@Bob didn't get what you wanted to say.

Actually I am not looking forward to having a fruit from this tree. I had a Meyer lemon from my neighbor and I found it to be just another lemon. Though pretty looking. A lemonade tree is a cross between a Mandarin and a Meyer lemon. This one is a cross between a Meyer and a lemon. Instead of being on the sweeter side the fruit will be more on the lemony side.

I am really frustrated at seeing big nurseries here in Sydney selling this fake stuff in name of lemonade tree. I have seen this at three different nurseries now. Only Daley's fruit is selling the real stuff.

Just Started, so are you saying you were looking for a sweeter lemon? I had planted a few lime trees (rangpur, persian and mexican) thinking I was going to get tarter fruit, more limey. Turns out mine are all going to be sweeter than what I was looking for! However, the calamondin I bought seems to be extremely tart, so I am hoping to use that when I need sourness!

My variegated Eureka lemon has flowers, and I was told that was also called Pink Lemonade! I wonder if that is going to be sweeter or just prettier :)

So far I am finding my Meyer to be growing best in my area, at least so far, it has the most flowers and leaves!

KC

I would like to shape a just bought tree as soon as they arrive to repot first then look at the tree and see if you can start to shape the tree. Newly bought tree's are nursery grown close together so that they grow up not out(lengky).

People like to buy tall tree's. I use to grow a lot of peaches tree's and when i get home i bob the tree to about 24" tall because you have to create an openvase tree. The tree in the picture is wrong grown tree. So if you have cuttings you don't throw away the cuttings, you make new tree's. I bought a very special persimmon tree a few years ago and now a have about 16 or more producing tree's.

Thank you Laura, i really don't need to graft anymore tree's, i probably end-up given them away, you are much nicer then..........I am not going there.

There is a lime that came from Iran that suppose to be very healthy, it has a long name, it start with a N. I watch a video and the guy was talking about it but he talk so fast it sounded like goble thee gook.

@Kcandmilo the whole idea of lemonade tree is that you can pick the fruit off and eat it straight. And I can't eat a Meyer lemon straight off the tree!! And this one will be even more tart than a lemon.

@Bob I do not want more of this tree. Already I am space constrained.

JS

Your lemon will probably be eatable off the tree. You will find out in a few years at most. Nobody but nobody would cross a Meyer lemon with a lemon. Your tree is not marked right.

6b Steve

I hope so poncirusguy. I will shoot a mail at Daley's fruit and update this thread with what they think about this saga in Sydney.

A lemon you can eat off the tree!! This board is so bad for my wallet! Already I want one!

This is the reply I got from the people selling the real lemonade tree in Sydney.

" lemonade is a hybrid cross, lemon mandarin or such, meyer is also a hybrid cross between a lemon orange, so a meyer lemon cross would be less sour than a lemon but not as sweet as a lemonade."

Its early spring here in Sydney and pseudo lemonade tree is going ahead full steam. Hint of leaves yellowing. Gave them a dose of Epsom and Iron chelate along with regular plant food.

Why do you call it a "pseudo" lemonade tree?

A lemonade tree is supposed to be a cross between Meyer and Mandarin. These guys crossed a Meyer with a lemon and sold it off as lemonade tree. Though this phenomenon is rife through out Sydney. Almost all growers are doing the same.

Beautiful bud clusters, update us on the look and taste of the fruit!

Those flowers look just like the flowers on both of my Four Winds New Zealand lemonade trees from (pip) and my own graft NZL on US897. No nursery would cross a Meyer with a common lemon. It takes too much time to develop an otherwise useless hybrid.

Steve

For comparison here's a pic of flower clusters on my NZL from Four Winds. It's undergoing its second round of flowering for this year.

And here's flowers on ST lemon. The leaves are showing deficiency but they're actually greening up compared to a month ago. The buds are darker purple and longer than the lemonade's.

From the website of Engall's Nursery, NSW, Australia:

The Lemonade variety originated in Australia and was promoted by Engall"s Nursery, even making the front page of the Sydney morning Herald in the late eighties. It is now widely grown in backyards throughout Australia. The Lemonade, looks like a lemon, but can be eaten straight from the tree, just like a mandarin, or an orange. It's a lot sweeter than a lemon with a refreshing tang. It truly has to be tasted to be appreciated. It makes a refreshing drink when juiced. The tree is upright grower that produces an abundance of fruit, ripening mid winter. Be the envy of all your friends when they sample this unusual fruit, that can't be purchased at any fruit shop.

From a Darwin Government site comes this description:

A cross between an Orange and a Meyer Lemon, first cultivated in the
1980’s, about 2.5-3 metres high. The fruit has the appearance and shape of a lemon
and it is easily peeled, and segmented. It is sweet and juicy and has a sweet
effervescent flavour with a low acid content, tasting of lemonade. It is devoid of
bitterness and can easily be eaten as a fresh fruit, or squeezed for drinks. The
Lemonade tree often has small thorns and can bear a heavy crop each year in the
Darwin region.

