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stretch
03-31-2008, 08:43 PM
Can anyone give me some advice on caring for a lemon tree (not a Meyer's Lemon--unsure of which variety). Right now it is about 2 1/2 - 3 foot tall. There are no blooms on it and it has recently been transplanted, it looks healthy, should I prune it back to encourage it to spread out or what? Literature that I've read says to keep them under 12 foot...thanks for any suggestions!

Richard
03-31-2008, 09:24 PM
The general rule for citrus is not to train them by pruning. However, citrus do sprout lanky, spiny, flowerless suckers from just about anywhere on the plant. These need to be removed at the source. If you want your tree to grow to true size, also remove all fruit that forms in the first 3 years in at least the mid- and top-portion of the plant. Finally, citrus trees planted in the ground need skirting: prune any drooping branches so that there is a 12” to 18” clearance from the ground to prevent pests and mold from coming up the tree. If you top your citrus tree to control the height, be sure to cover the spot with 50% shade cloth until new leaves sprout to protect the inner bark from sunburn -- or prune in early spring or mid Fall when the sun is not intense.

Lemons are vigorous. I would keep the height under 8 feet. Here's some more information on feeding and watering:
http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/guides/CommonCitrus.pdf

bencelest
03-31-2008, 10:22 PM
The general rule for citrus is to leave it alone. Prune only the dead branches. It will take its normal shape sooner or later. The roots take most of its food on the lower branches so don't touch them. It needs all the leaves for photosynthesis.
And I agree with Richard to thin all your fruits for the first 3 years if you want good growth for as he said a fruit left on the tree is equal to 4 feet of branch growth.

xavierdlc61887
03-31-2008, 10:44 PM
thats true, i leave mine alone and they have by themselves got bushy and round :D just trimmed the dead leaves :D. heres a pic i just water and fertilize :D

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k9/xavierdlc61887/DSC06384.jpg

now they are more rounded and bushy :D

bencelest
04-01-2008, 01:15 AM
Wow! Nice plants.

xavierdlc61887
04-01-2008, 06:32 AM
thanks but yeah u just let them grow and they fill out by themselves so its pretty easy to maintain

stretch
04-01-2008, 07:19 AM
Thanks for all of your responses...my lemon has several branches at the bottom and it gets kinda tall and leggy toward the top and has just divided at the top. I plan on keeping it in the pot and putting it in the sun when the weather is tolerable for it here...so should I just top it off when it gets just around 8 feet or so?

bencelest
04-01-2008, 08:46 AM
Yes. But you have a long time waiting. In a pot?
I don't think it will get that tall if it is planted in a pot. Imagine your plant having a girth of 8 feet. I have not seen one yet.
Actually you can do anything you want to your potted plants. There's no yes or no answer. Only recommendation.
I'd be happy if I can harvest some fruits year after year that's all.
My worry is to keep the leaves green and free of bugs.
One way or another you'll have that problem. Lots of it.

xavierdlc61887
04-01-2008, 04:07 PM
im starting to get fruit every year :D but the winds here knock alot of the flowers out so well see as it grows more mature and has more protection :D

stretch
04-01-2008, 04:35 PM
I don't care that it gets that tall...I would just like for it to bloom and bear some lemons. I'm new to lemons, don't really know much about them! Those are some nice pics! When do these bloom? (I'm guessing winter)

Mustang
04-01-2008, 04:42 PM
As an aside, I was in Rome recently, and there were loads of lemon trees all over the place. I wanted to bring one home, so bought one with a good, think stem, about 1 m tall.

It didn't fit into my small case, so I wrapped it in a black bin liner and headed for the airport with it as hand luggage. Right now, security in Europe at airposts is what can only be described as anal. I'm sure it's the same elsewhere. Anyway, you can't even take water through customs now. But I put my wrapped lemon tree into the xray machine, and the Italian security guys looked at it, and then just said ... "Oh ... it's a lemon tree. Go ahead". The workers in the aircraft looked at it a bit warily, wondering where it would go, but it fitted into an overhead locked - just.

So, now it's in the greenhouse, recovering from it's journey. And it only lost 1 lemon along the way.

Richard
04-01-2008, 05:42 PM
Hopefully, you did not bring any eggs or spores of pests into the UK with it ...

xavierdlc61887
04-01-2008, 05:47 PM
mine started flowering in the begining of march :D and now the fruit.....whats left of it is growing and growing :D so its all good :D

mskitty38583
04-01-2008, 06:11 PM
But I put my wrapped lemon tree into the xray machine, and the Italian security guys looked at it, and then just said ... "Oh ... it's a lemon tree. Go ahead". The workers in the aircraft looked at it a bit warily, wondering where it would go, but it fitted into an overhead locked - just.


that sounds like something i would do!!! i would have held it all the way home. just like you would a baby.:bananajoy:

momoese
04-01-2008, 06:32 PM
How soon after the blooms set fruit do you remove them?

buzzwinder
04-01-2008, 06:52 PM
Nice lemon trees Fernie, What variety are they? I have Improved Meyers in pots and they are really temperamental here in N. Illinois. Wish I could plant in the ground!

