Why won't a child of my orange tree give fruit. It's 7 years old now!

[Zboltman]

We had an orange tree at our previous property and it gave tons of fruit every year.
My Wife was able to grow this new tree from seeds of the fruit from the mother tree.
We have given the new tree fertilizer and proper care, but it just will not give fruit. NOTHING!
So sad.
What can we do to make it give fruit like it's mother tree?
I've attached a google street view pic of the mother tree and current views of the "child" tree.
HELP!

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

If she planted seed it has a long juvenile phase, usually you can tell by the presence of long thorns. Then the leaves change and it matures and only then will flower

If it was a cutting it would already be mature and should start fruiting. You've never seen flowers?

Looks mature from what i can tell so maybe flowers are soon.

If you've been pruning it and the root system grossly outgrows the aerial parts, sometimes it takes root pruning but i wouldn't try that without reason

Maybe over fertilization? I really don't know

 

[Zboltman]

If she planted seed it has a long juvenile phase, usually you can tell by the presence of long thorns. Then the leaves change and it matures and only then will flower

If it was a cutting it would already be mature and should start fruiting. You've never seen flowers?

Looks mature from what i can tell so maybe flowers are soon.

If you've been pruning it and the root system grossly outgrows the aerial parts, sometimes it takes root pruning but i wouldn't try that without reason

Maybe over fertilization? I really don't know

Yes, we have been pruning it at the right time of the year. Been very careful of the fertilizer. Even when we planted it from a pot into the ground, we used specific soil, proper fertilizer and great dirt.
Not a single flower as of yet. Would like to get fruit from this during my lifetime...
Oh, and the thorns are still there. Ouch!

 

[Xraycer]

I'm new to gardening, but I believe oranges, like apples, requires grafting to get the same fruit as the parent plant.

 

[Chuck]

If you believe AI it states that an orange tree takes 3-10 years to bloom if grown from seed. IME I have found this to be true with most trees taking 6-8 years. Is the old tree a grafted hybrid or a tree grown from its own roots? If the old tree was grafted there is an even chance that when it does produce fruit it will be sour, bitter or just not fit to eat. Hybrids DO NOT come true from seeds.

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

Yes, we have been pruning it at the right time of the year. Been very careful of the fertilizer. Even when we planted it from a pot into the ground, we used specific soil, proper fertilizer and great dirt.
Not a single flower as of yet. Would like to get fruit from this during my lifetime...
Oh, and the thorns are still there. Ouch!

We have a large fig in a greenhouse that stopped producing from over pruning. You can tell because it grows extremely vigorously and then doesn't flower. After cutting it's roots it gave us an amazing yield.

But i don't think that's the case for you. Probably it just needs another year to mature. I've grown a Mexican lime from seed (not something I'd recommend) and it first flowered a couple years ago about 15 years old, but this was in a greenhouse. Seed won't be identical but usually still pretty good sometimes better

 

[nao57]

With plant and animal organisms, if they display traits of infertility, one approach you can try is to treat it for malnutrition. K and P affect blossoming. Blossoming, equates to fruit. Try increasing a fertilizer on that tree with more K and P ratio emphasis.

This approach can be used in conjunction with other things the others tell you also.

Another thing to check is look at if the leaves and the ground around the base of the tree look drier than they should be.

 

[nao57]

We have a large fig in a greenhouse that stopped producing from over pruning. You can tell because it grows extremely vigorously and then doesn't flower. After cutting it's roots it gave us an amazing yield.

But i don't think that's the case for you. Probably it just needs another year to mature. I've grown a Mexican lime from seed (not something I'd recommend) and it first flowered a couple years ago about 15 years old, but this was in a greenhouse. Seed won't be identical but usually still pretty good sometimes better

That's an interesting project. Is it typical for that kind of Mexican lime to take that long to go to fruit/flower?

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

That's an interesting project. Is it typical for that kind of Mexican lime to take that long to go to fruit/flower?

It was a fools errand in a greenhouse but the sunk cost fallacy is strong

 

[nao57]

So I was thinking about your question a bit more. And this week I had been listening to some orchard podcasts on Youtube. One of the things that came up in a couple of them was some people feared their trees producing fruit too early because it could stunt the trees growth.

I thought by offering this up it may give you something positive out of this. Although I understand you do want fruit soon and hopefully it will work out.