Has anyone tried growing a lemon tree? I saw them at Lowe's and the blooms are beautiful and fragrant but I don't know if they do well here.
- Donya
Lemon Tree
Longview is well north of the citrus growing belt. How cold did it get there this winter?
You could try growing an Improved Meyer Lemon in a large 24" or 30" pot. It is hardier than the other lemon varieties since it is not a true lemon, but is believed to be a cross between a true lemon and a Mandarin orange. I prefer its flavor. Dwarf citrus are better suited to being grown in a pot. Standard citrus trees can get up to 35'. You could prune it rather severly to keep a standard citrus short, but you would be removing a lot of fruiting wood. Within a few years, the tree would begin to decline and quit producing. Although the Improved Meyer lemon is naturally small, it has the potential of getting 12'-15' tall planted in the ground, at least in California. Dwarfs are grafted on to dwarfing root stock. Several stock are used. Some are more compatible than others with the grafted scion. "Flying Dragon" produces some of the dwarfest plants and is mainly used to give the citrus more cold resistance. Unfortunately, it doesn't do well in Texas' alkaline soil so it is not recommended for Texas. You are not too far from Hallsville. Acorn Spring Dwarf Citrus Nursery is there. They are the only growers of dwarf citrus trees in Texas.
http://www.acornsprings.com/index.php?men=home&id_ctg=0
With some protection, you can plant Satsuma oranges and kumquats in the ground in your area. It helps if you can provide a warmer micro-climate for them, such as the south side of the house. In winter, you can erect a portable greenhouse or hoop house warmed with Christmas lights. Fertilize with citrus fertilizer. It contains the micro-nutrients citrus need and usually free of a type of urea (source of nitrogen) that can cause Biuret's disease which can kill citrus by destroying the chlorophyll. I have been unable to find out if it is reversible. I have a now rare grapefruit citrus dying of that disease.
Citrus need full sun to produce sweet fruit. That also causes the soil in the pot to get hot, dry out too fast and damages the roots. While citrus prefer moist soil, the roots will rot if kept too wet. That can happen when you have to water every day during the summer to keep the soil cool. Try shielding the pot from direct sunlight by placing the pot in from of a short wall or fence which allows the plant itself to receive full sunlight. Dwarf trees are more expensive, but I think they are worth the price. I grew twelve different varieties of citrus in large pots when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. There, I didn't have a problem with the soil in pots getting too hot and best of all, my Meyer lemon fruited all year long.
A neighbor here had one in a pot on wheels. He moved it outside in good weather and wheeled it back in his garage in the winter. Hardly seemed worth the effort to me in this area.
That is how I feel too, I think they are lovely and the flowers smell great, but going in and out with a tree seems like a lot of trouble, however since Donya has a greenhouse, it could work for her.
The Meyer Lemon is actually a bush... It doesn't get very big.. Yes Josephine the blossoms smell wonderful too!
I just bought one at HD that had a lemon on it and lots of blossoms. he lemon tasted GREAT and it was very juicy! Definatly worth the trouble I think!
Deb
That is really neat Deb, I wish I could smell it, I haven't smelled a lemon or orange blossom in many many years.
Meyer lemons can be grown as trees, too; depends on the rootstock.
I've had a meyer lemon as a tree, in the ground for about 5 years now. It's about 10' tall and was about as wide. I just hard pruned it last weekend. This year I had the largest production ever - over 200 lemons. I was literally giving them away in bags. I'm Zone 9, though.
The fragrance is stunning when it's blooming and the lemons are so large. As large as a navel orange. The skin is very thin and doesn't work well as a zest but the juice is incredible.
Thanks for all the info...I guess I need to figure out how bad I really want one. =)
I don't have a lemon tree, but I do have a key lime tree/bush. Don't know which one it makes. It's only about 1 foot tall right now and fits in the greenhouse just fine. But how big do these things get?
