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deb... My "patio" Meyer's Lemon bears fruit year 'round rather than a single crop like most fruit trees. The fruit is ripe when it begins to turn yellow. I have brought it inside for the winter, and it currently has one lemon nearly ripe, and several still rather small. My patio key lime is the same way and has about a dozen limes on it right now. I have them under grow lights and hope they will do well (greow and continue to put on fruit) inside.
I live in Birmingham, Alabama and have brought my plant inside for the winter. Most of its leaves have fallen off,
but I cut back on the watering after I brought it in. Do you think we are too far north/too cold to leave it out?
Thanks so much for your help!
Deb
okay if anyone has a suggestion for me please help!!!!! there has been a couple naughty stray kittens that think that our lemon tree pot is its personal litter box. I think that it is making the tree sick. We have put a rack over the pot to detour them from digging but if you have any other suggestion to help bring the lemon tree back to full health it will be appretiated. Oh it has fruit and blooms on it and now im worried that it will kill all of the crop and the new crops to come. thank you for the help in advance.
chriselou, my thought is that since it is in a pot, you can flush it out well by just running the hose for a long time to rinse the impurities out. Of course you'll be taking out the nutrients, too, so you'll want to add in more nutrients with compost or other organic materials. Then you'll want to keep it covered as you're doing to prevent the cycle from starting again.
Chriselou, it might help to put a layer of pebbles, 1 inch size or larger, on top of the soil. If the cats can't dig into it, they'll have to go somewhere else. Plus, the pebbles will look reasonably attractive. Flushing out the pot is a good idea, and feed with a plant food high in nitrogen. I don't mean mega high, like ammonium sulfate, but a food that is higher in nitrogen than in phosphorus or potassium and contains "minor" elements like iron. That might green up the leaves.
Mustang, our Meyer lemon is much smaller than our other dwarf citrus, and it does grow low to the ground. We found that the first year or two, the tree was pretty scraggly and also needed regular iron sufate supplements. (Our soil is kind of low in iron and is alkaline, which makes it all that much harder to take in what iron there is. You might have entirely different conditions in FL.) We used Bandini brand citrus food plus additional iron sulfate. Now, seven year later, the tree is pretty much left to its own devices and it is doing fine.
I live in the San Juan Islands off the coast of WA,Zone 7. My lemon tree stays out for the summer but I bring it in the green house around the middle of October. The green house is heated so no problem with the temperature, however the tree does loose a lot of leaves going from out doors to in. I have found misting the tree often (4 times a week) helps as the humidity in a green house is usually on the low side. I think that this is probably true of a home situation. I also use an organic citrus tree fertilizer and when the leaves get that yellow tinge I also treat it with iron.
This tree is also smaller is scale than the dwarf lime I grow which is also in a pot.
