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Meyer Lemon-Tree Question

17 years ago

I bought a Meyer Lemon-Tree back in March from Walmart . . I have the tree in a planter and it was looking beautiful . . It bloomed out late April and formed lemons soon after . . Problem though , The lemons have remained about the same size since Late-May early June . . the biggest ones are about golf-ball size . . Is this normal ? ? How long should it take for them to reach Maturity ? ? Also if and when they do , Should I let them become yellow on the tree ? ? Or pick them and let them ripen somewhere ? ? Any help would be great . . I've been all through this forum and saw nothing on the amount of time for Maturity and this is really bugging me . .

Thank-You for any advice that you can give . .

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Comments (2)

lemon_dreams
17 years ago
citrus can take MONTHS N MONTHS to ripen. some have said 7-12 months for some varieties. Its all about being patient... and its HARD. I have a calamondin, that has fruit a bit bigger than a golf ball and they've just stopped growing, the one looks to be starting to ripen, we'll see. hoping its not gearing to drop off on me. Just frustrating as these will be my first fruits off a tree I grew... it did come with fruit, but that doesn't count. these... I've grown from flower to golf ball.

citrus do not ripen once off the tree... so leave on till they ripen. They'll eventually turn yellow. :)

Congrats on your lemon... I can't wait till my lemon flowers and fruits... it has several flower buds on it... so maybe this fall I'll have lemons the size of yours... then just to keep alive through the winter! yikes!
gatormomx2
17 years ago
I have a large Myer lemon in the ground . It sets fruit in the Spring and we eat lemons in January . It can take 9 or 10 months for those little green balls to ripen . Only trouble with a Myers lemon- ALL the fruit becomes ripe on the same day .The lemons ripen quickly and just as fast they are gone - until next year . Leave the lemons on the tree and pick them only when you need to use them . They rot very fast in the fridge .
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Hi Nkesh, Andrew gave you great advice and thank you..:-) Have you seen his tree? I get mine at 4Winds..I usually buy the 2-3 year olds..They are of good size and very high quality.. I personally wouldn't add anything to any of my soils that would clog up air space or pores in my soils that would allow the roots to breath freely and the soil to dry out evenly, especially coffee grinds..Never had a good experience with these except for the first few weeks of applying them, then my plants would go down hill from there.. The soilless mix you are thinking of making sounds ok, but it all depends on your cultural habits, and the enviroment they will be subjected too.. Remember, different soil for different folks, and plants mind you...:-) As for fertilizer...Many also have success with different types..I happen to use Foliage Pro..That is the only thing mine need plus vinegar at waterings.. Mine do well with a Ph below 7...No lower than 5.5...:-). They might be able to take lower, not sure of that. Maybe someone can tell us about PH and the most favorable number range for our trees... Mike..:-)
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chunqu, yellowing leaves generally indicate a lack of fertilizer or poor drainage.Citrus trees are heavy nitrogen feeders.Miracid is water soluable and has a 3-1-1 ratio.And you can find this product even in your grocery store in the plant section.Miricle grow puts it out.Also a good citrus/avacado food is very benificial,just feed according to the directions.If this Meyer citrus were mine,I'd find it a good place indoors until next spring.Wishing luck to you,after all you did see some fruitation on your Meyer this year.***Suzanne
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Less than 2 % of the fruit will stay on the tree to mature size. The rest will drop in various stages of size most prominently at the size you mentioned. Fruits take a lot of energy from the plant and therefore drop out the most it cannot carry.
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