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I just bought this from a nursery, and it's semi-dwarf. I was so excited to see that I could buy it locally (I'm uneasy about spending $50 on a plant that gets shipped), that I didn't see that it gets to be 10-15'!! Where I live, I'll need to bring it indoors in the winter...I'd already planned on that, but it looks like it may get pretty big.

So, if you have a semi-dwarf, do you remember how long it took to get 10-15'?

Also, have you ever rooted one of the stalks to get a new plant?

Thanks!

I love Meyer lemons. I bought a bag of them last week, and the other day the youngest Doodlepunk made lemonade. He came outside (I was working in the garden) and told me "Mom, I made some lemonade but it tasted funny. So I dumped it out. Is that OK?" I came in a looked, he had used every single one of my nice Meyer lemons, and didn't think it tasted like REAL lemonade. He thought they were spoiled!

What's another word for Doofus? Doodlepunk!

Sorry, I have absolutely no experience growing dwarf lemon trees. Hope your does great!

I have one. We bought it last year, brought it in over the winter, and finally decided where to plant it. I live in zone 8b, so the tree will live over the winter. My understanding is that it will grow based on the pot size that you put it in. You can also keep it pruned to stay small; but be careful about pruning, it is very easy to prune the new growth on citrus trees and then get no lemons for awhile because you took off the wrong area.

Fulenn

Thanks, Fulenn! That's good info to know!

Momof4 -

I have several citrus plants that I keep in pots - (no room for more in the ground ). When planted in a pot, they will not get as big as when put in the ground. My meyers lemon never really got above 4 feet. I have a grapefruit that has remained around the same size for years. It will also depend upon what size the pot is. The smaller the pot the less it will grow. I have mine in big containers.

This doesn't mean you wouldn't get a lot of fruit. They tend to produce a good deal.


As for starting another one, most stock now is grafted onto another root (flying dragon) that is hardier. So if you root a sucker it will not be the same as the main plant. My understanding is that rooting a sucker into another pot will work. Rooting it into the ground is a problem because it does not develop a tap root. This not only picks up water from farther below but also stablizes the plant.

Also, if you forget a plant outside that has a grafted root and it freezes you cannot bring it back. What comes back from the grafted root will not be a meyers but the root plant. So you need to watch the weather.

Donna

I LOVE it that so many of you Stars are putting a link to your story in your sig line! It's so inspiring for those of us who are in the works.

I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree off the web last summer. I got a few blooms, but they'd drop off before fruit formed.

I set it outside this summer and so far I have not had ONE bloom!!! I have it in a pot and was planning on bringing it inside this winter, then I read where fulenn said he/she lives in zone 8B (which is where I live). Fulenn . . .can you elaborate on how you care for it in winter?

momof4, I cant' answer your question about how long it takes to get 15' tall . . mine is only about 4'. And it's a year old.

I'm sorry, I have not been in this section for a long time now. I planted my meyer lemon outside this year and we have had a VERY cold winter for Texas. Lemon trees are evergreens, but it was cold enough that all of the leaves fell off of my tree! I have been watching it and the trunk and branches are still green, so I am hoping that I will see buds and new growth when the weather warms up. Fortunately for us in warmer climates, that should be next month sometime.

I'll post again once I find out how it is doing.

On the bright side, my new fig tree is doing well.

Fulenn

Fig trees must be able to take cold. I have a neighbor that has so many fig trees and the figs look good when they are out.

Fulenn,
My dad planted fig trees at their home in TX (Waxahachie), and they grew so quickly and were so delicious! We drove by that house several years ago (after he'd died) and the trees were taller than the house! They seem to do great in TX.

Hi All,

My fig tree is showing buds on the branches now, but it looks like the meyer lemon has died. I will know for sure in a few more weeks. Bummer though, because it had the most aromatic flowers, kind of like a gardenia or a magnolia blossom.

Fulenn

I had two meyer lemons, and they may have both just recently died. I'm waiting for better weather to put them outside. Mine got scales (tiny brown spots that are actually little bugs) and also had leaf drop, and I don't see anything new coming. I sprayed w/neem, but I don't know if it helped the scales or not.

I learned that meyer lemons definitely aren't for people like me, who need plants that "thrive with neglect!"

HEre in California you can just throw them out in the yard and they happily grow to 8 to ten feet tall and will produce like nobodies business.
THey are an excellent little fruit tree...
My Inlaws keep theirs in a wine barrel planter and even the week when weather was in the 10 degree range didn't kill it.

All Citrus are suseptible to scale.

Yep, that describes me.

But I know people around here that have them growing in their yards and I really want one of my own. I keep going outside and looking at it in hopes that something under there is still alive. With my luck it will be the root that it was grafted onto and I won't figure it out for months. I tried keeping in inside, but it just didn't thrive.

Fulenn

Do you know what planting zone you are in? I know that a lot of people grow the Meyer lemon here in Texas because it can take a bit more cold weather than a regular lemon, but it got colder than usual here this winter. Or maybe I just don't know what I am doing with a citrus tree. I never saw the lemons around here covered or with a heater nearby.

Fulenn