How do you get an orange tree to blossom??

[BARTSFAM]

I live in Massachusetts. Years ago, I went to Florida and picked up one of those ornamental orange trees at the airport. I brought it home, and for 10 years had pretty little oranges on the tree, until it died.

Five years ago, I did the same thing. I went to Florida, and brought home two ornamental orange trees.
The trees are pretty good size, and I trimmed them as the instructions said. In the summer I leave them on the deck, and bring them in for the fall and winter. They get pleanty of sun, Miracle Grow, and a big pot.

Why don't I have any blossoms or oranges? I have nothing but green leafy trees! They are over five years old!
Am I missing something, any of you "green thumbs" know about?

 

[osagebow]

Maybe it's a different cultivar of orange, not as happy in pots as your others. I've had Meyer Lemons, had one fruiting well for 5 years or so, left it out in a early hard frost, killed it. The replacement sucked, though. I think it was stressed young and never wanted to reach it' s full potential. Forgive the anthropomorphizing.

 

[btuser]

Scare the hell out of it.

Show it the wood stove.

 

[begreen]

In the spring, don't use the miracle grow. Add a good fertilizer to the soil that is higher in phosphorus and potassium than nitrogen to boost blossoming.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Apples trees don't produce until they reach a certain age. This can be made shorter by using a dwarfing root stock. I'm going to guess that orange trees can be sped up the same way. The quality of the tree stock also makes a difference and you may have not bought the best stock.

Matt