Looks like Meyer lemons. Your tree looks healthy even in a relatively cool area. I would recommend the citrus fertilizer formulations that are low in N but high in P and K and with micronutrients. I have seen two major types of citrus fert formulations, one of them is for active growth with N as the highest component, and the other formulation where the N is not the highest component. I would use the one with the lower N for mature trees, it keeps them productive but not very vegetatively active.

Congratulations on your care, most lemons in the cooler parts of the Bay area have a lot yellower leaves than yours due mostly to temperature.

Nice tree. The "sharkskin" rind on those Meyer Lemons is old mite damage. Even though the fruit wouldn't pass a USDA color standards test, they are perfectly fine for eating. Enjoy.

I'd love to have a Lemon tree as beautiful as yours! I can't get over the size of the trunk! Wow! I had no idea that a Meyer could get that massive.

Lucky, lucky you!

Lisa

Joe, thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I think my fertilizer is the GreenAll brand citrus food. I'll have to double check the numbers, but i think it's 14-4-8. BTW, I checked out your pictures. Your garden looks great!

AAEgo, I just read your reply about the rind in another post, too. Thanks! Do you know what these mites are called?

Thanks Lisa!

We couldn't believe it was a Meyer, but that's what the previous owner told us. And sure enough, that's what the fruit look and taste like! We planted a young Meyer in our old garden, and we waited forever for lemons. My wife was sooooo happy when she saw that lemon tree in the back yard of the new place!

tburger, GreenAll makes a lot of sensible fertilizers, unfortunately I only reliably get them at Ace Hardware where prices are cheaper for smaller bag fertilizers. Half of my fertilizers are from GreenAll, then the next would be from Best, and the others would be various brands that happened to be on sale. Amazingly, you can also use GreenAll's tomato fertilizer formulation on your citrus. I checked that out, including the minors such as S, Fe, Zn, Mn, Mg, Ca, and the lower N that is acidifying, higher K, makes it also ideal for citruses, not only for tomatoes. I did use it one time on my citruses and bananas whenever it is on sale and can afford it, and have good results.

I also stocked up with several 50lb bags of 6-20-20XB fertilizer from Best when it went on sale for just $16 per bag, and it has a lot of minor nutrients, ideal for maintaining all my citruses, bananas, stones and pomes to keep them productive but not vegetative. For younger trees that need a lot of growth, I supplement with ammonium sulfate (the cheapest acidifying nitrogen fertilizer that I can find).

With all due respect, I would disagree on using a fertilizer formula that contains a small amount of nitrogen and higher phosphorus content even on mature trees. Citrus trees need a certain amount of minerals related to their FOLIAR SURFACE and the FRUIT load productivity. The soil must supply elements to the roots in an aequate quantity and quality. Fertilization must replace the amount of nutrients lost to fruit or by leaching and vaporization. Loss of minerals varies greatly in relation to the amount of fruit production, soil and climate. As an approximate estimation of the yearly loss of the main fertilizer elements per acre of a orchard with MATURE trees producing an adverage fruit load of 13 tons per acre is Nitrogen=193lbs.; P2O5=35lbs.; K2O=106lbs (5-1-3 ratio). These are the average amounts per acre that MUST be replaced fertilizing. In fact the amounts have to be increased for deficiencies and high leaching. This is particularly true for NIROGEN, which is easily soluble and readily leaches from the soil. There are many commerical products. They must be chosen according to the replacing of minerals and their ratio. 5 parts N, 1 part P2.05 and 3 K20 is the ratio for mature producing trees when the mineral content in the leaves is satisfactory. - Millet

I would also like to add information on recent studies conducted at the Forschungsanstalt Geisenheim in Germany, on soluble citrus fertilizers and the fertilizing of citrus trees. Their findings....the nitrogen content of most citrus fertilizers is insufficient and the dosage recommendations are often too low. If one corrects by fertilizing more, then the phosphates in the soil becomes concentrated. Yellow leaves (chlolosis) are often the result. This is not the result of insuffient iron, as often assumed, but is caused by insuffient nitrogen and magnesium. The Forschungsanstalt Geisenheim's recomendation is to "fertilize with a good high nitrogen complete fertilizer which has little phosphate, but contains all trace elements, above all magnesium." Lastly, many soils in the various citrus areas actually do not need any phosphates added at all, as the soils naturally contain more than sufficient quantities. - Millet

