The Lemon Fool

I started the thread, because I had bought 2 lemon trees. These have been outside all summer, but I brought them back into the conservatory in mid November, just before the first really cold spell hit here. They are thriving with many fruit now yellowing up.

In my view the lemon trees will handle the cold well, as long as they are on the dry side. Certainly down to the c.4 deg C in my conservatory, and probably down to freezing. However, I do think they need plenty of light all the time, so moving them into a north facing porch does not sound such a good idea to me.

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all well. I have a potted Meyer lemon, the pots probably a bit too big for the tree but the tree is thriving, new growth, healthy leaves (no leaf drop whatsoever in the last 6 months), and growing new lemons. I water about 4 pints and the soil remains moist for between 35-40 days (use a meter to measure), i haven't noticed a significant change to this over the recent warmer months. I usually fertilise at each watering as well.

I'm just wondering whether the 35-40 days between watering is a consequence of the pot being too large? Browsing the net i've found somewhere that says that you shouldn't go beyond a month between watering but i consistently do with my tree and it seems to be doing ok. Just wondering what other peoples experience is in terms of watering durations, has anyone regularly watered once per month?

redbluerhino wrote:Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all well. I have a potted Meyer lemon, the pots probably a bit too big for the tree but the tree is thriving, new growth, healthy leaves (no leaf drop whatsoever in the last 6 months), and growing new lemons. I water about 4 pints and the soil remains moist for between 35-40 days (use a meter to measure), i haven't noticed a significant change to this over the recent warmer months. I usually fertilise at each watering as well.

I'm just wondering whether the 35-40 days between watering is a consequence of the pot being too large? Browsing the net i've found somewhere that says that you shouldn't go beyond a month between watering but i consistently do with my tree and it seems to be doing ok. Just wondering what other peoples experience is in terms of watering durations, has anyone regularly watered once per month?

I water very irregularly, though perhaps averaging every two weeks, with rainwater. Plus the pots are now outside, so get whatever rain is falling. It doesn't seem to be bad for the two trees I have, which are now about 1 metre tall (from soil level). They do drop a few leaves, but they grow new shoots with new leaves, so there seems to be no net loss. Last years crop was phenomenal, which may have had something to do with repotting. This years is OK, but nowhere near so many.
I would have thought how quickly the compost dries out has a lot to do with where the pot is in relation to wind, draughts, sun, shadow etc.

Nimrod103 wrote:...The plants are now in the largest (plastic) pots I can easily lift to go back into the conservatory for winter. So I presume next year I will have to prune the bushes back a bit, so they fit, and don't become too top heavy.

I Pruned my calamondin orange in 2022, at nearly 2m tall it was getting a bit too awkward to get it through my patio doors for the winter.

That pruning spurred it on to flower profusely. It's currently still indoors, but the fruit has been ripening well over the winter. The heaviest crop it has ever had

Breelander wrote:

Nimrod103 wrote:...The plants are now in the largest (plastic) pots I can easily lift to go back into the conservatory for winter. So I presume next year I will have to prune the bushes back a bit, so they fit, and don't become too top heavy.

I Pruned my calamondin orange in 2022, at nearly 2m tall it was getting a bit too awkward to get it through my patio doors for the winter.

That pruning spurred it on to flower profusely. It's currently still indoors, but the fruit has been ripening well over the winter. The heaviest crop it has ever had

That is impressive. I just bought a dwarf Thai lime tree. To be kept indoors obviously. The instructions say it would like 8 hours sun daily. That is ambitious for the UK. It can live in my south-facing conservatory in the winter but I fear that summers there would be too hot. So either outdoors in the summer, or in the living room, don't know yet.

Breelander wrote:

Nimrod103 wrote:...The plants are now in the largest (plastic) pots I can easily lift to go back into the conservatory for winter. So I presume next year I will have to prune the bushes back a bit, so they fit, and don't become too top heavy.

I Pruned my calamondin orange in 2022, at nearly 2m tall it was getting a bit too awkward to get it through my patio doors for the winter.

That pruning spurred it on to flower profusely. It's currently still indoors, but the fruit has been ripening well over the winter. The heaviest crop it has ever had

Yes it is very impressive. My lemons not so much. They do set fruit, and I get a bit of a crop, but they drop a lot of leaves in the winter (in my unheated, frost free conservatory).
Do you regularly repot with fresh compost? How often do you feed the oranges?

Nimrod103 wrote:]Yes it is very impressive. My lemons not so much. They do set fruit, and I get a bit of a crop, but they drop a lot of leaves in the winter (in my unheated, frost free conservatory).
Do you regularly repot with fresh compost? How often do you feed the oranges?

No, not regularly, about once every 8 years or so. I do remove the top inch of soil each year and replace with my home made compost from my compost bin. Being a bit pot-bound is not necessarily a bad thing. It can encourage flowering.

Slightly potbound plants are also more likely to flower and fruit.

https://www.melindamyers.com/articles/c ... -and-fruit

To stop leaf drop when indoors, for the past few years I've been trying the regular use of a plant mister. As with the watering, I use rainwater for that. Seems to help, reduced leaf drop while over-wintering indoors from 'a lot' to 'a few'.

I feed about every couple of weeks or so. I wait until it's ready for a good watering, then use Miracle-Gro Azalea, Camellia & Rhododendron Soluble Plant Food.

If a citrus fertilizer is unavailable in your region, use a complete acid-type fertilizer (azalea type food).

https://www.starkbros.com/growing-guide ... ertilizing