The house I'm renting has a number of fruit trees. I'm in San Jose, CA and with the drought, it has been a challenge to give them the right amount of water while still conserving. It seems the mature orange tree is suffering with the same level of water that the larger mature lemon tree next to it is apparently thriving on.
The fruit on the orange has mostly stayed small and the leaves are starting to curl. The fruit is just starting to yellow, so I guess it isn't going to get any bigger. I've already seen a few split oranges, and the rains are (hopefully!) about to start.
Here's what it looks like, although I guess you can't really tell that the fruit is small.
I'm wondering, is there any way to nurture this puny fruit through to harvest or am I too late? (I'm expecting much of it to split as soon as the rain really starts.) Or is the tree so stressed right now (as evidenced I think by the curled leaves) that I should just remove all or most of the fruit anyway?
Some other potentially useful info - the soil in the yard is not great (a lot of clay), although again, the lemon tree is doing fine. There has also been a lot of squirrel activity, and some specifically around the orange tree, so it is possible that their tunnels have damaged the roots. (I have previously stepped through the soil by the orange into a squirrel tunnel.)