Question
Hello. I live in La. and have had a lemon tree for about 6 yrs. It has produced an abundance of fruit the first 3 yrs. I kept it in a large pot outside until 3 yrs. ago I put it in the ground. The first 2 yrs. after that it made a few blooms but no fruit. Now this yr. it made about 100 lemons, and is still blooming. The problem is, there are large hard, rough brown spots on every lemon that seems to make the fruit dry up and fall off. Most are the size of a silver dollar now and I was so excited to have so many healthy beautiful lemons until about 2-3 weeks ago this started. Now I am afraid that I won't get even 1 good one. Please help asap! Thank you.

Answer
Dear Cathy, I must admit your question has me puzzled.  Without a picture, and most of my citrus experience is from quite a few years back, I am not sure exactly what is wrong with your lemon tree.  Some of the things to consider are since you have planted it a few years ago into the ground, is the plant getting enough water?  Do you have good drainage in the area?  Is the plant now in a much sunnier position and getting scorched?  You have likely contracted a fungal disease on this lemon, but to narrow it down I have included this great site with pictures of citrus fruit diseases.  The site is ID Tools -  http://idtools.org/id/citrus/diseases/gallery.php?page=1 .  Cut and paste this location into your browser.  It has great pictures of all the citrus diseases and when you click on the picture it will give you detailed information on how to fix the problem on that particular disease.  You can also send me a picture if you prefer, or if you check out the site and think you know which one it is, then you could let me know and I will tell you how to get rid of it.  Be sure to remove the infected fruit, especially when it is dropped or is obviously getting ready to drop.  This will help reduce the fungus present and keep it from spreading.  Also get rid of any fallen leaves.  Do not use any of this diseased trash for compost.  Some of the main diseases that you will want to look at on ID Tools are citrus canker, citrus black spot, citrus scab, and especially alternaria as this causes a lot of early fruit drop.  There are other ones, but you will probably recognize one of these as being the culprit.  I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but this information should help, and if you would like to follow up with me, I will be glad to help.  Good luck, Melissa