For a real lemon hands down the ST for its aroma and because it is a true multiple season producer but I only grow in container and no experience in planting out. Next the Meyer but for me this is not a real lemon. Not seen any fruits on my Sanbokan or my pink eureka. But both are growing very nicely since they are here. I would love to get another feminello variety if I ever find one.

I have 3 lemons (2 from FW - Eureka & variegated pink) and a still-tiny Meyer (from Jen's Brighter Blooms from a couple years ago). The Eureka, by far, has been the most aggressive grower for me. It has basically doubled its size since I got it in October 2016 (it was a choice size and grew bigger than the "shorter", more-sprawling premium-size variegated).

These were the 4 trees I got last year from FW (the 2 lemons + a Thai lime & Thornless Key lime). The Eureka is the last one on the right with the yellow tag -

I kept all inside once I potted them since I got them in October (2016) and would have brought them in anyway, so they were all overwintered without having been outside here at that time.

Here it is just potted in a 14" container shortly after receipt (in foreground with yellow tag - a little taller than 24" with that top branch) -

And this is it as of this morning (11/4/17) in the chill with temps in the mid-40s (freshly sprayed with HO yesterday when the temps were in the low 70s) -

It is now 50" tall in the pot (pot + plant = 63"). The light green leaves are from the last flush. It flushed leaf growth a couple times during the winter which really got my attention!

It did have some blooms last winter that dropped and it hasn't bloomed again yet other than a few token ones, but it continues to periodically flush with leaf growth. I expect that as soon as I bring it in for good (in the next couple days or so), it'll hopefully bloom once it gets settled (and maybe finally hold a few fruit).

I would think that some of the "vigor" is going to depend on the root stock too. The FW Eureka tag listed it as "semi-dwarf" but I know there have been posts here about the "mystery" FW rootstocks. In this tree's case, I suddenly had an aggressive, thorny sprout appear below the graft in August but the leaves were not trifoliate and don't recall if they were winged petiole, so probably the oft-mentioned Cuban shaddock that FW supposedly has used in the past.

Graft line (below stretchy tape) and the dark green shoot below that -

The branch -

If I didn't have so much going on this summer, I would have considered rooting that after I cut it off but I knew it was late in the season (August) too... As a note, yes I do loosen that yellow tag often! lol

I have 2 Santa Teresa Lemons in pots and they are both vigorous in terms of root growth, branch development and production. They do bloom and flush off and on periodically. I had both of them out in my unheated gh early this spring and we had an unexpected hard, hard freeze, they leaves got nipped but they bounced back pretty quickly.

I planted a Bearss Lemon (formerly in a pot) in the ground down in our underground gh late this summer and it has really taken off. It is flourishing with new growth, buds and blooms and yes, even a few fruit. This is supposed to be an excellent variety of lemon. I am looking forward to comparing and tasting the first fruit. I will have to go down and look at the tag to see what rootstock it is growing on. I got my tree from Harris last spring.. I will post a few pics soon..

Susanne, if you're open to grafting then the California Citrus Clonal Protection Program has Femminello Siracusano budwood available, which is a Sicilian-type Femminello (there's not much good info out there as to how it's different from the ST, from what I can tell it's highly productive, thornless, and the fruit mature quickly but the fruit is of slightly lower quality / more seedy than ST).

Jenny that Eureka is beautiful! You must have the magic touch! That root sucker doesn't look like C-35 to me or any other trifoliate hybrid - maybe it's macrophylla or volkamer?

Jinny, how did your Bearss do in a container before you planted it?

I mostly want to save my ST but if I try something else I'll probably go with a Bearss, or a Genoa or I'll try to graft up the Siracusano from the CCPP.

Are ST lemons much different from Lisbon/Eureka ones taste-wise?

And sorry for my ignorance, is Bearss lemon actually a lime (Citrus × latifolia)?

Eureka lemon.

Wow that's impressive! I'm jealous of you guys that can grow your choice of citrus in-ground; it must make things so much easier!

