I was given a Meyer Lemon Tree

and it has lots of lemons on it and some more flowers. I am keeping it in the pot and soil it came with , in the sun and keeping it watered so that it doesn't dry out but doesn't keep wet feet. Does this doll need fertilizer or anything else? I plan moving this in a few weeks to a larger pot w/new soil and in the sun when we move. Is there anything else I need to know about this? thanks to all who read and respond.

Ann

You are one lucky person Ann... to be given a meyer lemon especially loaded with fruit and blooms! The cheapest I have seen them are $35.00, so I would be hugging that friend! lol When it is through with it's lemons... especially large ones, I would stick it in the ground since you are in Houston. I have one in the ground and one in a pot, and the one in the ground always does better than the pot one and I am North of you quite a bit. Course not in the summer, even now might be too late as ya'll are already getting hot. I am no expert on the fertilizer, but you will need some diluted strength to help keep the lemons on the tree. Google, and you should get some great info.

Becky

I have had a Meyer's lemon for quite a few years and it has been very productive. You'll need to use citrus fertilizer. My small tree is growing in a large container. and is doing very well. It will not reach its true potential in heighth and width when growing in a container. The size of the plant will be controlled by the size of the container. Therefore, the number of fruit it produces will be controlled by the size of the container as well. A 5 gallon size (15-20 inch) container is the most frequently used and the tree will be able to stay in this size for a long time. Of course, you can keep it in a smaller sized container and repot it (in the spring) when it becomes root bound graduating it into larger sized containers.

Citrus are heavy feeders. Yellowing leaves usually indicate a lack of fertilizer or poor drainage. I found that there are all kinds of recommendations for the type of fertilizer to use. There are fertilizers made specifically for citrus trees which usually have a 8-3-9 or 8-2-10 ratio and it should have at least 3% magnesium. Some recommended fertilizers are Bandini Citrus Food, E.B. Stone Organic Citrus fertilizer and Arizona's Best (follow directions for potted plants) but some can not be used on plants in containers. If keeping the tree in a container, be sure to read the directions on the fertilizer container before purchasing it to make sure it is suitable. Use a balanced fertilizer which contains nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Some recommend a fertilizer with a 3-1-1 ratio (18-6-6, for example) and trace elements, such as iron, zinc, and manganese. These trace elements are very, very important. A lot of the fertilizers are now not including these in their formulas. So be sure the fertilizer you purchase has these. Fertilize regularly, as directed on the label. Some recommend fertilizing lightly all year using a slow-release fertilizer with trace elements. However, I do not use slow release fertilizers anymore because I have had plants become overfertilized in periods of continuous rain. Some people have recommended Peter's Special fertilizer if you can't find the others I have mentioned. However, I use palm food on my citrus plants because it has all of the micronutrients that they need as recommended by a Florida grower (see statement below).

"We get tons of email from people who are killing their plants with liquid fertilizer, especially Miracle Grow. We guess they believe the ads or use too much, but rapid decline is the usual complaint We can say also that professionals in South Florida do not use Miracle Grow. Almost all growers and nurserymen use Peters liquid, but NEVER as a main food. Almost all use Nutricote and an occasional boost using Peters liquid fertilizer (blends)."

"Almost as bad as using Miracle Grow the wrong way is buying potting soil with fertilizers included."

I had quit using potting soils that contained fertilizer for years due to the death rate of my plants especially when it rained a lot or when it was so hot that I had to water containerized plants a lot. It is now difficult to find any that doesn't contain fertilizer.

Warmer climates - Fertilize in January, in May and early October. Magnesium deficiency occurs more frequently in potted citrus. In January or February, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt for every 3 gallons of soil on the top of the soil and water in well to be sure the plant has enough magnesium. This helps the plant hold its new blooms.

The tree will hold as many fruit as it can ripen. The others fall off which is a natural occurence. The fruit can take about nine months to ripen. As one crop ripens, the tree will bloom again so it's not uncommon to have fruit and blossoms simultaneously.

Water about once a week when it is warm or when the top 2 inches of soil is dry. In the winter, water every 2 weeks or so.

I hope that this information helps. I love my little tree and watching the development of the fruit is fascinating.

I thank you for myself on the great info you posted.. I have been using MG (yikes... didn't know that)

Becky

Becky, you are welcome. I know that a lot of people use Miracle Grow potting soil and fertilizer and swear by it. I have had a few problems with it.

