I have two meyer lemon trees in pots on my terrace in brooklyn, ny. They arrived from the nursery in April 2006 full of blooms and fruited beautifully. I did not thin any of the fruit. We brought them in for the winter, and the fruit ripened inside between December and January, and we ended up with 8 - 12 perfect and delicious fruits from each tree. Unfortunately, my indoor light is mostly northern exposure, and a bit of western, which is obviously not ideal. Shortly after harvesting, maybe in February, one tree started to lose its leaves. I believe the leaves turned yellow first. We noticed spider mites on the tree, and eliminated them whenever they appeared. The tree ended up losing every leaf. The other tree did maintain most of its leaves and did not have any spider mites. In March or April, the bare tree started to re-grow its leaves. We fertilized both trees, and put them back outside on May 15th. They are both thriving now with extra large full green leaves, HOWEVER, they never flowered or fruited this season at all. Now the questions... Will they ever flower again? If so, when should I expect that? Is there something I should do to encourage flowering? By not thinning the fruit last year, did I discourage the fruiting this year? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks, Lizz
Some citrus are prone to alternate year bearing, I do not know if meyer lemon is one of those. Flowering in citrus is the result of stress, usually exposure to cold (temps below the mid 60s) sometimes the stress is supplied by a dry period as in the tropics. It might help if you can expose the trees to some cold temps (35-65) whenever the weather is right.
Because your trees were kept indoors during the winter, what was the normal low indoor temperature that the Meyer Lemons were kept at during the winter? Citrus trees do not form flower buds, they only form buds that develop vegetation. However, when citrus trees receive 850 hours of temperatures less than 65F the vegetation buds go through a process called differentiation, and change into flower buds. Normally, enough low temperatures is provided by the winter months. If the trees were kept at warm temperatures throughout the winter, for example temperatures in the 70's, they cannot differentiate the buds into flowers buds, therefore your tree will not (cannot) bloom. - Millet
Thank you very much for your replies. The inside temperature over the winter was around 68F, but the thermostat was on a timer so it varied between 60F and 72F. From your advice, it sounds like I should leave the trees out longer this winter before bringing them in, but that begs a few more questions. 1 - If they need 850 hours below 65F, that's about 35 days. Does it have to be 35 days in a row, or can I move them in and out if it gets too cold for a day or a week or a month? 2 - How cold is too cold to leave them outside? Thanks again for your help!
Liz no, the 850 hours do not have to be in a row, the required cool period can be accumulative. However, if at any time the tree experiences a warm spell, and begins to flush new vegetative growth, the cold period would be lost and you would have to start all over again. If the preceding years crop load was minimal 650 hours of temperatures < 68F would probably be enough for blooming. It is dangerous for citrus to be at or below freezing for any period of time. - Millet
Liz, there is one other point you should be aware of--room temp is not the same as the soil temp. There are many factors that work to make the soil temp much lower than the room temp--evaporation of water from the soil also cools the soil, colder air falls to the floor, if the plant is in front of a window, the cold air from the window flows down over the pot, and finally the black body radiation from the pot is probably much greater than the radiation it is recieving so it is continually cooling itself. The point is the cold roots could be the cause of your leaf drop, if exposed to direct sun while the roots are cold. There is no substitute for a soil thermometer and the roots should be kept above 65 F when the plant is exposed to direct sun. Skeet
Thanks everyone for your help. Another few questions - How long after the 850 hours of 65F temperatues should I expect to see the flowers. If the flowers don't come within whatever the time frame is, can I try again to put the plant outside for another 850 hours? If it does flower inside over the winter, when should I put it outside again for the spring? Cheers, Lizz
After exposure to cold (or stress), the growth buds differentiate into flowers instead of leaves. When it is warm enough--long enough-- for growth you should get growth with flowers. Growth normally follows a week or 2 of temperatures above 70. Skeet
Re: meyer lemon tree flowered, BUT now there's BUGS? Hello Forum: Thanks to your advice of leaving my Meyer Lemon trees out in the colder weather for 850 hours, my trees have have flowered again. We kept them outside until December 1st, and they started flowering inside sometime in January. They are still flowering April 19, and there are a few fruits that are established. New problem. One of the trees has been spitting out a gooey sap that's all over the leaves and floor. I assumed it was nectar from the flowers and didn't worry about it, until I noticed this morning some of the leaves and branches have some little brown chunks in addition to the goo. They look like small bug bodies, a golden brown color with a darker brown in the center. They come right off the plant and they do not seem to be alive. I have a couple attached photos. Any one have any idea what this is and how to treat it? Today we scraped off all the bugs, and sprayed some insecticidal soap (basically soap and oil) on the plant. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Lizz
The most common type of scale is the brown scale which is what it appear in you photos. I use SaferSoap for this problem. If you have a number of citrus you may wish to use the oil base.
Lizz-- BTW--I'm glad to hear that your tree is flowering again. I got over 100 lemons off my inground Lisbon lemon this year--in fact there are still about 15 lemons on the tree as it is now setting the next crop. I have enjoyed lemonade since last August along with several lemon pies.
Thanks for coming back and telling us the good news. I know your tree under you care will be fine. If you use soap spray you might have to spray 2 or 3 times one week a part. As Laaz wrote above, if you use a horticultural spray one application should do the job. One word of caution, do NOT spray during the heat of the day. Always spray first thing in the morning, or near sunset. However, you can spray at anytime on a cool cloudy day. Take care. - Millet
There is a different joy when growing citrus over apple/pear citrus trees is the best nobody can test
Gardenlover, One of the problems in growing citrus is not having enough of them, once one learns the how-twos.
