Hi Lori,
I posted something similar in the Introduction forum, but I thought it would be better to post here: I have a small (dwarf) orange tree in a pot outside that blossoms each year but has never born fruit. The blossoms seem to dry up and fall off, and that's the end of the story each season. It gets plenty of sun, and water for a few minutes each day from the sprinklers. I would love to get fruit from it--any advice?
Most citruses are self fruitful and grow well in containers. I have 78 dwarf citruses in containers. Grafted citruses usually begin to bear in 3 to 4 years. Your dwarf orange like any other citrus variety needs adequate soil moisture. Drought during bloom causes the
flowers to drop. Lack of moisture also causes fruit drop. On the other hand, standing water and poorly drained soil are just as bad. Check the top 3 inches of soil, if damp, don't water, if dry, water right away. Put mulch to conserve moisture. Other reasons for blossoms/fruit drops are lack of nitrogen or trace elements and heat stress. Fertilize your dwarf orange tree 2X-3X a year between February and September. Organic fertilizer is good. If you want to use commercial fertilizer look for one that apply to citrus and avocados, or African violet or any complete fertilizer [with N-P-K present].
Also, this same tree has suddenly sprouted a shoot full of huge, light green leaves, probably 4 times bigger than the original leaves. What could this mean?
That shoot is a sucker. Nice looking, but robs your orange tree of energy it needs. I cut off suckers, especially those with thorns.