BRAND New Gardener, Meyer Lemon Tree Help!
Jon Zar
8 years ago
Hello all. I have started gardening just about a week ago. I bought a 3 year old Meyer Lemon tree online about a month ago. It was repotted in commercial high grade potting soil right when I got it. I have a few questions about the plant.
1. How come it is not nice and bushy like the trees I see online? It is just one long stalk. It is starting to grow off the sides, but only on the top, what about the bottom? Will it help if I take some of the fruit off? When do I take them off?
2. I have not yet gotten a straight forward answer. How often do I water the plant? I have asked everyone I know. I live in zip code 11021. The moisture meter seems to not work for me. I dip my finger in and it can still be moist after a week, but I am told to water twice a week since the plant is outside. How much water should I be giving? I give 1.5L
We will start with those 2 questions for now. I will post photos.
P.S. I have started little grapefruit seedlings using the baggie method. They went in the soil 2 days ago. How often am I supposed to water that?
Thanks!
Jon
Featured Answer
Comments (13)
tlbean2004
8 years agoIt looks very young. It will grow branches as it gets older. Let it dry out a bit before you water it again. You can stick your finger in the pot to test for moisture but the pot will also be a lot lighter in weight and that will also let you know it is time to water. It does not really look like it is 3 years old but i dont know.
Here is a pic of my variegated lemon tree. I think it is 3 years old too. I got it from Home Depot
about 6 weeks ago. The trunk is about 3/4 inch thick. It is putting on tons of new growth. New leaves and new flowers. It LOVES the sun.
Jon Zar
8 years agoRelated Discussions
New Meyer Lemon and Mexican Lime Tree. Need Help!!
Comments (10)jkom has given you great advice. The Meyer looks great, well planted, no grass to compete, etc. I would recommend placing them on a drip system, since citrus do need a fair amount of water, especially in the hotter areas of the country. They also need well draining soil, which you probably have based on where you are. If planted in clay soils, they should be elevated, and the water well provided at the drip line lower than the tree crown. You may need to expand the wells as your trees grow, as you really want the water to pool in a circle around your tree at the drip line (edge of the canopy), as that's where your tree's feeder roots reside. Use a good fertilizer formulated for citrus, which will be higher in nitrogen and will contain micronutrients. You'll want to fertilize at regular intervals, and for you that should be February, May, and early October, but you can check with your local Master Gardeners for any additional timing for your specific area. It also would be beneficial for you to mulch your wells with compost or composted manure. That will do two things for your citrus: provide some water retention in your very arid climate, and also provide additional slow release nitrogen, both very helpful for growing citrus in arid climates on sandy or DG soils. I mulch my citrus at least once or twice a year with a small amount of chicken manure (very hot, so use sparingly), and then top with compost and wood chips as I'm on nearly pure DG, so very little organic material in my soil. For us here in S. California for the most part, iron deficiency is actually rarely an issue, as our soils have plenty of iron (but possibly jkom is in an area that is deficient - California is a gigantic state with some fairly wide differences in soil makeup). It is usually a manganese deficiency we see here, and that tends to be the same for AZ. I would check with your local Master Gardeners, again, though, to find out what your soil issues are, and fertilize accordingly. You can also use a micronutrient foliar spray too, which works very well if you notice your leaves getting pale or yellowish. Grow More Citrus Grower's Blend is a good micronutrient product. And do support your branches on your young trees, especially the Meyer, as Meyer's tend to be very prolific producers (my Meyer has no less than 50 to 100 fruit on it at any given time, I have Meyer lemons coming out my ears). Lastly, you are very fortunate to have quite a bit of online support for citrus in your state. I've included a link below, which also has additional links for you. Definitely check out Arizona Cooperative Extension's web site, it is a great resource for those growing citrus in AZ: http://extension.arizona.edu/maricopa/citrus-publications Your Master Gardeners are part of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, and are a great, great resource for home gardeners. Here's a link to your AZ Master Gardener manual: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/ Good luck, looks like you're off to a good start! Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: AZ Citrus...See MoreNew Meyer Lemon Tree Owner Needs Help
Comments (7)I agree with Jean and would get a larger pot. You want the pot to at least comfortably hold the root mass and have a little extra room. In terms of should you repot now (and this will involve damage to the roots as you can't avoid it if you intend to get the hardened soil away from them), you probably shouldn't. However, you are in a situation where you are kind of darned if you do, darned if you don't. It's incredibly unhealthy to have a tree that is not only pot bound, but is in old soil that the constricting roots have compressed into a cement like condition. What I, personally, would do is repot now, but take great care to keep the roots moist during the entire process and have the new pot and new potting mix already prepared before beginning. After the repot I would have the tree indoors to spare it the heat and wind which could set it back as the roots may not be able to keep up with the tree's water requirements in an outdoor environment for awhile. Treat it as a houseplant until you see some new growth (probably 2-3 weeks) and then gradually adjust it to outdoor conditions. BTW, you should remove all of the roots that are spiraliing around the bottom of the pot, those won't do you any favors if you keep them. Just slice off the bottom third of the entire root mass, no sense trying to save this part. After that, remove any roots that look obviously damaged. Any that have dark spots (usually slimy) are rotting and should be removed completely. If there are any roots that are exceptionally thick compared to the rest, remove those as well. Those are past their prime in terms of providing water and nutrients to the tree. Lastly, don't fear this process too much even though it can be scary. In most cases the tree will sit and maybe even sulk (drop some leaves) for a few weeks, but then it recovers and in the long run does much better than had it been left in the condition it is in now....See Morenew to fourm! bought a meyer lemon tree and is this fungai?
Comments (8)For some reason this old posting showed up on my ipod this morning. I was surprised that this is almost exactly what my older trees have. Too bad this is an old thread because I would have liked to ask the OP if the spots washed off....See MoreNew Meyer lemon tree help?
Comments (0)I just bought a small Meyer lemon tree from my local Covingtons nursery. The plant is very healthy and has a lot of unripe lemons. I have a few questions about the plant though. I live in Texas, (Google says I'm in hardiness zone 8a) 1. The unripe lemons have some "dusty" looking spots on them, is that a problem? 2. I need so repot it out of the nursery container, how big of a pot should I get? 3. Any tips I should know about keeping this kind of tree?...See MoreJon Zar
8 years agotlbean2004
8 years agotlbean2004
8 years agoJon Zar
8 years agotlbean2004
8 years agotlbean2004
8 years agoJon Zar
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agotlbean2004
8 years agoJon Zar
8 years ago
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