I have Meyer’s, Eureka, Lisbon and Ponderosa. Eureka is VERY vigorous but for me reluctant to fruit. It seems to want to be a big tree before it does any fruiting. My Meyer’s may be a dwarf do it remains content in a container and does flower and fruit year round. My Ponderosa is new, so trying to establish itself, but based on prior growing, they are reliable growers. I would say Myers and Lisbon are my favorites. The Lisbon does well in contains and is always covered in fruit and is a true lemon.

Evan - my Eureka is trying to compete with your in-ground while still in a "puny" 14" pot. lol I am still floored by it. I guess my 2nd most aggressive is my thornless key lime (although limes are not the subject of the OP).

PacNorWreck - Since FW has been known to use Cuban Shaddock in the past, I expect that is what the Eureka is on (although I initially speculated it was on Volk but dismissed it given the various posts here where people directly asked FW what they were using). Good post about that here - http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2942396/cuban-shaddock-a-dwarfing-rootstock-i-doubt-it

What prompted me to look closer was the presence of huge thorns on that shoot in contrast to the rest of the tree, which is mostly thornless. I then confirmed that the shoot was coming from the rootstock below the graft. I had originally missed it because the leaves look similar to those above the graft, so it wasn't obvious.

Mikhail, there is a Bearss lime and a Bearss Lemon. They made it extra confusing.

Pac, Thanks for starting this thread, Lemons are my favorite and I love knowing what people like to grow.

I have a Meyer, NZL, Ponderosa,Variegated Pink Lemon and a crispy leaf dying ST. As most of you know I have a hate/hate relationship with my Meyer as it is the most fickle and bratty citrus I own though the ST is now giving it a run for its money, but it is the only one so far to give me lemons so it wins there. The NZL is a pretty slow grower for me, all summer it flushed once but didn't put any new branches out only leaves. The Ponderosa is just a small rooted cutting so I can't say on how it grows as I haven't seen much from it yet. The Vari. Pink is very dense with foliage but the only one of my trees to start dropping leaves because of the cold so I anticipate that is the least cold tolerant of the bunch. And you know that the ST is apparently super sensitive as it went from great to dying in the span of 2 days with a bit of wind. For lemons I plan on adding a Baboon lemon and a Bearss next season as well as a Genoa if I decide to make the room for it. For traditional lemon flavor a Bearss seems like a good bet.

Pac, the Bearrs Lemon did well in the container, but exploded in growth once it was transferred in the ground.

Pac, thank you. Here is another picture of the new leaf growth on the Bearss Lemon that I took in late summer.. The new growth is a lovely shade of dark purple. The leaves are a pretty shade of green and so shiny.. I love this variety. I do have a few small fruit on it, but not sure if they will all hold on..

Oops hold on.. picture not showing up..

I will have to try to post it another time. I guess I do not have enough storage space.. way to many pictures stored on my phone.. lol

Thanks for the info everyone. I too am interested in lemons. I use over a dozen a week or more, so I am always looking for heavy producers.

Alanna, what do you use so many lemons for? I am having an issue with key limes at the moment ;-)

When I’m being healthy (which is NOT at the moment), I have warm water with fresh lemon juice every morning. I make green juice from a mix of veggies and use about six lemons per batch. I mix lemon juice with avocado and spread it on crackers. I spend a lot of money on lemons...so now I have two Meyers, a NZL (just for fun), a ST on the way! and I’m seriously considering buying a pink Eureka. Someone posted a link to the Target ones and they’re on sale again. I’m having a tremendously difficult time resisting. I’ve seen you guys posting about more rare varieties, but I don’t know much about them.

Alanna, you love lemons as much as I do! I buy the large bag of them at Costco and they usually only last me the week. It sounds like you should look into a Pondersoa Lemon Tree, That way you could juice 1-2 instead of 6 for things like smoothies. I haven't had one yet as my tree is just a little rooted cutting but I hear they are comparable to a traditional lemon. I was one of the people who got the pink lemons from Target and my tree was incredibly nice, probably top 3 in quality I have received in the mail but I hear the variegated ones don't produce as much so a traditional Eureka/Lisbon may be better for crop size. I prefer the traditional tart lemon flavor so Meyers don't do it for me and I wan't to add a few more varieties to my collection.

