PSSSST. I just inherited 2 Meyer lemon trees

10 years ago

My friend is moving to Cleveland and has so much problems with her "easy to grow trouble free Meyer lemon trees" that she gave them to me. They were in 10 gallon pots and filled with roots that just started to wrap. I move one to an 18 gallon bottomless container and the other one will move up to a 55 gallon drum halved to 27.5 with about 600 drain and aeration holes.

The trees came from White Flower Farm up in Connecticut and are 5 years old, about. I can find no trace of a graft line on either tree and believe the are grow from cuttings. I have no questions yet on these trees until I can provide pictures and have looked them over very thoroughly.

I will probably need advice on pruning and shaping them up. Right now I have both of them outside on the north porch. They get 2 hours of first morning sun through a storm door full window. I will move them after a week to get that same sun with no storm door and increase from there.

I have never said anything nice about Meyer lemon trees or their fruit. I may have to go through an attitude change.

Steve

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Comments (19)

norwoodn
10 years ago
Well two things I've learned real fast

save your cuttings that you prune, as meyer lemons root real easily.

And kick up that fertilizer, apparently mine was not strong enough so the leaf veins yellowed followed by the whole leaf dropping. Now it's okay, there's some new growth pushing through the very top.

Congrats on the new trees!
johnmerr
10 years ago
Most Meyers in that area are grown from cuttings; they are fine in containers; but in the ground the root is a bit weak and susceptible to various problems.

Because the Meyer is more a bush than a typical tree, it needs a bit more attention in pruning early in life. The basics are prune off any limb that is growing in a downward direction; and prune off anything that touches the soil... even with fruit. After that prune out any limbs that cross the center; that lets more light into the center and you will get more fruit there. Finally, prune it to whatever size and shape you like; every time you prune, it will grow more branches.
And congratulations on your inheritance.
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i dont have a moisture meter, but 50% sounds too wet to water again, and letting it dry out completely will stress the tree and cause its leaves to drop off when you water again. it's a bit of a judgment call, depending on the mix, the weather, temps, etc. i would guesstimate for summer time, about 20% and winter time 10%. from the pics, the mix looks like it has good drainage. what type of bulb is in the lamp? an incandescent is no good as it converts most of the electricity into heat. a high wattage compact fluoresecent (CFL) will provide more light than heat per wattage. also, try to move it to a south window. coming from an outdoor nursery setting and into a house, if it doesnt get enough light, it will drop its leaves, like when people move their citrus indoors during the fall.
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Hi All, I need some Meyer lemon assistance. I received a dwarf tree in the spring from QVC thru mycitrustree(dot) com. I had some beautiful blossoms in the summer and now have 2 lemons about 3 inches and 3 1/2 long. It was kept outside and watered as needed in addition to Mother Nature. I live in NJ and it was about to dip into the 40's one night so I brought it into my basement two weeks ago. I watered it before I brought it in and it got a soaking rain too. It's in a pot with drain access and it still moist. It has also now begun to bud on all end branch A LOT. My original question is some random leaves are turning yellow. They are not dry or curling and have no pests. The leaf veins are also not turning white. I am a nervous first time fruit tree mother. I did not give any fertilizer since I received it in the spring. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! Barbara-Ann
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Sorry I could not get sooner to thank you all for posting so far, but I had some internet connection problems. All seems ok though now! Thanks for sharing all of your opinions and even pictures!!!! Thank you Mike for the congrats! This year is my first pretty good year getting fruit on most of my trees, some for the first time. I had given them a plant light last year, along with a new fertilizer I found this spring, and that seemed to help. I still need to get a better light for them now that they are inside. I started a post a month of so ago, and got a lot of helpful info from you all (thanks!). I am just deciding whether I am going to keep them upstairs in the living area where they have always been when I bring them in every winter, or transport them down to the basement. If I do basement, I would go HID, but if I stay upstairs, the HID would be too much, so I would just need something to supplement. Even the cheapy GE plant spot light I got last year helped well compared to just window light, so I am sure if I moved up to something a little better, I will be able to keep my leaves, flowers, and fruit attached for the whole winter season. ANyway, so I am finally getting good fruit to grow after all these years of waiting and learning how to keep them happy while indoors for the winter. (oh, and another MAJOR thing I learned from here that helped was how to make good REAL container mixes for citrus). Although I did not think of this before until mksmth said so and mksmth is right, that the flowers are all white so far. I will check again over the next few days as they get bigger. A few should open up soon. I guess the last test will be tasting it. But I feel so happy that the tree got fruit for the first time, that I am waiting till the last possible moment to pick them because I am enjoying just seeing them on the tree finally! I am also wondering what would be the correct thing to make with the first lemons. I would like to make something special with them just because they are special. Any suggestions? LOL! I will keep this updated as the blooms get bigger. THanks again for all of the help! Christy
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Here's what I've done with a meyer lemon plant before. But I would wait to hear someone else say this is a good idea before you should try this, maybe I got lucky. I thought mine was about dead and I just figured what do I have to lose. I got rid of all the old soil. Pruned the roots lightly. Cut off about 2 inches off the end of each growing point then put it in some fresh soil and just wet it enough to allow the soil to set up. I kept it out of light for 2 weeks then I set it out in light. After about a month I saw some new growth. Once I saw new growth I fertilized and let it grow. It's doing good now and hopefully next season I'll get some good fruiting. Last year I only had one lemon but it was large and tasted good as fresh lemonade. I have a little one on it now but I don't know it's chances since it's in the garage at nights and days that don't warm up past 50. So the lemon hasn't grown much this past month, it's about the size of an egg now.
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veggie_girl
10 years ago
Congrats, nice that she gifted those to you.
garret_87
10 years ago
Would love to see pics. As far as their taste, mine have been pretty sour this season, like regular lemons. Not sure if its because I'm growing in a colder zone, but the room temp is consistently above 70 degrees and it gets 12 hours of grow light a day plus 4 hours of direct sun from the south facing window. I have picked 6 so far over the winter and 4 that I left on the tree to see if that 'Meyer' taste will arrive.
poncirusguy6b452xx
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank all for looking and your support. Here is one picture so far.

