There is a considerable amount of energy that goes into producing fruit, and it always involves a sacrifice of the potential increase of woody mass. I often remove the fruits/flowers of blooming bonsai material to hasten its development, & it does make quite the difference. It's normal practice to remove all but a few fruits on fruiting bonsai and to only allow most species to fruit in alternate years to insure that vitality/energy levels remain high. While this may not be as large a factor with material as genetically as vigorous as the Meyer, fruiting still does limit mass increase. Al

Follow up - I went through all the steps. Lime, potassium sulfate, de-thatch with a verti-seeder and straw blankets where necessary to control erosion (if we ever get and rain again). To help build up the organics, I used spent beer mash from my friend's micro-brewery. Since it's wet it isn't really easy to spread around. I mostly flung it with a shovel, so the coverage isn't real even. It smelled kind of funny for a couple of days, but doesn't seem to have hurt anything. I may do another application in the early spring. I used a blend in the front yard and mostly tall fescue in the back shady yard. Water, water, water and more watering. Watering 6,000 sq feet in a royal pain in the arse! I just couldn't do the recommended thrice per day, but I usually got two waterings in, until things started sprouting. By far, the best water came on too few occasions from Mother Nature. She really knows how to soak the yard evenly. Low and behold, the dirt is now covered with green grass (and a few weeds) it looks great and we are pretty pleased with the results. I have mowed it once (at the tallest setting) and may mow toward the end of November to mulch the leaves. Click o the link below to see where I am now. Here is a link that might be useful: My most recent post about winter prep & weeds

Yes, Rainbird - I have a friend around the corner from me here in Palm Springs who gets a tiny handful of fruits every year from a huge tree, and I don't know what to say to her to help. The tree looks healthy and gets plenty of sun, but something, whether it's nutritional or a watering issue, is allowing very few fruits to hold. How much water and how often does this tree get water compared to the other productive tree? Actually go out when the sprinklers or bubblers are on and take a look at the watering situation. I had a tree once that looked fine but never produced - I discoverd the sprinkler head was clogged and it was surviving on very little water. if it's nutritional, the only think I can suggest is a balanced fertilizer with a less Nitrogen and more emphasis on Potassium and Phosphorous. I always feed it MUCH more diluted than the instructions on the package and more often. Even as often as every 2 weeks throughout the growing season. I mean I'm trying to figure out how to get trees to hold more fruit myself...... Ah, the mysteries of tree intelligence..... But Stanofh is right - a picture would really help.... Gary

The climate zone in SW WA is 8b-8a, meaning the winter temperatures can get down to 10-20 degrees. Satsuma is one of the few more cold-hardy varieties of citrus, in fact in Japan they classify it in a semi-separate category from mandarins. That is why I mentioned it. (and more importantly it is really the only cold-hardy variety that tastes good) I generally agree with what gardengal said. However, it is young bananas and citrus that are vulnerable to winter cold. Once they have a few years to become established they are much more hardy. I really think you might be able to grow [certain types of] bananas and citrus in a warm microclimate in SW WA without winter mulching. Just keep them in large pots the first few years so you can bring them inside and protect them until they have a chance to grow bigger. Yes, this is really pushing it, because citrus and bananas are not known to grow in WA, but I think it is possible. I know the OP has not expressed interest in growing bananas, but just thought I would mention here that one of the rarer cold-tolerant varieties is Musa sikkimensis (known as the Darjeeling banana). Not the best tasting variety, but it would grow fine in the western side of WA.