First Major Harvest of Meyer Lemons

11 years ago

The link below shows my Meyer Lemon's very first significant harvest. I already have picked about 2 dozen and frozen juice! Perhaps next year I will try selling at a local farmer's market or roadside on the road to Saguaro NP East :-)

For those new people here, this forum is an excellent source of information and guidance. I want to thank all who have provided that!!! Now, if only I could get my blood orange tree to bloom and bear, I would be one happy camper :-)

Happy holidays everybody!

Here is a link that might be useful: Some Meyer Lemon Pix

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Comments (13)

krismast
11 years ago
Wow! Congrats on the great looking lemons! Yum, I could think of a lot of things to make with those. In fact, tonight I'm whipping up some Meyer Lemon sugar cookie dough. I'm excited! :-)

Kristopher
johnmerr
11 years ago
Beautiful crop. Don't know about AZ; but in California with a folding chair and a cardboard sign at the side of the road, you can sell Meyer lemons for $1 each and the first car to stop will likely buy most of what you have.

Best of luck; but I don't think one tree will pay your taxes, or water,or your entrepreneurial worth.

Plant more.

John
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Hi, great to see the Meyer is on the way back! I am in NorCal and have had this happen to me (oranges, lemons, and limes) last August (when it hit 102F a few days in a row). I (over)fed them and failed to keep the soil wet. If the Meyer is showing any signs of dehydration even through you are watering / and / or Unless you have definitive proof (soil analysis) of nutrient deficient soil, I'd not add any fertilizer until you get 3-4" of new branch growth. Heavy blooming is a classic stage of recovery from drought and shock. It is much too easy to over-fertilize. A dose of fertilizer raises the salt level of the soil and can quickly dehydrate the plant if you do not keep the ground wet. Just like your lawn, you cannot let it dry out after dosing it with fertilizer. Burned / damaged roots cannot absorb nutrients and by adding more fertilizer you will just more roots. I have a Sanguinelli Orange that looked far worse from two years of steady dosing of organic fertilizer... i stopped the feeding last August, flushed the soil, and transplanted 2 months ago it to fresh soil (without adding anything). Lo and behold it is just starting to push loads of buds. I have a Valencia that suffered through multiple transplants and aggressive feedings. It has about a dozen leaves and is (finally) starting to show nubs of new growth, but looking dehydrated even though its been watered. i think it will pull it and replace the soil this week. Good luck!
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Larry, Macrophylla does not have any notable affect on fruit quality. I wouldn't grow citrus in volcanic soil, if I had a choice; volcanic soil binds the phosphorus, so you have to add a lot of extra P; fertilizer tends to leach out of the root zone more quickly also. The roots of cuttings or from seedlings tend to be weaker and more susceptible to root rot or drowning during our rainy season. I chose Macrophylla for my operation because it is very vigorous, relatively resistant, and I am planting my trees close to hedgerow them. I get full production at 3 years, 3-400 fruits per tree. Anyway, as I have said before it really is still just an experiment; I may find that the Macrophylla is a bit too vigorous, in which case I will choose another for future plantings.
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Why are you wanting to prune the branches and roots? If you're planting in a larger container, you would not want to do that. Citrus are tip producers, so unless you have crossing branches, dead wood, or uneven or unruly growth, you would not want to prune your tree. And again, not sure why you want to prune the roots if you're going into a bigger container unless the roots are completely root bound and growing in a circle. I would skip trying to find a 25 gal. container with handles. There are dollies you can use to move your pots inside and out, that will spare your back. And, I would not recommend the potting mix you've selected. I don't even use that for my 100% outside container citrus. I use a modified version of the 511 mix on this forum. That mix is much too dense with way, way too much peat. I would suggest 511 or gritty mix. Search our forum for the recipe. Patty S.
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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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hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
11 years ago
Congratulations, pgde What beautiful pictures. I hope you love your Meyer lemonade as much as I do :-) You should try making limoncello from the peels. You could also check with some of your high end restaurants in the area, especially some of the smaller ones to see if they would like to buy your Meyer lemons. How many Meyer lemon trees do you have? If you have a few, and you're tending them organically, you might also be able to apply for organic status, and sell them as certified organic produce.

Patty S.
MrClint
11 years ago
Nice looking crop. :)

I've always felt that my Meyer Lemons are more valuable to me as a kitchen resource than they would be if sold for cash. What I save on salad dressings, beverages and desserts - not to mention the added nutrition and culinary quality - make them priceless. If life gives you lemons, celebrate.
johnmerr
11 years ago
My slogan is, "If life gives you lemons, pray they are Meyers".

Last year at the Berlin show there was a famous chef... can't remember his name... who was so excited to see the Meyers we sent. He told the press, "When I can get Meyer lemons, I do not even consider any other lemon in my kitchens".
MrClint
11 years ago
{{gwi:644437}}
johnmerr
11 years ago
Thanks so much, Mr Clint; I just copied that photo to my marketing file.

John
johnmerr
11 years ago
MR Clint,

You have just gained the status of "Friend of Mayan Meyer Lemons"; that gives you full rights to being treated as a friend and VIP, when You come to Guatemala to visit.

Thanks again,

John
MrClint
11 years ago
{{gwi:644439}}
MrClint
11 years ago
Oops, fixed the typo:
{{gwi:644441}}
MrClint
11 years ago
Thanks. No trips to South or Central America planned for me. Appreciate the offer. Here's my last meme for this thread, I promise:
{{gwi:644444}}
Andrew Scott
11 years ago
I have to say that so far, the Meyer lemon is also my favorite lemon variety. I have never tasted any lemon that tasted as good as my meyer lemons. I just wish I could grow them like you guys who live in warm climates can!

Andrew
Ryan
11 years ago
Andrew, you don't need a super warm climate to grow Meyers well. Zone 6 is just fine. I grow more then I know what to do with in zone 7. Meyers are very prolific and compared to other citrus, easy to get fruit.

First Major Harvest of Meyer Lemons

Comments (13)

krismast

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