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What to do with a Meyer lemon

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

What to do with a Meyer lemon.

On Saturday we went to the beach house fronting on the
Pacific Ocean on the South coast of Guatemala; we are doing some work on the
garden there…one of four tropical gardens for which I am responsible.

During the week we had brought in a dump truck (8 cubic meters) of good quality topsoil (the underlying “soil” being black sand) at an astonishing cost of $50

This garden, built on beach black sand, with the addition of about 10 trucks of topsoil, is about half an acre; and in addition to 65 coconut trees, San Augustin grass, bouganvillas, 4 banana plants, hibiscus, mango tree, 3 tropical almonds, etc, etc…. of course 3 Meyer lemons, a Cara Cara and Washington navel orange plus an elevated thatch roofed ranchon with hammocks overlooking the Pacific Ocean, “needed” improvements according to the wife.

So, Saturday night we enjoyed some Meyer lemon margaritas;
then went to sleep with the sound of the waves of the Pacific Ocean.

Sunday morning, after breakfast, we went to the local fish
market where we purchased fresh Pacific lobsters for $7 per pound; then we went
to a local nursery where we bought about 110 tropical plants for the garden…
another cost of $50!!.

Back to the beach where we cooked the lobsters in sea water
with a couple of Meyer lemons juice and peel thrown in; dipped them in melted
butter with Meyer lemon and cumin. I ate two 1.5 pound lobsters, accompanied by
a modest Chilean Sauvignon Blanc wine.

That was necessarily followed by a nap in the hammock; then
detailed instructions to the gardener/guardian of where to put the soil and the plants;
then back to the Eternal Springtime weather of Guatemala City.

Wait… I know what you are thinking… a hard job for an old
guy like me; but somebody has to do it!!

Featured Answer

johnmerr
Original Author

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I am "retired"; but I have never worked harder in my life. Of course we have workers who do most of the heavy lifting; I do things like planting, pruning, grafting, planning.... On my lemon farms I mostly just do supervision and ideas. One of our most important practices... one which everyone should practice if possible... is that someone looks at every tree every day; his supervisor looks at every tree every week; and his supervisor (often John) looks at every tree once a month. That practice means, if we have a problem it is dealt with immediately; we don't wake up one morning and find that we have some uncontrollable plague.

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Comments (9)

uncle molewacker z9b Danville CA (E.SF Bay)
6 years ago
That's. IT. John... I am selling everything and moving your direction. My brother in law is building in Belize... but I think you've got your head on - straight-(er)! : - )

I do have an issue... I would have deleted the butter ! - George
johnmerr
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
George,

Deleted the butter!!???! A little known fact... in the 1600 prisoners on the East Coast of the US were fed lobster; because it was rich in calories and fat and sooo cheap. The prisoners hated it. Then someone discovered you could dunk the lobster in melted butter!! That day was the last day lobster was cheap.
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Meyers Lemon was introduced to USA from Asia and later found to be a symptomless carrier of the citrus virus Tristeza. This does not affect Meyers Lemon in any way, but can allow the disease to be passed on by aphids to commercial citrus varieties which are affected. The virus can be eliminated by various laboratory procedures such as heat treatment and shoot-tip grafting. Clean Meyers Lemon was propagated on a large scale in, I think, the 1960's and all old line Meyers should have been replaced with the new 'Improved Meyers Lemon'. Certainly, no old Meyers should now be sold in the USA. There is no difference between 'old' and 'improved' Meyers (apart from the lack of Tristeza). They are the same variety.
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Sorry to continue asking questions, but I'm hoping this will help to clear things up. I went upstairs and took the plants up out of their soil for a look at the roots. I took pictures of what I saw; I'm hoping someone can tell me if there's evidence of root rot. First up, the lemon, planted in potting mix amended with bark and pumice - The media around the roots seemed dry while the rest of the pot was quite moist (it rained here today). The roots have hardly grown at all since I potted this in May. Next, the Bearss Lime, potted in 5-1-1 (I erred and used Vermiculite instead of Perlite because I didn't know any better). There was more root growth visible here but still, not a ton of new growth. 1. Is the bark I'm using breaking down too quickly? Could that be tying up Nitrogen? 2. How do the roots look to you all on both plants? Thanks very much for all of the advice!
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Bob
6 years ago
It is very painfull to read something like that, i did't think there are jobs like that.

Question, do you have to go through something like that every day? I mention something like that you have to through to a avid citrus forum member about a year ago. The answer was no.. no.. I hope she would read this.
Susanne Michigan Zone 5/6
6 years ago
sounds like you are living in a paradise.
Laura LaRosa (7b)
6 years ago
John, oh my, what a life!!! I just used a Meyer to add to my homemade pesto...I also added kale and chard (besides basil, of course). I had the lemon from a tiny recovering Meyer that did not need the load. I added half the juice and zest. Yum! I feel the lemon added that extra touch.
junk4us
6 years ago
I remember reading about a similar torture story. Sadistic ritual. How do you ever survive through the ordeal?
poncirusguy6b452xx
6 years ago
John i am going to guess that your citrus guru grafter can graft at least 1 Meyer lemon tree per minute. Is my guess close.

6b Steve
johnmerr
Original Author
6 years ago
Steve, It is at least double that, but he does it on a bench with a helper to move the plants. A couple of years ago he did 5,000 in three days and did not lose a single graft. It is an art; on my best day I can get about 35% success. I pay him less than 25 cents per graft and he makes a lot of money by local standards.

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