If you have seen a lemon crop, then you may have noticed that some lemons split while they are still unripe and on the trees. Even if you have not noticed this phenomena, you might be curious now to know the reasons behind it. Actually, the splitting happens in several citrus fruits and lemon is no exception. Splitting happens because of several factors operating to create pressure on lemon trees.
When lemon trees are stressed because of temperature or humidity, it weakens the crop and the thin-peel fruits like lemons start breaking on the tree itself. The stress on trees can also be the result of soil moisture or fertilizer levels. When such factors are on extremes, lemons start splitting. As an example, a hot weather and high winds usually lead to such stress on trees that is similar to drought in an area.
When drought stress is created, trees start absorbing water from their fruits that are lemons in this case. After hot winds go over, some farmers also start watering their crops heavily. Thus, the result is seen in the form of fruit cracking. When lemons swell beyond a limit due to heavy watering, they start cracking or splitting. It is very important for a farmer to understand the weather conditions so they can prevent their lemons from cracking.
If hot spells are predicted, then it is always wiser to water trees in advance, instead of doing heavy watering later on. Extreme watering can be overwhelming for lemon trees. It is also necessary to avoid one-time release of fertilizers in an entire year. The better thing to do is to give fertilizers to lemon trees every month while they are growing up. All such steps can prevent lemons from splitting and give a healthier crop instead of damaged or spoiled fruits.
