Indoor Meyer Lemon Tree: Rooted Cutting or Grafted?

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by MeyerNewb, Jun 14, 2009.

  1. MeyerNewb

    MeyerNewb Member

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    I am planning on growing a Meyer Lemon Tree on my dining room table... I live in Alaska and so an outdoor tree is simply not possible or desirable.

    A week ago I contacted a place called Cliffton's Nursery off of Amazon who sell the 1 gallon tree I will likely get, to ask if it was a rooted cutting or a grafted tree... and I have yet to receive any response at all. I have to order via the internet because local nursery do not carry Meyer Lemon Trees.

    However I really don't know the difference between the two or which I should get for an indoor 'table top' type tree, I would keep this tree very small through trimming... likely less than 2ft tall from the top of the soil, and trim away the fruit except for 4 to 5 lemons a year due to the small size of the tree.

    So which should I be looking for? Rooted Cutting? or a grafted tree?

    I have spent a week researching and am no closer to an answer.
     
  2. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    If the tree is a one gallon Meyer lemon, it will almost certainly be a tree from a rooted cutting. Meyer lemons are among the easiest variety of citrus to root. However, for your purpose it will not matter whether it is a tree from a rooted cutting, or a grafted tree. Both will be a fully mature tree. As the tree is going to be grown as a containerized tree, a rooted cutting might even be better. NOTE: citrus produce fruit ONLY on the new growth. If you keep pruning your Meyer lemon to keep it small, the tree will NEVER produce fruit, because you will always be trimming off the new growth from the tree. Just the fact that the tree is growing as a containerized tree, with a restricted root system, will retard the tree's growth. Still the tree will eventually get a little to large to be used as a table top tree. Further being in Alaska (Sarah is great) your tree will require additional light during the winter months. There are many other varieties of citrus that are much easier to grow than Meyer lemon. The best to you and your tree. - Millet (1,315-)
     
  3. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Why would that be?
     
  4. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Hi JK, hope everything is going well with you. Rooted cuttings do not develop long tap roots, as do grafted trees, unless the root stock was also developed from a rooted cutting, which is almost never ever done. 99.999 percent of all root stocks are seedlings. A tap root rapidly reaches the bottom of the container, and begins to quickly circle around and around and around. - Millet (1,315-)
     
  5. MeyerNewb

    MeyerNewb Member

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    Millet, you sir certainly get around... I have seen your name more times than I can count in the past week :)

    What other varieties of Citrus would you sujject other than the meyer lemon?

    I like the Bonsai type idea, but I wouldn't be too serious about it (the bonsai part)... I just want a small cute tree that will stay under 2ft with proper care and produce a fruit every so often that my daughter can watch grow and then eat.
     
  6. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Thanks for the explanation, Millet.

    MeyerNewb,
    Calamondin and Eustis limequat are two varieties that I've had success with. These tend to stay small unlike other citrus varieties I'm growing, including Meyer lemon.
     
  7. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    JK mentions two that will stay small. Eustis limequat (named after Eustis, Florida) is a cross between a lime and a kumquat, and has a sour lemon type of taste. Calamondin produces a small orange fruit, that is also sour, and is a favorite of people in the Philippines. A Calamondin is not a fruit you would eat out of hand, but would squeeze the juice over a food item like fish. If you want to grow a smaller citrus type of tree that produces the typical sweet orange type of taste, you can try a Mandarin or a Satsuma. What makes a citrus "dwarf" is the type of root stock that the tree is grafted onto. Purchase a mandarin, satsuma or even a kumquat which has been grafted upon the root stock Flying Dragon. Flying Dragon root stock is a very common root stock. It should be quite easy for you to find a tree that is grafted on it. A good place to purchase a true dwarf citrus tree is Four Winds Growers in California. However, they ship their tree bear root, but very well packaged in damp cedar shavings. You might want the tree shipped by UPS 2nd day or 3rd day air. Growing a citrus tree will be great for your daughter to watch and then eat the fruits of her labor. - Millet (1,315-)

    http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/
     
  8. icon149

    icon149 Member

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    +1 to the Calamondin Orange, i would actually disagree with Millet (just this one time), you can eat the Calamondin orange straight off the tree, they are sour, but they taste wonderful and smell great, and they are very juicy for such a tiny orange, much more so than a key lime (which i also eat straight). Perhaps my tolerance for sour is a little unusual. they are also very thin skinned and easy to peel by hand, so your daughter will have no problems getting her little fingers into the orange and peeling them herself.

    Millet,

    One question, I have a dwarf grapefruit that i am going to grow in a container in Raleigh NC (against my better judgement). is there anything i should do to prevent the taproot from just running circles around the bottom of the container? would pruning the tap root help? or will it just continue growing after it is repotted anyway? I will more than likely have to prune this tree to keep it small enough for me to carry in and out every year and i'm ok with it not bearing much fruit. i just don't want to kill my tree by pruning the tap root to agressively, or by causing problems by not pruning it at all.

    Thanks,
     
  9. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Icon149 I stand corrected. I should have said I would not eat a Calamondin out of hand. I suspect there are other people just like you who also agree with the sour taste of the Calamondin's fruit. I know a person who makes wine from the juice of the Calamondin. To answer your question, when a tap root is severed, the root will not continue to grow longer. What frequently occurs when the tap root is cut, as with all roots, the root will branch out from all side with smaller feeder roots. To encourage the develop of side feeder roots, many growers plant their trees into containers called air root pruning containers, to take advantage of this through the 4-inch rule. - Millet (1,314-).
     
  10. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Agreed. Maybe it's my taste buds but I don't find calamondins to be overly sour. I leave them on the tree for a long time which perhaps increases the sugar content. In addition the peel (which is edible) is quite sweet. I find the fruit tasty if I eat it peel and all.
     
  11. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Icon149, there you go, you have already met another Calamondin fan. - Millet (1,314-)
     

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