This link gives you citrus information in general:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/citrus/citrus.html
Although this link if from the University of Florida, it has excellent information on citrus problems that can affect citrus in in any state, plus photos accompany the descriptions.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/CH142
This A & M has a number of articles on different fruit, including lime trees (Citrus are trees but produce branches far down on the main trunk.).
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/citrus/urban.htm
This link to A & M's website is on container grown citrus:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/patiocitrus/containers.html
I have a book on citrus by Sunset that describes the citrus variety including the ultimate size of the tree, but I can't find it right now. I was able to find info on the key lime.
http://www.keylime.com/diff.html
It should remain smaller in a pot.
This message was edited Mar 7, 2007 1:57 PM
Great information, Bettydee. Thanks.
Think I'll get one for the patio and put the pot on wheels,
that way I can just roll it into the house and in front of the
window.
Thanks for those links Betty. Maybe I can keep my key lime afterall.:)
MY 6 YEAR OLD MEYER LEMON TREE IS 10' TALL AND HAS HUNDREDS OF LEMONS EACH YEAR; THIS YEAR IT HASN'T BLOOMED. IS THERE A PROBLEM? I ALSO PINCH OFF ONE OF EACH FRUIT GROWING SIDE BY SIDE TO GET LARGER SPECIMENS. IT IS IN THE GROUND IN A RAISED BED. I THOUGHT I REMEMBERED IT BLOOMED BEFORE NOW (AUG. 19)
If it looks healthy otherwise, then I would blame the wet weather we've had. Many of my trees fruit bloomed, but set few fruit this year. Bees were hiding from the rain.
Had a Meyer lemon last year from HD. Wonderful blooms......lots of fruit that was some of the best I ever had. Brought it in for the winter....before I knew what was happening it was covered in aphids. Very difficult to handle in a house bound plant. Did everything I could think of and it died anyway. Didn't try again this year....decided I am not going to fool Mother Nature.
Drsanderson ~ Bettydee may have hit on it ~ the CCD is affecting bees all over. There was a definite shortage of pollinators in this area this year.
One of the best Lemon Trees that seem to handle temps down to 25 degrees is a Ponderosa. They will get 25-35 feet tall and the fruit are as big as grapefruits, though they are quite seedy. I've read they won't take that kind of cold, but if you protect them through the first few years, they will be fine once the base is around 5 inches in diameter.
I've also got a semi dwarf Meyer Lemon that seems to not know it's supposed to be semi-dwarf. It's only 4 years old and over 16 feet tall on the west side of my house and is always filled with tons of fruit. Same is true this year. I've never pinched off any of the developing fruit, it's never been an issue and they get just as big in a group as they do when they are singles. It continues to grow upward far more than outward. It's probably about 5 feet in diameter up to 8 feet or so and spreads out from there.
Near to it is a Key Lime, planted at the same time, that is around 14 feet tall and is basically three good sized (4 inches) trunks that developed out of the base just above the graft line. It's certainly a tree and not a bush and I've never trimmed it or the Meyer next to it.
Both continue to grow at a rapid pace. I didn't expect them to do this, but I'm quite pleased that they are.
As far as pollinators, I help them along with a small painter's brush when the blooms get fragrant. I do the same thing with my tomatoes.
Given that many citrus trees grow to over 35' tall, 16' feet is well within the semi-dwarf range. It is possible to buy dwarf citrus trees in Texas, but are difficult to find. Those usually stay under 10 - 12'. Caldwell Nursery carries a few varieties:
http://caldwellhort.com/index.html
Spirit, how did your key lime tree do this winter? It is supposed to be very cold sensitive, but well worth the risk. I love the flavor, but I must admit my favorite is the Meyer lemon. It adds so much complexity to foods that other lemons don't have.
"Spirit, how did your key lime tree do this winter? It is supposed to be very cold sensitive, but well worth the risk. I love the flavor, but I must admit my favorite is the Meyer lemon. It adds so much complexity to foods that other lemons don't have."
