Q: I have a soursop fruit tree that is two-and-a-half years old and 3m tall. It’s very healthy and leafy and bears beautiful yellow flowers. After the petals drop off, something is left behind – not sure if it’s the fruit or seed. After a few days, this seed or fruit dries up, turns brown, and falls off! Why does this happen? What treatment or fertiliser should I apply to get my soursop tree to bear fruit? Is my tree a “male” tree that bears only flowers and no fruit? Or is it still too young to fruit, and do I have to wait another four or five years to see any fruit?-Another problem plant is a lime tree which I have nursed since it was under a metre tall. Now it’s almost two years old and 2.5m tall. It’s also very healthy, green and leafy. When I squeeze a leaf, the aroma is like lime. But it has no flowers or fruit. Please let me know why, and what I can do to get it to fruit. – Patrick Leong-A: Your soursop and lime tree are just about the right age to produce yields (3-6 years old), but you should prune your soursop tree to about 1.8m to 2.5m (6-8 feet) high &encourage more lateral instead of vertical growth to facilitate easier harvesting.For both lime & soursop trees, flower drops (or no flowers at all) are often indicative of over- or under-watering or applying too much fertiliser.For the soursop tree, you should be applying about 300g of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in a 10-10-10 ratio per tree, every three months. Fruit-bearing lime trees require more nitrogen and potassium, less phosphorus, and more trace elements. The simplest thing to do is get fertilisers formulated specifically for lime trees, and follow the instructions on the package. Do not add more than what is recommended.-Find out more in our Ready, Set, Grow! column in Star 2 – The Star [link in bio!]-If you have any gardening questions, send your queries to http://questions.eatsshootsandroots.com-* All questions are answered by Dr Christopher Teh, soil biologist and senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia #eatsshootsandroots #DearPlantDoctor #ReadySetGrowESR #TheStar #garden