{{gwi:569340}}

Steve
norwoodn
10 years ago
What a lovely meyer. I wonder if my rootstock has an effect on the leaf shape, cause mine are a little different. And you think yours is on its own roots.
meyermike_1micha
10 years ago
Congrats!!

I'm about to give up on growing citrus all together,,If I end up getting rid of mine you will be the first on my list to send a few..

Mike
johnmerr
10 years ago
Rootstock of Meyer is not such a factor in leaf shape and size; light is a much bigger factor. Not enough light equals bigger, rounder leaves.
poncirusguy6b452xx
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, John

This is the picture of the other Meyer lemon tree.
{{gwi:577885}}
I should wait till daytime so I can see where the camera is pointed. Both trees have been on the north or west side of the house and shaded by a full glass storm door to limit the direct sunlight to 0 hours. After 5 days I am exposing the tree to 2 hours of sun at sunrise for the north tree and sunset for the west tree. I have looked over the trees and they both have a ring of roots around a cut end and no tap root. Both trees flowered last year but no fruit set.

Steve
poncirusguy6b452xx
Original Author
9 years ago
The Meyers are looking better
poncirusguy6b452xx
Original Author
9 years ago
Meyer lemon tree in bottomless 18 inch box.
johnmerr
9 years ago
Good job. Nice color and shine. They look happy and healthy.
poncirusguy6b452xx
Original Author
9 years ago
Another burst in growth. It looks like this is the big one.

Steve
tcamp30144(7B N.ATLANTA)
9 years ago
They look nice Steve
Trace
poncirusguy6b452xx
Original Author
9 years ago
Good news and bad news.

The good - - My Meyer lemon is bursting its bud in new growth.

The bad - - None of the buds are flower buds. These two Meyers are the only citrus trees of mine that are of breeding age.

The small Meyer lemon is behind the better an I am unable to pick it out.

Steve
johnmerr
9 years ago
Steve,

Don't despair. The primary flower times for Meyers in your climate are Spring and Fall. Be happy they are growing and continue to look healthy.
poncirusguy6b452xx
Original Author
9 years ago
FLOWERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cory (Zone 7a, NJ)
9 years ago
Great Steve! I hope you get some fruit for all your efforts.

Cory
poncirusguy6b452xx
Original Author
9 years ago
I HAVE CONTINUED THIS THREAD TO A NEW THREAD. JUST CLICK THE LINK BELOW.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg0119200229928.html?27482

PSSSST. I just inherited 2 Meyer lemon trees

Comments (19)

norwoodn

johnmerr

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