What Happened?

[Nyboy]

The other day I repotted my lemon tree. It had 1 almost ripe and 2 green lemons. I left the potted tree on floor overnight to make sure was well drained before placing on wooden table. One of the unriped lemons has a split, my first thought was mouse, but no droppings what do you think?

 

[so lucky]

Just a thought: if it was pretty dry when you watered it, the extra added moisture in the fruit could have caused it to expand, whereas the skin didn't expand. It reminds me of what my tomatoes do in hot weather.

 

[canesisters]

Did you feed it to the parrot?

 

[bobm]

Yup , watering a citrus plant that suffers from a period of draught, will cause it's fruit to split. If the parrot tastes that green lemon ... it may give NYboy a vocabulary lesson that would make a sailor blush !

 

[Nyboy]

I am hoping for natural split not a mouse, at work can't use poison because of dogs. I repotted because soil was water logged, I didn't water. Wanted what ever soil was left on roots to drain. TT likes to eat vegetables, but not fruit.

 

[thistlebloom]

It may be the result of it being waterlogged. Just took up more water than it could hold.

 

[Nyboy]

I was going to remove lemons anyway. Was worried about mice, no one thinks a mouse did it?

 

[thistlebloom]

A mouse would have left little nibble marks, and anyway, why would a mouse want to eat a lemon?
Citrus splits (according to google) are caused by stress. My opinion is that the waterlogging was enough stress to cause it to burst like that. Was that the only lemon affected?

 

[Nyboy]

yes I feel a lot better now

 

[journey11]

If You Give a Mouse a Lemon...he's going to ask for a glass of water. When you give him the water, He'll probably ask you for a straw.
He'll probably want some sugar to go with that.