The Bearss is so nice looking! Love the deep green on the leaves and the purple of the new growth. It's going to be hard to resist the temptation to buy a Genoa and / or a Bearss this winter if my ST gives out - My lighting arrangement seems to be working well this winter as my limequat and rangpur have both flushed with leaves and flowers since coming inside.

Sammers - I met an old Italian man selling 30 year old ponderosas for $150. They were huge and so healthy. If only I had the space...

Once I move next year, I’ll reevaluate and see what new varieties I can add. I’m definitely tempted by the bearrs or maybe other Italian varieties. I’ve also been considering just a regular Eureka/Lisbon for productiveity, but then I get so tempted by the unique ones. I know alot of people here still have young trees, so I’ll have to check back in when I’m ready to add to the collection and see how everyone else’s are doing. I also want more mandarins.

My Bearss is not as vigorous and is showing some deficiencies even though I got both (Bearss and Lisbon) at the same time and they looked almost identical in size. The Lisbon is growing more quickly and has quite a few lemons on it, whereas the Bearss is just now flowering a little. I will be curious to compare the two lemons when I have some.

Sammers, I have to say that aside from the flowers, the ponderosa is probably my least favorite of the lemons I have. I just don’t think they taste quite as good, but again, I have not done a side by side comparison. I made a lemon merengue pie once with ponderosa lemons and it was not as good as others I’ve had, but that may just be my cooking ;-)

Alanna, if you want lemons, the pink variegated Eureka is not the way to go. It’s a pretty tree, but it does not produce well. I’ve yet to get a lemon from that tree. I like all your lemon ideas...keep them coming ;-)

Beautiful Jinny! Mine looks pathetic compared to your beauty. Enjoy it!

Pac, I have a pathetic looking Genoa Lemon.. lol.. It is producing about four nice lemons for us but it never fully leafs out on a few sparse branches here and there. I got it from Four Winds last year so it must be at least three+ years.. I will try to post a few pictures soon as I can..

Laura, thank you. How is your Genoa Lemon doing? Did you purchase it this year or last?

Alanna, decisions, decisions! :) So many lemon varieties to try and everyone has different opinions about them. Different experiences for everyone.. Different growing conditions.

Laura, It is interesting how the Ponderosa is your least favorite. I am a member of several fb citrus forums and a number of people said the Ponderosa was their favorite citrus tree. I came real close to getting one but stopped short. I think it would be just a novelty for me because of the large fruit..

Laura, thanks for you input about the Ponderosa. Since its not a true lemon I can see how it may not have the same flavor but maybe it would do well in places that don't focus on the lemon flavor like Alanna's smoothies or as an ingredient in other dishes like lemon pasta? It will be years before I get to try one off my current little rooted cutting I've been temped to order a larger grafted variety to hurry it up a little but I have a few more varieties to get before then. (baboon, bearss, genoa) I look forward to seeing your opinions on the next Ponderosa (or any fruit) you try!

It's definitely interesting that one very experienced and skilled grower has had great results with Genoa and lackluster with Bearss and another equally skilled grower has had great results with Bearss and lackluster with Genoa. I almost wonder if there's greater variation between plants than varieties - better or worse grafts, stronger or weaker root systems just after potting, etc - or if all the variation is just due to climactic and environmental differences.

Jinny, my Genoa is doing great. It is almost the size of the Villafranca that I got at the same time (early this year) even though the Genoa was a one year tree and Villafranca a three year tree. The Genoa has a couple of lemons on it. I do wonder if the grafting just works better in some cases than in others. I don’t mean compatibility, just that sometimes it may not be quite as effective. As I said, the bearss and Lisbon I got from Harris at the same time and they were the same size. Sammers, I wish John (from Texas), who has tons of Ponderosas, would chime in. To me, it is not as flavorful, but again, I would have to do a side-by-side comparison against another lemon. I don’t think they have as much juice as Meyers....not even close. Again, maybe mine was not as ripe as it could have been. I have harvested other Ponderosas though from the same tree and remember a similar situation with the squeezing.

