I bought a small lemon tree sapling while I was at Fort Meyers airport in the gift shop. You know what I am talking about. A small twig with 5 leafs wrapped in plastic. Well it is now 3 years old. I live in Michigan and bring it into the house during the winter. Tree is about 3.5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. When should I be expecting some lemons? I just put it outside this week. Is there anyway to insure a crop for this summer?

Do you know what variety it is? Was it grafted; a rooted cutting or grown form seed? You probably don't know, but one would need to know to provide a good guess. Seedling lemons take about 7 years to fruit from seed give or take a few years, but if your tree was grafted with mature wood, you could see fruit on it this year if the proper conditions are met.

I suspect, however, that your tree did not get a minimum of 650 hours of exposure to temperatures below 65 F that would be required to initiate bloom formation.

How are you fertilizing the tree? Does it get trace minerals?

Not sure if it was grown from a seed or grafted. Only thing I remember was it was about 6 inches tall when I got it.

I was only using miracle grow pellets for awhile. I just bought some Jobes citrus tree spikes. Took one spike and broke it into 3 pieces and pushed them into the soilagainst the soil and pot. I just transplanted this tree into a 15 gallon pot. Did not damage to the roots.

Spikes are not the best fertilizer for citrus-- get some slow release fertilizer like 19-6-12 with trace minerals--both Osmocote and Dynamite have something like that. Fertilize according to pot size about 3 times a yr.

Most all slow release fertilizers can be applied at the rate of 4 grams per liter (quart) volume of the container. - Millet