My Meyer Lemon Tree has a flower on it!!!!

I am so excited that my dwarf meyer lemon tree has blossomed. I have two trees and this is the first bloom. They have been residing on my patio all summer. I'll have to watch because I need to bring them in before the frost. I am hoping to get a few lemons from the trees. My guess is that a lemon ripe for picking is still months away.

Your post made me wonder if Meyer lemon trees were self-pollinating or not. I found some information here that might be interesting to you. I am curious to know what happens with your trees.

Thanks I will read it. I actually have two trees. I am hoping for some lemons.

We've owned two dwarf trees for a few years and get fruit from each a couple times each year.

They need to spend the summer outside...makes a huge difference to the foliage.

But, be careful that the wind and rain doesn't knock off the young fruit.

Our "tree," placed outside, has also flowered quite substantially this year. My only concern at this point is whether the weather will stay nice long enough for the fruit to actually turn into fruit. It's been popular among the honeybee and wasp (?) set.

My Meyer tree has just been doing so poorly And while it has fruited occasionally, the fruit has never matured. The one fruit that got closest to maturing was nibbled on by the dog and didn't make it.

Hi Leek

Recommend that you pull the tree out of the pot if you can can do so in a ball and look at the root system. Loosen up the outer and bottom roots if need be...and maybe go to a larger pot.

Also, we repot every year so that we can get some new organic material on the bottom...and put a little on top as well...we do not fertilize. Learned from the grow boxes that the container systems use up some % of soil every year so you need to replace.

We've been getting lemons consistently for a few years.

The calamansi I bought around Xmas last year and have had in my yard since May is lousy with fruit and falling over under their groaning weight. The tree is about 5 feet tall and the "trunk" is probably an inch in diameter. Currently it's supported by a fence and a thin metal rod. I grew up around citrus, but none of our orange, lemon or grapefruit trees bore so much fruit so quickly and this was never an issue I dealt with as a youngster. Shall I cull or just add more support?

JeffB wrote:The calamansi I bought around Xmas last year and have had in my yard since May is lousy with fruit and falling over under their groaning weight. The tree is about 5 feet tall and the "trunk" is probably an inch in diameter. Currently it's supported by a fence and a thin metal rod. I grew up around citrus, but none of our orange, lemon or grapefruit trees bore so much fruit so quickly and this was never an issue I dealt with as a youngster. Shall I cull or just add more support?

Hi,

Don't you need to harvest and bring it inside? I am quite impressed by your experience, where did you get this tree?

Regards,

My meyer lemon trees are inside and have been for months. There is one lemon on one of the trees that is going strong. I have experienced a bit of leaf yellowing and drop, not much but some. The fruit is progressing and getting bigger and I hope to harvest it some day. Hanging on until the spring when they will be put outside.

I posted on this thread back in September. Since then, the plant has continued to flower and fruit. That's the good news. The bad news is that it is now four months later and the fruits are still small (perhaps an inch or so for the larger ones). They're healthy (so far as I can tell), there are a number of them (although a couple fell off as young tykes), and they appear to be growing, albeit as the slowest things in creation. At this rate, they may possibly turn into actual mini-lemons some time around LTH's 50th anniversary.

I've got about a dozen flowers on my kaffir lime tree -- they're not open yet, but I intend on patiently pollinating, hoping for a few bumpy bitter fruit.

Cathy2 wrote:

JeffB wrote:The calamansi I bought around Xmas last year and have had in my yard since May is lousy with fruit and falling over under their groaning weight. The tree is about 5 feet tall and the "trunk" is probably an inch in diameter. Currently it's supported by a fence and a thin metal rod. I grew up around citrus, but none of our orange, lemon or grapefruit trees bore so much fruit so quickly and this was never an issue I dealt with as a youngster. Shall I cull or just add more support?

Hi,

Don't you need to harvest and bring it inside? I am quite impressed by your experience, where did you get this tree?

Regards,

I never saw this from Cathy, but what I ended up doing was add support, bring it inside and set it in a sunny spot. I harvested maybe 30 calamansi in December - they seem to be better when very ripe, though mixology sources seem to prefer the greener, even more bitter fruit - these babies are bitter as hell in a good way. A second batch came in and I am looking at maybe 40 more which I'll pick soon. No new flowers and little new leafing, but a lot of the plant's energy presumably went into the fruit.

Got the tree at Gesthemane.

