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which tree should I get? Meyer Lemon or Washington Navel Orange?

11 years ago

Hey all!

So I purchased an Oroblanco Dwarf Grapefruit tree from 4 Winds a few months back, and my great-grandmother has been ohhing and ahhing at it everytime she comes to visit (and she's a big gardner, loves growing flowers and plants and is very good at it). Well her 95th birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I've decided to give the tree to her :), I think she'll be very happy, and I'll make up a direction sheet on how to care for citrus. But now I have a dilemma, what kind of tree should I get for myself in the spring when it warms back up again?? :) I can't decide between a Meyer Lemon and a Washington Navel Orange (I would get the tree from 4 Winds). I kind of want both LOL XD but not sure it that would be a good idea.

Anyone willing to give me their opinion? anyone willing to post pictures of their meyer lemon and/or washington navel orange would be great! :D

Thanks! :)

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Comments (4)

johnmerr
11 years ago
I am not just a fan of the Meyer Lemon; I am President of the company.... LOL. As an amateur chef also, I don't think I could survive without a Meyer lemon tree. At the moment I have 16,000; so I have enough for most of my friends.

As for the Washington Navel; I have a few, along with a dozen or more varieties of citrus. I find the Washington more susceptible to diseases and critters than some; I recently planted 4 Cara Cara oranges; IMHO they are notably better than the Washington. Were I you, I would get both the Meyer and the Cara Cara.
msugrl2010
Original Author
11 years ago
John,

Oh wow! Congrats on being the president of such a wonderful company! LOL I'm envious, 16000 meyer lemon trees! WOW! :O! I'm assuming they're in your backyard, right? haha just kidding. I didn't know about the potential vulnerability that the navel orange tree has to some diseases and bugs. I actually plan on having the tree in a pot, since I'm from Michigan and could never plant it outside. Would you still recommend the Cara Cara over the Washington Navel even though it would be in a pot? the 4 winds site says WN and Trovita are best as indoor potted growing plants (which they would be in the winter, outside in the summer), but would Cara Cara do just as well? I know the Meyer would be ok in a pot.

Thanks for the tips!
Msugrl
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Just a thought, Johnmerr, You might not be interested in that "sport", but others might be and if you don't want to work with it, maybe you could let someone else do the graft. How exciting it is that this has happened to your tree. Mark the branch so you'll know which one it is in case you decide to allow someone else to study this "sport." I've heard that Meyers make delicious lemonade and I've used them in seafood dishes and loved the lemon flavor of it better than regular lemons. I have a young Improved Meyer tree. Vivian
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some twigs dying is normal in Washington Navel. Considering the amount of work you did with the roots, really the tree looks to have very little shock. I would have expected more set back after that sort of transplanting. As to the flowers, it is also normal for there to be a big blossoms drop. Also normal is for there to be only a very small percentage of blossoms that make a fruit. From what I see, just keep watering daily and let is settle into it's new home. Light pruning of the brown twigs would be good, bot don't cut into the green. Just remove the dead wood. It would be nice if those lovely scented blossoms lasted longer wouldn't it?
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Follow-up, 13 days after re-pot. Unfortunately my tree is in trouble again! Less than a week after repotting, the veins of many of the leaves started to turn yellow. The yellow then spreads outwards, and the leaf drops off (see photos in the link below). It looks like the little tree will lose most of its leaves :-( Searching through the forum, I found a thread from a year ago where Mike had a tree with exactly the same symptoms - did you ever find out what was wrong? I hope your tree survived! Do you think it is just a stress response (I pruned some of the roots when I repotted)? It also developed flower buds, which I know can be a sign of stress (I removed most of these to help the plant concentrate strength). I have had it in the shade since the repot and it has only been watered on the day of the repot and once since. I haven't checked the pH of the new soil, but I made it as per instructions (including lime, although perhaps I didn't include enough?). Would it be worth checking the pH? On the positive side, I have noticed a few tiny new leaves forming at the end of a couple of the branches (but not lower down on the branches). Do you think the tree will drop all it's leaves and then recover? Or is it a goner? Yours hopefully, Lindsay PS I have some Foliage Pro due to be delivered next week that I planned to start using, if the tree is still alive... Here is a link that might be useful: New problems with lemon tree
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mike: I get very little leaf drop. What little I get is only when I go to highs in the 70s to 80s in about February. There has never been any leaf drop in winter, zero, and I've done the same thing for 7 years. My temperatures are modeled after those in central California where they grow almost any fruit you can imagine including 1,000 of acres of citrus. So your leaf drop may be more associated with too warm by day than too cold at night. It's the heat that will stress the tree if the roots aren't functioning well enough due to cold soil as say after a series of cold cloudy days. It's hard to get a picture of the full tree which is planted inground and about 9ft tall. Other things get in the way when you back up enough for a full picture. And right now it's heavily overcast. I'll try later in the day. Your climate is really pretty good for a greenhouse citrus project.
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hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
11 years ago
Well, kind of depends on what you want - juice or eating out of hand. The Meyer is an outstanding lemon. I'm a big fan like John. I use the Meyer for cooking, all my lemonade, and for my Limoncello. But, I couldn't be without a Valencia orange, as that makes the best orange juice. I love my Cara Cara as I think it's the best eating out of hand navel orange. Navel oranges will produce juice, but navel oranges contain a much higher chemical that causes the juice to become bitter if refrigerated, so traditionally navel oranges, like the Cara Cara, are for eating out of hand, whereas the Valencia is for both eating out of hand and juicing. So, decide what your grandmother would prefer, and that's your choice :-) Then, just get the other one for yourself, and you can swap fruits!

Patty S.
johnmerr
11 years ago
The Cara Cara is, I believe, a sport of the Washington navel, so should grow the same; I simply prefer the taste of the Cara Cara; and it seems a bit juicier; but that is in my climate (tropical) and may not be true in Michigan.

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