Seed-Grown Lemon Tree: Weak Trunk, No Fruit—Replace It

A reader's 2-year-old, 5-foot lemon tree grown from a grocery-store seed has a ½-inch trunk that cannot support itself. It's in a 15-inch pot with steady growth but remains flimsy.

Why It Fails

Commercial lemons are hybrids. Seeds revert to a parent or rootstock—inferior, non-fruiting, weak-wooded plants. The expert grew one for 15 years; it never bloomed.

Recommendation

Discard it and buy a grafted hybrid from a nursery (Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.). Invest time in a tree that will actually fruit.