Thanks, Laura, for the heads-up to get myself in here and provide some Ponderosa input. I haven't been on here as much recently and looks like I have missed some good discussions.

I have two lemon varieties...a fairly new meyer and I have been growing Ponderosas for...estimate about ten years now. I did a compare and contrast of several fruit, including the meyer and the Ponderosa, a year or two ago and maybe I can find that thread.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4322057/comparison-of-some-citrus?n=8

In the meanwhile, the Ponderosa might not be a great potted plant since the fruit are heavy and probably better suited for in-ground. Shouldn't be any worse than grapefruit and I know some of you grow them in pots quite successfully. A single Ponderosa lemon can give you between 1/2 and 3/4 cup of juice so it's a big fruit but you can get more juice per unit of weight from a meyer since the meyer has thinner skin. The meyer skin is edible (not bitter) but the Ponderosa skin is quite thick and is bitter like many other citrus. It smells wonderful though and provides lots of really aromatic zest which I believe makes a huge difference in how a Ponderosa lemon pie tastes. I grew all of my Ponderosas from seeds (free!) and they make their first few lemons in about five years...in my SE Texas climate and soil. My trees have done very well in a poorly drained clay that stays wet for weeks during wet seasons. My mature trees have withstood nighttime temps in the mid-20s 2-3 days in a row during several winters. One to two-year old trees will die back to the lower stems and grow back after the winter. I like the Ponderosa but I would trade them ten to one for oranges!

Thank you, for your input Laura, Pac and John. I have read that the Ponderosa has a very aromatic zest in the peel so thank you for confirming that, John. :) I love any variety of citrus that has multiple uses in its fruits, leaves and flowers.. John, I am very surprised that the Ponderosa survived temperatures that low, especially with Citron in its parentage . It must be more hardy because it was grown on its own roots?

Laura, your Genoa and Villafranca sound lovely. Pac, I belive you are right.. interesting in that perspective. My Genoa came from FW'S. also as a premium size. It lost a number of leaves in transit and after, and has yet to fully retain the full lush growth it should have. It is healthy enough to produce a few fruit, and seems to keep blossoming and fruiting on a few nearly bare branches, to which I took a number of fruitlets off so the tree will concentrate on the few I left on.. Let's see if I can find and post a few pics..

jinny, I covered my trees their first several years so they didn't get hit hard until they had some thickness to the trunks. We usually see warming during the day between really cold night so that also helps. Last year we had three consecutive nights 26, 24, and 23 degrees but the daytime highs were up around 40. I saw dieback and cracking of the bark on finger diameter branches after that.

Thank you, John. I would like to grow a more mature Yuzu on its own roots, and plant it in the ground. We have bitter cold winters so it would need to be planted close to house for protection , strung with Christmas lights and covered with frost blankets.. Just an experiment to see how it would do.

I wish I could post a pic of my trees but in I’m not sure I can even find them lol! I am still getting used to having them inside and figuring out where everyone is. Jinny, my ST is so incredibly huge! I am going to try to measure the width and height of it with the help of one of my kids. I wish mine had a shape more like yours. John, thank you for the input. Do you find the ponderosa lemons tougher to squeeze than other lemons? I have a few more and another is almost yellow but I want to make sure it’s totally ripe before picking.

Laura, I saw your post about your Ponderosa you juiced. Maybe your lemon had been cut a little while so you could photograph it but it actually looked a little dry to me...as you said it was less juicy than you expected. When I cut my lemons, they drip juice all over the plate so I wondered if it was the different climate, potted vs. in-ground...or just that I just haven't taken full advantage of the meyers on my little tree :>) I do have six or so meyer lemons that I left to ripen this year so I'm looking forward to them. I think you said you use the same "Get Juiced" juicer I use so you should be able to make a fair lemons-to-lemons comparison! I don't know how much your cooler weather and inside conditions will affect ripening color but the Ponderosa will loose all greenish hue and even get a little hint of a deep yellow where the sun strikes it when it's dead ripe.

