Judging from the leaf, it is some type of lemon. You should be fertilizing regularly with a good citrus fert with an NPK ratio of 5-1-3 pl us Calcium, Magnesium.

So a few days ago, I asked my local neighbor who also has a few fruit trees. He recommended these to me to purchase. He told me to take 2 parts fertilizer and 1 part ironite, mix them, and put them around the tree. Each part is about a handful. So 2 handfuls of fert and 1 handful of ironite. The only part that sounded strange to me was he told me to do this weekly (until end of April), the local nursery said that I should do this every 2 weeks. Not sure which is correct. How often and from when to when. I live in Orange County, So Cal.

From seeing pictures of your tree, it is easy to tell that the tree certainly is not under fed, it looks quite healthy. Looking at your pictures, the tree looks to be approximately 3 or 4 years old. A 3 year old citrus tree should be fertilized 4 times during growing season. After a citrus tree is 4 years old or older the tree should be fertilized 3 times a year.

Thank Silica,

I am assuming the growing season would be February/March to May/June?

Is there a certain age that the trees will begin to fruit or give flowers?

Side-note...(forgive my ignorance) How come trees from a nursery are much skinnier or taller and have fruit/flowers? I purchased a Cara Cara citrus tree, the nursery told me this tree is "several years old", but isn't "big" because it's in a pot. I am still trying to figure out when/where to plant it still. Currently, have it set in between a pomegranate tree and plum tree until I finalize.

Trees purchased from a nursery are usually about 2 years old which explains why they are tall and narrow. The nursery grafts cuttings to a particular root stock. They bloom and have fruit growing because they have the optimum growing conditions. Growing season for a citrus is usually springtime with over 40* temps for lows to about October/November depending on the region you live in. Most trees have to be at least 3 years old in order to harvest fruit. That is my experience with various mandarins/oranges/lemons.

This indeed looks like a lemon or close relative although I would want to have a closer look at the petioles. I can usually immediately tell if it is a lemon by the scent of the leaves but I can't do that over the internet.. I can't tell if it is grafted or not. What looks like a graft line in your 4th pic might just be the point where a rooted cutting sprouted off, although the difference in diameter would point towards it being grafted. Or it may be a seedling... If it is a seedling then it is normal for it to bloom when the first twigs mature which may not be before it is 7 or more years old. Cutting grown trees may flower earlier depending on the cutting taken. Also, some citrus have a tendency to set fruit every other year, especially if they are underfed. Not having bloomed or set fruit last year does not mean it will not bloom this year. Are other ground planted citrus in your neighbourhood already blooming?