xavierdlc61887
04-01-2008, 07:56 PM
they are mexican lime nothing speacial here :P um im actually germing about 50-60 right now, some are germing :D so ill have some later on this may or june :D um usually the fruit ripens pretty fast cuase of the heat and all but i usually let them fall to the ground and i check about 2-3 times a day before the birdies or insects can get them :D um ok well hope ill have some seedlings going by next month and offer them here :D on nanas.org :D

xavierdlc61887
04-01-2008, 07:59 PM
i also have a improved meyer lemon they get about the size of grapefruits dont know why but they do :D hahaha nothing speacial is fed except city water :P its my 3rd year with it and the first year i got 3 lemons 2nd year i got 12 and this year well see how many i get :D i even germed a seed and is 2 feet tall already...no thorns so got lucky :P

Richard
04-01-2008, 10:00 PM
Since my family and I do lots of cooking and baking, we prefer to use Eureka Lemon or similar, instead of the evil Meyer which is Lemon x Orange :2731:

xavierdlc61887
04-01-2008, 10:33 PM
either way its a good plant to grow :D

island cassie
04-01-2008, 10:34 PM
Very few lemons available here on the island - in fact you can't buy them. So our small Meyers improved brought in 2.5 years ago has been great giving us loads of thin skinned large fruit. I pruned the long whippy branches 1.5 years ago, and the first of those rooted cuttings now has flowers on it - so fast - who'd have thunk it! The european lemon seedling shot up to 6ft in 9 months with a really sturdy trunk so we had to keep topping it in self-defense! We also bent the branches horizontally to promote fruiting spurs hopefully, but no blossom so far - this is about 1.5 years old too. The Meyers are so easy to grow and propagate but we have a constant aphid problem with all our citrus. I would have liked to be organic but there is no way! Hey Mustang - I also brought my Meyers improved in my suitcase in a ziplock can you believe, from RHS stock and well sprayed beforehand. From that 12" plant in 2.5 years it has grown large enough to give us approx 18 lemons the first year and 40+ last year. Richard you might call them evil - but they make a mean magarita!! lol All my citrus are in pots as the soil ph is unsuitable.

Cassie

Richard
04-01-2008, 10:59 PM
I'm glad you have some citrus on the island! Although, I've never met a Lemon that is hard to grow.

Do they not have citrus at TARS Mayaguez?

island cassie
04-01-2008, 11:06 PM
Hi Richard - there are plenty of limes, pippy satsumas and green oranges to be had, and I believe they grow lemons for export in the centre of the island, but have never seen any for sale. btw Isn't Mayaguez in Puerto Rico - the island next door?
Cassie

Richard
04-01-2008, 11:15 PM
Cassie, check out TARS Mayaguez online. I believe all you might have to pay is shipping.

Richard
04-01-2008, 11:21 PM
Actually, it looks like all they have is Citrus maxima -- the Pumelo. Now that would be fun to grow!

Here's what they are holding: Taxa Held By TARS Mayaguez (http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/site_holding.pl?MAY)

island cassie
04-01-2008, 11:32 PM
Thanks for the link Richard - but I am running out of room here with only a third of an acre and the other half refuses to buy more land - sniff, sniff! Also our soil here is too alkaline for citrus so we have to grow everything in pots, but the lemons are easy to grow as you say! Interesting about Mayaguez though and I will keep them in mind although all our post has to be brought in through EPS or similar through Miami, and costs $$$$.

Cassie

Bananaman88
04-02-2008, 11:43 AM
i also have a improved meyer lemon they get about the size of grapefruits dont know why but they do :D hahaha nothing speacial is fed except city water :P its my 3rd year with it and the first year i got 3 lemons 2nd year i got 12 and this year well see how many i get :D i even germed a seed and is 2 feet tall already...no thorns so got lucky :P

About the size of grapefruits, you say? That sounds more like 'Ponderosa' lemon to me. Either that or you have some awesome soil! I have a Ponderosa that I grew from seed about 5 yrs ago. Still no fruit. I was really hoping it would be old enough this year but so far I haven't seen any buds. My 'Meyer' bloomed all winter and had fruit developing all winter as well and is now really blooming like crazy.

I also have a variegated lemon, a lime (with buds) and I have a 'Marrs' orange. This will be the Marrs orange's third growing season. Last year it had 3 fruit but for some reason this year it only had TWO buds! I was sort of disappointed but I think I read the other day that 'Marrs' tends to be alternate bearing.

xavierdlc61887
04-02-2008, 04:36 PM
yeah must have good soil :P hahah um as for oranges i feed them spikes from lowes that are for fruit and have always fiven fruit every year maybe that should help well post pics guys of your awesome citrus plants :D

banana berserker
04-03-2008, 06:12 PM
in my oppinion lemons are the easiest things to grow in the world (beside weeds and mold and such). I've got a tree. About 15 to 20 feet tall. NEVER pruned it, NEVER water it. It produces 75 lemons a year easy. But of course the nice California weather helps a little to. :)