I've got 3 Key limes in the ground and 4 more in large pots. The weather did concern me last winter, but with the exception of a tropical guava, also in the ground in my front landscaping, none suffered. I covered the Guava and it still lost it's top, but now has grown back bigger than ever. I did lose a Persian Lime that was in a pot when temps dropped to around 28 degrees. I have two more now in pots that are producing well. I will move them into the garage next winter if we are going to get a freeze.
The Key Limes are all close to the house or a fence line, so they didn't get much wind. All of them did just fine.
I've got 5-6 types of lemons, but I have to admit the Meyers are indeed the tastiest. I am looking forward to a pair of Tahiti Lemon/Lime crosses. This is the first year for them and they are producing pretty good for being so young. I admit I got curious and did cut the largest one recently. It wasn't really ready but, the flavor was a mild combination of Lemon and Lime. They might just be my favorites, if for no other reason than they are so unique.
I've also got a Ujukitsu in the ground and this is the first year it has produced. So far It has only 6 large fruits on it, but it's small. Been in the ground 3 years now and though it flowered in the past, these are the first fruits. I know they are slow growers, so I'm being patient. It's supposed to taste like lemonade. The fruits are very rough and marbled but are getting big, time will tell.
Where did you get these unusual citrus trees? They sound intriguing.
I have a little lime tree in the ground in the Dallas Metroplex - but it gets a hoop in winter and it gets a little tlc when the cold hits. I have been told that you can grow almost any citrus in the Dallas area on the South side of the house if you give them protection those first few years.
So far three years running so good.
"Where did you get these unusual citrus trees? They sound intriguing."
The Tahiti Lemon/Lime trees came from eBay. A grower in Georgia sent them to me. I don't know if they are supposed to ship such a tree to Texas or not, maybe because it is new/rare, it hasn't been covered yet. Many citrus growers are banned from shipping to Texas. It's pure politics and too long to go into here.
The Ujukitsu came from a grower in the Valley. I'm just persistent. Always scouring around for new varieties. They only had 3 of them and I managed to talk him into selling me one along with some other common varieties. Just do a search and you can probably find them. They are a Japanese tree, a lemon with many generations of crossing with oranges and a few other citrus throughout many years. In Japan it is called the Lemonade Tree. I also have a couple of pink lemon trees, also purchased through eBay. I think I have over 60 citrus trees, 8 avocados that are weeping and heavy with fruit, 3 guavas that are filled with young fruit, 2 apple trees, and an apricot tree along with 5 types of blueberries on a bit over half an acre back yard. Lots are in large pots and along with the garden, there's not much grass to cut in the yard. The apple trees are a Granny Smith and a Fuji and they are in the front yard. They've grown well, around 15 feet tall in less than three years now. This year they have apples on them, not many and I should have picked them off to encourage tree growth, but these are the first apples I've ever grown and I just couldn't trim them.
One thing about citrus trees is never plant them in dirt. I make my own mixture of equal parts of sharp sand, peat moss and pine bark chunks. Not mulch, but actual large chunks. Citrus love that growing medium and it drains well. Make sure you fertilize with all the minor elements/nutrients. Something for citrus itself, not just a regular fertilizer. I expect bushels and bushels of various types of lemons and limes this fall, not to mention more avocados than I can imagine. Lots of Guava as well. They seem to need a long time to mature, but this is my first year with them, so I'm still learning. I use them in the front landscaping as they produce such large colorful flowers in the spring and each of those flowers later becomes a fruit. They are still flowering, but at a much lesser rate. This spring, they were just covered in blooms. One thing I learned is that each Guava plant/tree can use up to a pound or more of pure nitrogen each season. I was surprised by that but went ahead and poured it on and they have responded well. Easily quadrupled in size over the summer and each has over a hundred fruit on them. I lost count. They can be pruned into trees or bushes, so this winter they will get the lower branches pruned as I want them as trees.