Millet, our California soils are mostly on the clay side. Very few are on the other extremes. Clay soils with stagnant non-flowing water are more of our problem than leaching. I have to literally take out the soil, install drainage pipes and aerators, and then put back the proper type of soil around our backyard so that I could plant the trees. Our soils are rich in nitrogen. My recommendations are not for potted citruses, neither were they for everyone including Germany, it is within the context of the original author and what I know about our soils and that I have been to several backyards of several friends in the Bay area. We do have soils that are sandy or silty that have high leaching rates. Our soils and city water are also on the basic side, that will also tend to limit availability of P.

You are right that one must consider what you are taking out must be replaced. We are however in the context of producing fruits for home consumption within our yard, and not to think like a commercial for profit growers. As a home owner who doesn't want vigorous growth on our mature trees, it would be easier for me to err on the less growth side. Apply less N, you have lesser growth, lesser pruning work, for sure reduced yield which we also like to be at manageable harvest level but always more than enough for our needs. That's the beauty of this, we can easily manipulate growth and production and not be dictated by economics of production. Applying more N, naturally you will have overly vigorous trees, something that in my right mind, you will never need to do with your mature trees when they are planted closer together than those in commercial orchards.

I have one valencia orange tree in my rental property, also heavy clay soil. I have never applied any fertilizer on it ever, as did the previous owner. Yet it keeps on consistently producing a lot of fruits, and it has been 15 years since it was planted. Perhaps during the last 3 years since we got it, it has only grown 1/2 ft taller, but the fruit production is more or less consistent and there was no need to prune nor clean up intertwining branches as there are none. The fruit taste kept on improving year after year, however. This tree could easily qualify for organic growing. This is the type of mature tree that I want in my yard. The leaves remained green, no deficiency, on clay soils but yet produce fruit. I just water it on automatic schedule. Should I need to make it grow bigger, I would perhaps apply fertilizer with low N, then just ammonium sulfate for the younger ones that I want to grow vigorously. Clay soils store a lot of nutrients and the only problem about leaching is that we need it, along with aeration and proper drainage in some cases.

Well, what can I say? If you have a citrus tree, and do NOT want the tree to grow, and you do NOT want the tree to produce as much citrus fruit as the tree can possibly produce, then I guess witholding nurishment from the tree will probably accomplish your wishes. BTW all studies and all research that is carried out by the Forschungsanstalt Geisenheim (a German research company) is on CONTAINERIZED citrus and on other types of CONTAINERIZED fruit trees. - Millet

As I would suspect, the containerized growing explains the need to use extavagant amount of fertilizers, particularly the more mobile N. Perhaps a big environmental problem associated with excess fertilizer leacheates in the surface water runoff. I am guilty of such things in my potted plants. :-)

This is really good info. Our soil in San Francisco tends to be on the sandy side. I double checked my citrus food, and it's more like 6-8-4. However, it does have a note in the instructions saying that, in addition to citrus food, you can also feed a mature tree monthly with a 0-10-10 to maximize fruit production.

I personally have never heard of anyone feeding a citrus tree a formula such as 0-10-10 Millet

Millet, I've never heard of anyone feeding citrus with a 0-10-10 either. I guess I should be more specific. The instructions say to feed with citrus food monthly, from spring thru fall. Then...
"For more and sweeter fruit and sturdier plants, feed once a month with 'Ultra Bloom' 0-10-10 from fall thru winter."

We all have to remember that growing trees in your backyard have a plethora of objectives, oftentimes different than commercial growers, and for those growing them for pride or specimen display.

I sometimes augment my main fertilizers with trace element mix or use different rates and combo, depending upon what fertilizers are on sale and the growth pattern I want with them. I do not grow my plants for maximum production only, I primarily grow them for various reasons, and one of them is maintaining size and sustained production without taxing my wallet too much, another major reason is for experimentation. Fruits, I treat them as a bonus or gift from God, and gladly share with friends and relatives. Leftovers are made into wine, nothing wasted as much as possible.