There's probably some room for doubt but my impression has been that growers / nurseries sell the NZL as a lemon-mandarin, meyer-mandarin, or lemon-orange cross because that closely matches its flavor and is an appealing way to describe the tree. That said, several reputable sources put the NZL as a limetta (citrus limettioides). Here are a few sources w/ excerpts:

http://www.montereybaynsy.com/citrus.html

'New Zealand Lemonade' ...a limetta grown as a home variety in New Zealand, and recently released from the California "citrus health department." When properly ripe it can taste like a fresh-eating version of a lemon, just like regular oranges are the fresh eating version of a sour orange. I tasted it in mid-spring and was tangy, sweet-tart but still mostly tart, lemon-like in flavor and overall "good." It is a very close analog of both 'Pomona' and 'Millsweet.' Like other limettas it has somewhat ribbed fruit but lacks the prominent distal end nipple.

http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/lemonade.html

Lemonade lemon hybrid

Citrus limettioides Tanaka RUTACEAE

Apologies for the large text... I copied and pasted directly from the sources. Long story short, it appears the NZL may be a limetta or sweet lime with a great sweet-acid balance.

First blooms!! Smell is kinda ok. Not awesome.

Will keep at least two fruits on this tree. Does not matter how old it is. Suspense is too much.

@PacNorWreck if lemonade tree is actually a "Citrus limetta" then yes I have eaten it's fruit and it is actually very nice. Then it also puts in doubt the claim of NZ to have come up with this variety. It has been around in Asia for a very very long time.

There are occasional ants on my lemon tree flowers. I don't think they are farming anything. Right?

Most likely eating the nectar.

I am getting shoots on the pseudo lemonade tree. The lowest shoot is quite close to graft Union and I am not sure if to give it benefit of doubt and let it remain.

It is from the grafted bud

So not from rootstock and hence remains. Right?

Yes, looks like it. My Meiwa kumquat did the same thing, it is growing right from the grafted bud and has the same leaves as the top canopy of the Meiwa.

My NZL tree’s new shoots have that same purplish hue, that my Meyers do not have.

Can't believe the rate of growth. Leaves roses far behind.

The energy accumulated just bursts the nods/ buds open in right conditions. Looks very good!

I have two lemonade trees going - one in a container which I grafted using a tiny scion just to not waste it (and it took!), another another one grafted to some trifolate suckers coming off a stump that used to host a dancy tangerine. Both are doing well and making fruit.

People seem to wait until the fruit is fully yellow to eat it, and I kind of enjoy it when it's not quite there. Is there some kind of consensus on when to pick and eat these?

Hi Serge, how do they taste like? Are they as sweet as mandarin?

Amy, lemonade fruit taste nothing like mandarin. They truly taste like lemonade. Lemon flavor with some sweetness, but not a lot of sweetness. Very tasty.

Oh thank you Vladimir!

I'm wondering how is the taste different from a meyer lemon?

It is sweeter than a meyer but not very sweet.

The lemonade tree is back in store.

And this time there were small baby lemonade fruits on it!!

Did yours end up being actually lemonade?

Still waiting for fruits from mine.

This year a fruit survived but looks like an insect made a quick work of it already.

Is it your lemonade tree? Can you bag the fruit?

Yes that is the lemonade tree. Isn't it too late to bag it?

My lemonade tree from Four Winds Growers NZL tree has white flowers. No pink coloring whatsoever on the blossom and the new growth does not have red coloring. Interesting.

Well I kind of forgot about it. There were so many things happening. And this guy then fell of the tree while it was still green !!! So that was a bit bad. From pictures on the label I know that it is supposed to ripe and be yellow on the tree. But that it survived so long on that thin branch is a bit of consolation.

So I left the fruit lying around as it was still green. But over time it turned yellow and was on its way to dustbin. But curosity got better of me and I decided to have a look. It is rotting away from center. But I did taste a slice from the part which was all juicy and 'fresh' looking.

It was sour but sweet too. And it was nice.

Yes it can be eaten straight off the tree. I am only expecting better things from proper fruits which ripen on the tree.

Now to google as to how to get rid of leaf miners. Eco oils have failed and I keep my gardens pesticide free.

I have yet to get a ripe lemonade off my tree. They are good while mostly to partly green.

Steve

This year it has flowered as if there is not tommorow. I hope it atleast holds on to few fruits after putting up such a show.

I have 30 lemons on my largest tree, 1 0n my medium tree and 3 on my smallest tree.

New Zealand lemonade#1 · More Info

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Late update but after 7 months of hard work, the little plant is ready with 5 lemons.

When should I pick them off? When they are fully yellow? Right now it is on its way to become yellow from light green shade.

They need to be very yellow before the are ripe or they have to much acid. I harvested 43 lemonades over this winter.

Steve

Steve, that's quite a harvest. What was your assessment of the fruit taste? I've read all kinds of vague descriptions. Is it a keeper? Is it really unique enough that it merit's taking up valuable real estate in your collection? Would it be worth taking the place of say, a mandarin or regular lemon?

The true lemonade (dark growth) are delicious. Let them fully ripen but not get over-ripe and you have a unique and tasty citrus you can and will eat out of hand. I have many citrus trees and this one is the favorite of my family and neighbors. Steve can tell you more, I'm sure!