New Meyer Lemon Tree...advice from greenthumbs welcome!

[FireGoddess]

I have been wanting a lemon tree forever, and since we''re renters, I don''t want to plant something and then be conflicted about whether or not to dig it up if/when I move. So finally this weekend I went out and bought a dwarf meyer lemon tree. I planted it in a big pot and don''t want to kill it. Anybody have any tips??

It''s still a baby so there are no lemons to speak of yet.

Also - I know there have been threads but anyone with rose bush tips for the complete novice are welcome! There are at least 6 or 7 bushes in the front yard and I have never taken care of one before!!

 

[mia15]

Firegoddess, no advice, but I''ve been wanting to get a lemon tree for so long! I love Meyer lemons. I do have friends who have managed to grow them with great success and they swear that it doesn''t take any special effort.

 

[Mara]

i don''t have any help with the lemon tree either FG (though you might want to check out gardenweb.com...they have a lot of expert garden people there!) but my mom has a regular lemon tree, a dwarf and it does produce lemons and i don''t think she really does anything special for it.

i love meyer lemons...i just got some last week at WF to make an aioli with at some point for an artichoke dip. yummy!! i had a meyer lemon tart for new years eve that was phenominal...good luck growing!!

oh and for roses...i think there is an old post that someone started asking the same thing...being novice about roses that is. i gave some advice there if i recall correctly. i''ve been growing roses for over 10 years now. they are pretty basic with care. just basically fertilize them, water them, and deadhead them when the blooms are spent. try to keep water off their leaves so you don''t get mildew or blackspot and you should be 99% good. they are typically easier to care for than most people think especially if the bushes are very established. the more established the rosebushes, the more hardy they eventually become.

 

[diamondfan]

Can you call a local nursery? I am not sure how large the pot needs to be overall so as not to cramp the roots, etc, and how much sun and water it needs. Kumquat trees are lovely too, if you are looking for something that can go in a pot...

 

[KimberlyH]

FG,

It should be in well-drained potting soil (not heavy soil such as clay) and it needs to be watered every two to three days as pots dry out much quicker than the ground. Fruit bearing trees can''t be stressed. You may want purchase an inexpensive water tester (you can get one for $5-$10) to monitor its water needs. Finally, don''t over-fertilize it as that will keep it from bearing fruit.

~K

 

[FireGoddess]

Thanks everyone, and Kimberly for the advice.

I am so excited about this tree - I love Meyer lemons too, and right now the flowers and buds on the tree smell FANTASTIC!!! I can''t wait till it''s bearing fruit.

Going to the actual grower''s website has laid down some basics for me - well drained pot (we actually had to drill a few extra holes in the bottom because apparently the 1 drain plug the pot came with isn''t enough?!), don''t overwater or overfertilize, bright sunny southern exposure for at least 8 hours a day. I tried to find a book in the local library about growing citrus trees. No luck. Hopefully I won''t kill it!

Thanks for the rose tips Mara. I definitely have to deadhead the bushes soon as some flowers are spent. It''s the pruning I''m scared of. I noticed one of the plants has mosaic virus. Not a big concern since it''s self limiting and incurable. But interesting anyway. Thankfully the rest look normal.

 

[Beacon]

FG - cool that you got the Meyer Lemon dwarf. We have two of those dwarf trees, a lime and an orange. They live in large pots on either side of an arbor. I got them for the design element, sort of a topiary thing next to the arbor/trellis. But it''s much more than cosmetic, as it turns out. Those grew a lot and they produce lots of fruit. I had so many limes I had to give them away and I have to say they are the best limes I''ve ever had.

We didn''t do much for those plants, just made sure they were watered as they can dry out. My husband *used* to put fertilizer on them, but he got lazy there.

They did well anyway - I bet your lemon will do great. I recall you live in N. California as we do. They seem pretty hardy plants.

I also want a calamansi fruit dwarf tree, which it turns out actually exists. Calamansi is the tropical lemon/lime sort of fruit. It''s neat. I first had them on a trip to Manila, where they were squeezed into the rice porridge. Sounds nasty but it was so good.

 

[FireGoddess]

Thanks for sharing your experience Beacon! I tend to be worried about killing plants and such out of neglect, so much so that I end up killing them from overdoing something out of concern! I found out that our tree is a 2-3 year old, so it may not take as long to grow fruit as I thought. It is still a small tree but so far, so good. It survived the transplanting into a new pot alright. I bought some citrus/avocado food but I''m going to hold off for a little while on the fertilizing since the new potting soil is full of nutrients and I don''t want to burn this sucker.

Your mention of Calamondin (Kalamansi) intrigued me so I went to the grower''s website (my tree is from Four Winds Growers) and they sell Kalamansi''s, FYI. Their website is www.fourwindsgrowers.com. Being in N. Cal I don''t know if you are anywhere near Half Moon Bay Nursery, but that''s where we got our tree. You might be able to pick one up at a nursery and not have to order it.

 

[FireGoddess]

Well, it's been a year and not only have I not killed the lemon tree, but it seems to be thriving where I put it! Yay! However, the tree is quite lopsided in terms of branching - was like this when I bought it, but I thought it would even out. It hasn't, yet. I'm wondering what I can do to fix this, and whether I should trim the long side after the fruiting is done. Any suggestions? I did turn the pot, thinking maybe it was a sun exposure thing, but that hasn't seemed to help any. In this picture, the trunk of the tree is in the middle of the pot, and you can see that most of the branches go off to the left, and not much on the right.