Thanks John! I agree. It did seem a bit dry. I think I may have picked it too early. It had just barely changed to yellow. I’m going to let the other ones stay on longer. I just feel bad for that poor tree holding up those huge lemons!

Yes, Laura, even my mature in-ground Ponderosas droop to the ground from the weight. When you find your Ponderosa amidst your citrus menagerie snap a photo and share. I assume you have to have a pretty good sized pot to keep him upright?

I'm straying away from the original topic a bit now but one of the things I like about the calamondin is it keeps a really nice upright shape. Ponderosas, Satsumas, tangerines, and even my Persian sweet lime, are all dragged down and distorted by their weighty fruit.

I finally measured my ST...it is 8ft+ at its widest and 6ft from dirt to tallest limb!

Laura - That is huge! I just got a ST and I’m about to post about it in the FWs thread because it’s a replacement tree. I want advice on pruning and I probably need to ask you about lights. My Satsuma is dropping leaves everyday since coming inside.

Laura do you have double doors?

Alanna, I just saw your thread. That tree looks great and I would not prune! Mine looked much like that when I got it early 2016. Susanne, no, I don’t. The entire tree is not as wide as 8’, but that is as wide as it gets in the widest dimension. Some other branches may span 5-6’. We had a tough time with that one getting it through the door, but we just bent the branches and tried to bring it in sideways at its least wide angle. In the container it is maybe nearly 1 foot away from the ceiling. It is a gangly tree for sure. Alanna, prepare yourself because yours may end up a lot like mine. It is pretty and has lovely large leaves, but wow, does it take up space!

Laura, first of all, your trees are doing incredibly well. I am so impressed with your green thumb. I wanted to back up your earlier comment about the variegated pink lemon comment, it’s a very pretty tree but not productive at all. I’ve had mine in ground for almost 4 years now and I’ve only gotten about 5 or 6 fruit from it. And this tree is probably 8’ tall now!

Evan

Guys, you’re making me so sad. I really want that variegated pink lemon. It’s such a pretty tree. I’ve been drooling over the variegated rubber trees at my local nursery and I’m clearly loving all things variegated right now. I just can’t justify the space it would take up, if it won’t produce.

Evan, thanks for commenting. Now I don’t feel so bad for not getting any lemons! It actually now has a few, but who knows if it will hold them. They are about the size of a kumquat. In the past though, they have just fallen off. Your tree is beautiful anyways and since you get such an over abundance of everything else, it’s probably not too bad ;-)

Alanna don't give up on the variegated lemon. Over at FB is a guy who has the variegated lemon in a container and had lots of lemons on it recently. I have not idea how he does it but it is possible.

Evan maybe tree is not old enough yet? Or too hot? not hot enough? soil too rich? I have no clue really.

Laura maybe they will hold this year. Please keep us posted? I got one too but it is way too small for any fruits.

Clearly the tree is in healthy soil and getting enough nutrition, it’s grown so much in four years. Is it true that a tree can grow well in neutral soil, but not produce fruit unless it’s acidic? I have an acquaintance who has her sons pee in the soil of the lemon tree and it is overflowing with fruit.

I looked if I could find the info on the variegated lemon again and I did. The guy that owns the tree has in in a container in LA year round out side. Tree is about 8' tall and 7to 8 years old. Has lemons year round. No idea if it is the climate or what else?.

Laura no problem.

Susanne, not sure maturity is the problem. The tree has been in ground for almost 4 years AND it was probably 2-3 years old before it went into the ground from its 24” box.

Alanna, don’t get discouraged about the variegated pink Eureka. In my trees defense, when it blooms during the spring is our windy season and I blame its lack of fruit mostly on the massive winds we get right when the fruits start to set. In a container it might do much better in a protected environment without the 30-40 mph wind gusts my tree can see in the spring. You never know unless you take a chance.

Evan