Can anyone help me with my little lemon tree?
Let me preface this by saying that I know zip, zero, nada about gardening so please talk to me like I'm a five year old:) I bought this little lemon tree at Lowe's last year. Kept it outside all summer then moved it in our four seasons room at the first frost. It flowered last year and this year it started producing. It's blazing hot here in west TN so I usually watered it once a day. Not sure if that was correct or not but it seemed to do ok. So here are a few questions I have.
1. We are getting close to the first frost and the lemons still have green on them. Should I go ahead and move the tree inside? Will the lemons continue to ripen? They are a deep yellow but almost all of them still have green on the underside.
2. Should I buy some type of fertilizer? It's still in the same soil/pot as when we first potted it.
3. If I pull a lemon off with green on it, will it ripen any more?
Thanks for any help you can give me. Y'all are THE BEST!
Comments (13)
Lars
11 years ago
Tracey_OH
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Please help me save this little lemon tree!
Comments (12)Talk to gardeners, landscapers, nursery people, neighbors, etc. from your own area for advise on how they raise Citrus (amending the soil, raised beds, etc..). Your conditions in terms of soil condition, temperatures, humidity, etc. are completely different from conditions in the Southeast or East or any other areas where Citrus are grown (even if only containerized). But I would echo what other posters have said. Summer is not the time to transplant first mistake. You could next time hold off planting Summer purchased (often discounted plants) until the Fall or Winter months. (Citrus do quite well containerized or in raised beds due to improved drainage btw.) There is obviously some kind of drainage issue. Not matter how hot and dry your air temps are, Citrus are not going to tolerate muddy conditions. I would like to be optimistic, but prepare for the worst. Also, stop fertizing it! Will do nothing but aggravate the situation. On a positive note, I have had Citrus come back fully to flower and fruit from 100% defoliated trees. Good luck!...See MorePlease Help me with my Sickly Dwarf Lemon Tree
Comments (3)Hi Tabithawc! It almost sounds as if your leaves may have sunburn. I would maybe move it indoors to a sunny window for a bit- East if you can, and then as it heals, perhaps acclimate it to the sun by putting it out in the morning sun (East) and then gradually getting it used to stronger sun- Western. Once it heals it should be able to handle full sun. It sounds like the plant needs a little coddling. I wish you luck! Jen...See MoreHelp me evaluate my Lemon Tree! (pics)
Comments (15)Millet, our California soils are mostly on the clay side. Very few are on the other extremes. Clay soils with stagnant non-flowing water are more of our problem than leaching. I have to literally take out the soil, install drainage pipes and aerators, and then put back the proper type of soil around our backyard so that I could plant the trees. Our soils are rich in nitrogen. My recommendations are not for potted citruses, neither were they for everyone including Germany, it is within the context of the original author and what I know about our soils and that I have been to several backyards of several friends in the Bay area. We do have soils that are sandy or silty that have high leaching rates. Our soils and city water are also on the basic side, that will also tend to limit availability of P. You are right that one must consider what you are taking out must be replaced. We are however in the context of producing fruits for home consumption within our yard, and not to think like a commercial for profit growers. As a home owner who doesn't want vigorous growth on our mature trees, it would be easier for me to err on the less growth side. Apply less N, you have lesser growth, lesser pruning work, for sure reduced yield which we also like to be at manageable harvest level but always more than enough for our needs. That's the beauty of this, we can easily manipulate growth and production and not be dictated by economics of production. Applying more N, naturally you will have overly vigorous trees, something that in my right mind, you will never need to do with your mature trees when they are planted closer together than those in commercial orchards. I have one valencia orange tree in my rental property, also heavy clay soil. I have never applied any fertilizer on it ever, as did the previous owner. Yet it keeps on consistently producing a lot of fruits, and it has been 15 years since it was planted. Perhaps during the last 3 years since we got it, it has only grown 1/2 ft taller, but the fruit production is more or less consistent and there was no need to prune nor clean up intertwining branches as there are none. The fruit taste kept on improving year after year, however. This tree could easily qualify for organic growing. This is the type of mature tree that I want in my yard. The leaves remained green, no deficiency, on clay soils but yet produce fruit. I just water it on automatic schedule. Should I need to make it grow bigger, I would perhaps apply fertilizer with low N, then just ammonium sulfate for the younger ones that I want to grow vigorously. Clay soils store a lot of nutrients and the only problem about leaching is that we need it, along with aeration and proper drainage in some cases....See MoreHELP!!! Please help me with my meyer lemon tree
Comments (10)Christina, those other leaves look mighty fine and dark green. You must of been doing something right all year. Many times citrus will drop leaves, turn color or even get attacked by pests this time of the year. The cold comes into play. A lot less direct over head sunlight like summer and watering has to be pulled back dependent on the temps.. That leaf looks like it just naturally fell off.....Mike When you sprayed with Neem, did you spray under the leaves too? Looks like you did the tops but not the bottom.....See MoreLars
11 years agolsr2002
11 years agoTracey_OH
11 years agolsr2002
11 years agoCitrus food - I write the dates I fed it on the top and I use about half as much food as is recommended but I feed more often. I know I fed my tree in July but I must not have written the down and I'm going to feed it today. I bought my plant food at a local nursery, I think you could ask for a citrus food with a similar number composition.
lsr2002
11 years agoMy tree has a few yellowing leaves - I think that always happens when we bring it in.
lsr2002
11 years agoThis year I have had large lemons. Let me know if you would like to see my light setup. I really think that the light and the food have been very good for my tree. At this time of the year we have the light on from 3pm until 10pm. Later when the days are shorter we will increase the time from 2pm to 11pm. The CFL bulb (85 watts) uses very little electricity and the light is plugged into a timer.
Lee
Tracey_OH
11 years agolsr2002
11 years agohottina44
8 years agolindac92
8 years ago
lsr2002