Thank you Beck5721 and especially htop for your information. Citrus trees are new to me. I am keeping all the info stored and will look for the fertilizer when I am out next. Our youngest daughter who gave us the tree has some type of orange tree and a lemon tree at her house. Next door to her there is a large grapefruit tree that hangs over her yard so she has a good supply of citrus at hand. We love this kind of experimentation.

Ann

Ann ~ you are blessed to have such a generous daughter. I have not smelled anything more wonderful than the blooms from a Meyers lemon. I debated buying one of them or a satsuma this spring. The satsuma won out as it is less commonly found in east Texas. If the lemon had blooms on it, there would have been no contest! Maybe next spring... the Meyers lemon. I hope you enjoy it and will await hearing your experiences.

Htop ~ thank you for sharing that good information. I will save it also as I will have need for it with the satsuma. I have had bad experience with the MG soils and now, I understand why. Thank you. pod

Thanks Beck. I have a Meyers lemon I bought this Spring. It of course is in, MG w/ MG citrus spike (1/3 of spike) in container it came in. Pretty big. (compared to Blueberry & Raspberry containers. Should I transplant? Thanks in advance...Michelle

Ann, you're welcome. Pod is right. The blooms' fragrance is wonderful.

pod, one year, I bought bags of MG for myself, my brother and my Mother. The soil mix developed some kind of fungus in it and it killed a lot of plants; not just mine, but my relatives as well. If you read the fine print, the bag has instructions to get rid of the MG that is in containers each year and place new MG in them. I had dumped a lot of old MG from containers in an area around a large, well established crepe myrtle tree. It slowly died and I have always thought that the old MG killed it. Of course, I could be wrong. However, my other crepe myrtles are fine.

I have used a lot of different types of potting soils and every time I find a great one that does not have fertilizer in it, Lowe's and Home Depot quit carry it. Some plants I have require a different ratio than the ratio used in the potting soils and/or do not require constant fertilization and are stunted. This is especially true for native plants. This is another reason that I like to add my own fertilizer. I guess people buy more of the mixes that have fertilizer. I am now using Sta-Green (at Lowe's). Last year, I could find the type that did not have fertilizer. It was wonderful. Now, the only type of Sta-Green I can find has fertilizer. However, the fertilizer is activated by the temperature of the soil not by moisture level in order to not burn plants. I am not sure how this works. The Sta-Green Perennial Planting Mix is wonderful. I had mixed it in my flowerbeds for 2 years. Now, I can not find it anywhere. I guess I should just start mixing my own potting soil. Also, I do not use slow release fertilizers like Osmocote because with the need excessive watering during periods of drought or during periods with a lot of rain, it too will burn plants.

Michelle, I would go ahead and leave it in its container for now. If it starts to wilt frequently or the foliage starts to take on a grayish-green appearance, I would go ahead and re-pot it. Try using the Sta-Green container mix if you do.

You are so right about the wonderful smell of lemon trees. People here are having great luck w/the Meyer Lemon by keeping it in a pot and not overwatering. They get lots of lemons and you can drive down the streets and see the citrus of all kinds hanging out.
As to potting soils/dirt and the like, I have always used what comes as potting soil w/o any fertilizers. If I want fertilizer I will put it in there. I really prefer time release fertilizer and I don't overuse it. If I'm using time release on flower beds I just throw some out there and forget about it until the next year. I don't have the time or inclination to baby plants. (I prefer to baby my DDH) Anyway, thank you so much for your research and study done thru the years. It's wonderful having an encyclopedia right at your fingertips when you don't know what to do, exactly, just an idea of what should be done. That's Dave's for you!

Ann

Hazel, it is possible that the crepe myrtle died because you changed the soil level by dumping the potting mix near it. Some plants are so sensitive that as little as an inch of added soil will kill them.

Betty. that could sure happen; however, the soil level was not increased that much. I have increased the soil level in the flowerbed that the crepe myrtles are in many times as well as making a flowerbed around a crepe myrtle and it did not hurt them. The tree specialist stated that the tree had some kind of root fungus problem. It seems that something was preventing water and minerals from getting from the roots to the leaves.That is why I thought it might have been the MG.

