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I just planted a Meyers Lemon Tree - now what?

17 years ago

I went to a local citrus grower, The Flying Dragon, and got a Meyers Lemon. I picked a nice spot with only a little shade coming from the SE and a considerable amount of morning sun. I dug a nice deep hole and put close to two feet of freshly chewed up mulch with black dirt in the hole, then my two foot citrus which I surrounded with black potting soil and some mixed in mulch and covered it to where it was just above ground level. Then I put some mulch on top and watered it well.

I was told to keep the grass from under it and fertilize it with 2 cups of fertilizer for every foot of growth in radius from the stem to the furthest branch. This is to be done from February to September. Is there anything else that is important?

I have a comquat and a 6 foot pineapple orange that produced more oranges than I can eat. I am very excited. I hope to plant a grapefruit tree next when I remove an old Chinese Talon this spring.

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Comments (3)

coastiemedic
17 years ago
Just wait for lemons... ;) Hopefully, you have cool nights some of the time as lemons love cool weather better than hot and humid climates. Wher I live is "Lemon Country"-coastal middle-northern California.
garden_party
Original Author
17 years ago
I live in Jacksonville, Florida. It's coastal NE Florida. I think we have enough humidity - smile.

I usually am on the antique rose forum. But, my garden club had a citrus tour and lecture by a 70 year citrus growing veteran and it really motivated me to add to my comquat and pineapple orange. His citrus was to die for. He had some flying dragon root grafted fruit that could live outside year round in the Carolina's. It was smaller trees, but the same great fruit. It was all very interesting.
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Venus! Congrats and happy citrus growing! You will be amazed at how addicting this can be, espcially when you see your trees respond to your good care practices. I would repot in the spring and make sure you build yourself a great soilless mix in the meantime with getting familiar with the link I will provide for you at the bottom of this page. The 'mix' you choose will be the biggest determining factor to your success. It will either work for you or against you. How much you fertilize and with what will be determined by your mix. The best thing you could do for your tree is to make sure you keep the roots happy! The roots are the heart of a plant. It will also help you understand the concepts of growing in containers. Or you could buy yourself a very good soilless mix such as a Fafard brand and try that too. Most if not everything you do with/to your tree will be related to the kind of mix you choose to use. Understanding the concepts of growing in the confines of a pot will help you stay on the path of great growing practices and much success! Here is where I started and good luck! Mike:-) Here is a link that might be useful: Container soils-Water movement
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Hey, I remember when I was first excited to use the good mix too...You would be amazed at how awesome trees do in the stuff you are so anxiously waiting to use..By the way, great idea about soaking the bark! It is even so clean looking and just beautiful to match that beautiful tree.. I wonder about that mix it came in..It looks like it is ready to break down fast already..Hard to really tell..It looks like it would be good draining for one season more. Let me ask you this..This is your homework. Call that place tomorrow and ask them specific questions about the care your tree just came from and what kind of mix they use. Here is what I would ask them to help give your tree a head start and to mimick as close as they did. 1. What exactly is in their mix? 2. How long has the tree been in that same pot? 3. What kind of warmth did it recieve? 4. How much sunlight did they get? 5. Were they grown outside or in a controlled environment, like a greenhouse? 6.Did they use any type of acidifyer product? 7. What was teh fertilizer they used? By the way, what Zone do you live in? Where in the world? Will you have to winter it inside or will you be able to expose it to full sun all winter long? Does it get cold there? That will determin if you can use a less than ideal mix to carry you over until spring) MIke This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Thu, Oct 30, 14 at 17:30
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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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coastiemedic
17 years ago
Hi, Gardenparty. J-ville should have enough cool winter nights to satisfy your Meyer Lemon. I have relatives in J-ville, as I'm from Macon, GA. In the hot J-ville summer, try to keep your lemon out of the mid-day sun as it(the sun)could "fry" the "critter". Morning and evening sun, about 8-hours worth, along with afternoon shade/dappled sun should be all you will need. Definitely keep it ouitside in full sun during the non-summer months. Meyer Lemon can take anything a J-ville-winter can throw at it, plus it will get those cool and sunny hours it needs to be healthy. Of course, use a good citrus fertilizer according to directions for your area and you should be good-to-go! Flying dragon root stock is great as it aids in keeping the tree "dwarf"; however, it won't prevent the tree (graft) from dying from leaf exposure to extreme cold. The scion (flying-dragon root stock) will continue to grow, and all you'll have is a "flying-dragon" citrus tree sprouting under the dead graft the followingt spring-good to grow but horrible to eat...LOL. Coastal Carolinas (zone 8) could be OK for lemons if protected, but I doubt any oranges could survive...maybe kumquats...let me know the website where Oranges could be grown in the Carolinas...I'm curious, thanks...and good luck.

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