerine tree? I am new at this so please help! Thanks, Aleman
I would expect your tangerine tree to be in bloom by now, but it is possible that it may be a variety that is prone to alternate year bearing. Just maintain proper care and all of your citrus will produce fruit--you just may have some years with low production and some with high production. You can even this out to some extent if you thin the fruit on the heavy years. It also help to remove fruit before bloom time the following year.
