Any ideas on keeping the newly formed lemons on a Meyer Lemon tree (12 years old) that is wintering inside? It bloomed with dozens of flowers many with fruit but as in previous years since it started to bloom, they always drop off before developing past a few mm. Its fertilized with fruit tree food and healthy.
Do you lose all of the fruit? It is normal for a citrus tree to shed most of the fruit that form and only keep those that it can support. A fertilizer having a NPK ratio of 5-1-3 and which includes micronutrients is recommended for containerized trees.
It actually has never held a fruit past a few mm in size and only started blooming about 3 years ago. This time it bloomed with dozens of flowers many in clusters with some "sterile" flowers and some with stigma and with a couple weeks a little lemon begins to develop. When I brought it in from the roof deck I fertilized it for the first time with a citrus fertilizer (Jobes organic) which I attributed to contributing to the robust round of flowering this time.
So then this is tree grown from seed; congratulations on getting it to flower. Perhaps the loss of fruit in a tree's early years of having matured is normal. It's not clear whether this is the first time the tree has ever been fertilized or is the first use of a citrus fertilizer. If it's the former then a lack of nutrients in the soil may be a contributing factor. At the point I would continue with a regular fertilization schedule and see what happens. Just make sure the fertilizer contains micronutrients. As an aside, Meyer lemon seed is monoembryonic, the result of fertilization. Therefore a tree grown from such seed will not be a true Meyer lemon - it may be something similar to but not the same as a true Meyer lemon. Don't expect the quality of the fruit to be the same. By the way, could you give me an idea of the dimensions of the tree? Has it ever been pruned (not that you should)?
I had fertilized but with whatever I had for flowering plants on the deck. It always flourishes out on the deck in full sun most of the day. Your guess is correct, I did grow it from a seed I got out of a Meyer lemon I brought back east from a trip to California. Its currently over 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide, trunk is at ~3 feet of the height. It is pruned regularly (mostly to manage it inside) and has been almost leaf-less about 2 years ago (and pruned heavily) due to scale infestation during the winter months. A treatment over a year ago with Bayer Systemic insecticide has remedied pest problem and the Summer brought it back with lots of new growth. Maybe this robust flowering is due to the right fertilizer mix and some of these lemons will survive. I mist it daily and water it more (twice /wk) during all this flowering. Thanks for your quick replies, your comments are very helpful.
Nicely done. You must be very proud of your achievement. I imagine this tree is very special to you. You may be interested in reading this thread in an external forum discussing the concept of node count and how it relates to the maturity of a tree. It is the reason I asked whether you pruned your tree.
we had our first winter in 5 years that i have had to bring my trees ( lemon) inside too. i use florescent bulbs, ( 3 of them, 2 feet long) as well as 4 clip on lamps with grow lights i bought at home hardware store for $5.99 each. they last about 35 days, at 24 hr days, or 12-12 for 60. i put mine on a $10 timer bought at same place. the bulbs can screw into a regular socket, and dont need a ballast or any special wiring hook-ups. they are not as bright as i would have thought, but the trees seem to be flourishing,and i have just entered flowering! ( a little bud blaster couldnt hurt! its expensive, but the difference in number of flowers/fruits, flower size, and over all health of the plant is an extra bonus. most hydroponic stores sell supernatural bud blaster by weight, so you should be able to purchase as much or as little as you like. 4 oz container is $89, but goes a very long way! for my house plants and outdoor plants/fruit garden, i used less than half this year. yet tripled my crop size! good luck with saving your flowering season.... i would put as much extra light as you can afford, on your lemon tree fast. regular light bulbs wont work, has to be solar-bulbs.
Thanks, appreciate the comments and advice. I'll post a picture if it ends up with lemons (that I don't have to wire on). :-)