I've used the MG potting soil for about 6 years now without any problems. I've been meaning to try ProMix, but the price is staggering when I have to re-pot, or move up a pot, all my Brugmansias. Living in the sticks has its disadvantages. LOL

ProMix is supposed to be very good.

Hi Ann,

I have a meyer lemon that has been planted in the ground for about 5 years now. In fact, it was planted in one spot, got too big and I had to move it. It's now about 8' in diameter and about 10' tall (perhaps taller). The last two years I have had more lemons (really big ones) than I could possible give away or even make stuff with. I've made marmalade, I've frozen the juice, I've made pies and cakes and cookies. You name it. This year, I will even have more! If you could have smelled the blossoms and heard the buzzing bees a month ago....it was incredible.

I don't fertilize mine at all. I do a small pruning in the fall for shaping and I do have to spray occasionally with NEEM oil for the leaf bugs that are in the leaves. I prune all affected leaves/stems and throw them away.

Knolen and all, thank you so much for all the input. I really would like to put it in the ground when we move the 2nd week of June but can't help but be a little hesitant. I'm going to think about it and ..... Y'all have been terrific in your support. Thanks so much!

Ann

I'm a bit late in adding my two cents here, but I too have a Meyer lemon. It's been in the ground for 9 years and seems quite happy. Generous production with minimum attention. I maybe shouldn't admit this, but I haven't fertilized at all. Nearby is a tangerine planted at the same time; it produces so much that I supply the neighborhood and fill a freezer with juice. This rocky black clay is hard to work, but it has lots of nutrients. The tangerine continues to grow in size and is beginning to hang over the neighbor's fence.
A severe winter several years ago had temps at 17 degrees three nights in a row and both trees came through fine. Recently I set out a couple of kumquat trees; I dug in some worm castings into the planting holes. Yuska

Wow, I'm not making lemonade or lemon pies from the lemons on this little tree yet but I'm looking forward to it.

Ann

With heritage probably including a tangerine strain, Meyers are milder (and larger) than standard lemons. Quite often my TV snack is half a Meyer with a smidgen of salt - rind and all.

Here's a good TAMU article -

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/citrus/citrus.html

This message was edited May 6, 2008 4:16 PM

Yuska ~ when you had such cold temps for a few days, did your citrus loose their leaves?

No, no leaf drop. Some of the leaves on the outer ends looked as though they were trying to curl, but they did recover when the temps stabilized. My fig trees were hurt quite a bit - the ends of the upper branches lost leaves and looked dead; those ends did not recover until the second season. Still had a big fig crop anyway.

When I lived in California in a 9a zone we had one night with a sustained period of several hours at 16 degrees. My blood orange tree and Meyer lemon came through unscathed, but a neighbor's grapefruit tree lost all its leaves and turned a gray/ashen hue. We were sure it was a goner, but remarkably it releafed and survived although it missed that season of fruit production.

I have two large potted grapefruits that loose leaves with the frosts. They do sprout in the spring but that is why I was curious about your citrus. Thanks.

Oooo.... I think I can smell your lemon tree from here, Ann!! How wonderful. :-)

htop, thank you so much for the info on the MG potting soil! I had tried to raise hybrid daylilies in pots in the MG potting soil, and lost 20 in the last three years. I had not been able to get a raised bed made until this year.

I had read where some of the growers were growing them in pots, so didn't see anything wrong with it. I felt so guilty having lost so many....thinking it was because they were in pots....not thinking it could be the potting soil. Mother had always had hers in raised beds with soil, cow manure, and compost / peat. Now I do wonder if it was the potting soil.

I've had fairly good luck with it with other things, I have some in my garage which I will use, but in the future will reconsider. I will try to get the other daylily seedlings into a raised bed.

I believe there could definately be something to that article. Thank you for posting it! It doesn't replace the lost daylilies....but at least now I know better. If I try to plant the numerous seeds that I have, it will be in raised beds with Mom's old formula!!!!

To stay on topic, the neighbor behind me has two huge lemon trees. They aren't very old, and so far only have had a few lemons. They are very nice trees. They tower well above our six foot fence...and are a pretty tree!

Daylilies in pots are doable. I have had many potted till I could make room. I would have to guess it wasn't your fault... LOL

Texasgal177, you're welcome. I hope that you daylilies do well for you.

Thank you, I hope so too!