My lime tree, currently in residence in my living room, has suddenly decided to bloom. It is the variety commonly called the Mexican (or "Key") lime, and I am undecided as to let the flowers go to fruit. It's commonly recommended not to do this too early in the life of a citrus tree, as it puts a lot of stress on the young tree, but these limes are so small that it may not be a concern.

My late father grew several kinds of citrus at our Arizona home, but never limes of any kind, so I'm in virgin territory here. The tree is currently formed like a giant bonsai, roughly a yard in diameter and 2+ feet tall. It grew vigorously outside over the summer, and I expect it to continue doing so this year. Anyone with experience growing Mexican limes here? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

OK, my kaffir lime tree now has over two dozen itty bitty limes on about the last 4" of the largest branch (there are unopened flowers on the second-largest branch, and I've been pinching off the flower buds that are trying to appear on some very new growth).

Should I pinch off some of the microlimes, or let nature take it's course? I know the kaffir lime isn't much useful except for its zest, so I don't want to overstress the tree. Optimally, I would let the limes get to a zestable size and keep plucking, microplaning and freezing.

I'd be curious to see what pickled limes the size of caper berries would be like.

bean wrote:I'd be curious to see what pickled limes the size of caper berries would be like.

Doesn't seem worth the effort for what would be about a tablespoon of limes if I picked them all.

My meyer lemon has one lemon on it...not ripe yet. very slow progress. It did experience a period of minor leaf drop over the winter but that stopped about March. It blossomed again with two flowers and now has some new lemons on it. The other tree never did bloom. I will move them outdoors in the summer. If the odd tree does not bloom I will get rid of it.

Toria,

How will know when it is ripe? I am not quite sure I know myself.

Regards,

I have always wanted to grow some variety of lemon/lime tree. I hope the more experienced folks here can give me some advice.

I have a south-facing enclosed patio with sunlight most of the day. Would a meyer-lemon (or other variety of lime/lemon) tree be healthy there even though it will never be outdoors?

Where can I get a good tree in the city? Any advice for choosing one?


thanks!

I can heartily recommend a calamansi/calamondin for the space you have described. I bought one a few Decembers ago at Gethsemane, placed it near a large south-facing window, and have harvested hundreds of the little fruits (about the size of a kumquat, a closely related fruit). The thin-skinned orange globes are sometimes called Filipino limes and they have a bracing, bitter taste that I think hits notes from tangerine, lime and Seville orange. They are often used in marmalades, and I have made terrific syrups, bitters, and calamondin liqueur (calamoncello?). It improves a dark and stormy quite a bit, in my view. It's a great ceviche acid, and calamondin cake is an old Florida cracker thing. Gethsemane’s citrus ain’t cheap, but you get what you pay for and the guys there know citrus. I’ve found the tree to be very hearty, needing little water in the winter but doing well outside in the heat and wet of summer. It is usually either flowering or fruiting, both of which smell great. One of my favorite reminders of Florida. Look for this as a cocktail ingredient soon.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/14 ... t-20120813

JeffB wrote:I can heartily recommend a calamansi/calamondin for the space you have described. I bought one a few Decembers ago at Gethsemane, placed it near a large south-facing window, and have harvested hundreds of the little fruits (about the size of a kumquat, a closely related fruit). The thin-skinned orange globes are sometimes called Filipino limes and they have a bracing, bitter taste that I think hits notes from tangerine, lime and Seville orange. They are often used in marmalades, and I have made terrific syrups, bitters, and calamondin liqueur (calamoncello?). It improves a dark and stormy quite a bit, in my view. It's a great ceviche acid, and calamondin cake is an old Florida cracker thing. Gethsemane’s citrus ain’t cheap, but you get what you pay for and the guys there know citrus. I’ve found the tree to be very hearty, needing little water in the winter but doing well outside in the heat and wet of summer. It is usually either flowering or fruiting, both of which smell great. One of my favorite reminders of Florida. Look for this as a cocktail ingredient soon.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/14 ... t-20120813

Along with Hammond's crazy Restaurant Roulette story, THIS made my Friday. Hell, it might have made my whole month. Can't wait to go see if I can find one of these tomorrow. I grew up with orange, key lime and grapefruit trees in my yard and the smell of fresh citrus is one of a very few things I miss about FLA. Thanks Jeff!!!

Wow! I can't tell you how excited I am to hear about calamansi/calamondin.
It sounds like the kind of indoor tree I was looking for.

Thanks!