I don't think you have any thing to worry about. If the leaves look good then the flowers should be OK. Do you have pictures.

Steve

I don't have a smart phone and if I did, I am electronically challenged. lol. The leaves look fine though after dropping a few due to a lack of water. I hang my head in shame. lol. At the moment I don't see any. If I find another one and you really want to see it in the future, I could send you a pic by cell phone. Just PM me the number. Are you in the USA? I sent one to Kelley so she has already seen it. lol. I am wondering though, whatever it is, if it will attract ants. That's the last thing I need.

I don't have a cell phone. Just a land line with DSL slow speed Internet. It is equivalent to 640K dial-up not 64K dial-up

Poor you. I have a landline too .

Jealous of that nice cluster of blooms on your NZL!!!! Here is my first (and only) NZL bloom as of yesterday (past peak but didn't get chance to take a pic earlier of it) -

The little tree is also a FW entry that I got in mid-August 2018, along with a premium key lime and a premium Thai lime and it's interesting that of all my trees, those 3 are the only ones blooming (or that have bloomed the past month or so) at the moment.

I brought the limes in 10/13/18 and the NZL (and other lemons/mandarins) in 11/7/18.

I've found that my NZL has been pretty non-nonchalant compared to all of the other trees.... generally just sitting there with not much growth on top (perhaps doing all its "growing" in the root zone).

Thank you Kelley for posting up the pics. My cell phone has a terrible camera. The blossom in the middle of the picture shows you the clear drop of fluid. I have found the clear fluid on a few other blossoms as well but didn't think the camera would capture it as the blossom was at an angle and was really small. Some folks name their trees and I am thinking of calling mine Razzle Dazzle because it has been very different from the other citrus trees I have. It has really captured my attention and never know what to expect on a day-to-day basis.

Since this tree is from another continent, there must be a reason behind the blossom releasing the fluid. Maybe it's a form of defense? An attractant to pollinating insects? Maybe I shouldn't taste it again? lol.

Edit: I had been using an organic citrus fertilizer and fish emulsion on this plant just in case you were wondering what I was feeding it. I am just wondering if the FE is contributing to the growth of the blossoms as well as the foliage. The last feeding was either September or October and fed it Foliage Pro about a week ago. The clear liquid was seen before feeding it with the Foliage Pro so I know that has nothing to do with it.

Both of you have trees look good and healthy. I don't think there is anything to worry about at this time. My only NZL bloom

Steve

Denise - what is funny is when searching around to see if citrus blossoms produce droplets of nectar like what you describe (we have seen peony buds do it) , apparently about 5 or so years ago, a research study was released that said that the caffeine naturally found in the nectar of both coffee shrubs AND citrus, may have had a beneficial effect to encourage pollinators. They speculate that despite the bitter "taste" (from the insect's perspective), the caffeine in the nectar actually helps pollinators like bees, to "remember" these plants as good sources of nectar by stimulating parts of their little brains (just like what happens in humans). The plants have adapted to produce just enough not to repel the insects but to still supply enough caffeine to be effective to produce the desired brain activity.

Here is a lay article about the research - http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2013/03/07/2634/

Here is a copy of the research from NIH - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4521368/

And this is a link to a paper on earlier research (from about 20 years ago) regarding caffeine in citrus flowers -

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239445039_Caffeine_in_Citrus_flowers

So I think you were on your way to getting the equivalent of a good cup of coffee when you tasted the drops! LOL

Steve - am hoping my NZL will do okay through the rest of winter and get over the "February/March" hump!

I was examining my Sulky Record Buck Farms Eureka the other day and noticed nectar on one of it's blossoms as well. As I was looking over my trees, I was wondering why nobody else has noticed what I did. Now I am questioning my citrus care. Is it normal or a bad thing that I found it occurring on two of my trees? Is it because of their location? Is it from stress from not getting enough light? All these questions are running through my mind and wondering who would be an expert on citrus growing habits so I can ask these questions?