Well actually any small tree will struggle. I bought a friend a Meyer but despite 3 years of trying she has given up on it. Her neighbour has a large (not Meyer) tree, so she has decided she will buy a large established tree now.
davidt4,
Jul 30, 8:06pm
Meyer lemons are not true lemons, they are a cross between a lemon and and orange. They look pretty and usually grow well but do not taste like true lemons.
samanya,
Jul 30, 11:58pm
OP what do you call a 'mean' frost? I spray my citrus early in winter with Vaporguard which protects to -3 & then cover with frost cloth . this year we had -7 & I still lost a couple of young trees, but I doubt you's get frosts that heavy? I tried to get a 'Lisbon' lemon tree but couldn't find any in the garden centres until I discovered that they are now call Ben Yen apparently, so I bought one & it perished. Will try again though.
katelin1,
Jul 31, 9:50am
Look for a Meyer grafted onto Trifoliata rootstock which will be hardier than the cheaper cutting grown ones. Keep it protected from frosts and feed and water regularly through Spring & Summer. The benefits of Meyer over Yen Ben/Lisbon/other lemons is that it fruits year-round and is hardier to frost.
dibble35,
Jul 31, 6:37pm
Are you positive that Lisbon is now called Yen Ben? I worked in a citrus nursery for 6 years and they were always grown as 2 distinctly different plants. I think someones pulling your leg. or misinformed. Meyer should grow well in frosty conditions, ive seen them growing in Ch-Ch.
ira78,
Jul 31, 7:36pm
My suggestion would be get a few different types. There's one we have called Lemonade I think. Big lemons, taste like. Lemonade! Can easily eat them straight.
davidt4,
Jul 31, 8:39pm
I'm pretty sure they are not the same. Lisbons are more knobbly, paler, and have a beautiful pure lemon flavour and scent. Yen Bens are smoother and rounder, with a less refined scent.
davidt4,
Jul 31, 10:12pm
Lemonade lemons are delicious, especially in salads, but the flavour is not much like a lemon, more like a very mild grapefruit. They are much lower acid than lemons.
pestri,
Jul 31, 10:30pm
i think the root stock is more important than other factors for some areas. Trifoliata was the standard for many years. produced sturdy resilient trees.
yuuhoo,
Jul 31, 10:51pm
What is a true lemon then?
pestri,
Jul 31, 11:50pm
Lisbon
davidt4,
Aug 1, 12:08am
(In NZ ) true lemons include Lisbon, Eureka and Yen Ben. Here's a link to a whole lot of interesting information about lemons.
My Lemonade tree is now 10 years old. I pulled off the first lemon (Mother In Laws advice) & the blooming thing has not has a lemon since. Each spring it grows new leafs & dumps them all in the late Autumn & that's all it does (other than grows HUGE and I mean HUGE thorns LOL it's got me beat I just buy lemons at the store. Very envious of a neighbour who has a lemon tree as big as the side of her house (and as tall as her house).
r.d.a,
Aug 1, 12:18am
Ugh, sounds very much as though the root stock (probably trifoliata) has grown up from below the original graft and totally taken over. You will never get any edible anything from it, if this is what's happened.
speights40,
Aug 1, 12:23am
It doesn't even get flowers, so you have probably got it correct. Oh well she's been with me all these years it can just remain a bush in the garden. I wasn't sure about it dumping it's leaves every autumn as my neighbours lemon tree doesn't. Is it just the Lemonade variety that does this?. Maybe I'll plant another one (different variety) later this year I guess.
pestri,
Aug 1, 2:36am
Sounds like your root stock has taken over and the grafted fruiting stock has been compromised somehow. sorry misse d rda's post. but he is undoubtly right.
mm12345,
Aug 1, 5:08am
Meyer lemons are very nice in a G&T - those "yen ben" ones are truly awful IMO - taste like someone's dumped pungent dishwash liquid in your drink.
crazynana,
Aug 2, 1:57am
We have a Meyer lemon tree and it is fantastic. about 5ft 6ins tall and very bushy. It is 3years old and laden with lemons most of the year. When it was about 14-15ins tall it got covered in snow. Much of it was dead so I cut the dead bits off with the snips and thought if it dies it dies. It sprouted away and is now a lovely tree. We have a lemonade tree too. The lemonades are great to eat as is but not good for lemon curd as they are not acid enough. I think the position in the garden has a great influence on growth however. We feed ours twice a year with Citrus Fertiliser, and water a lot around the drip line. I also slice up excess lemons (if there is such a thing) and free flow freeze them. They are then instantly available for in the G & T.
dete,
Aug 2, 1:57am
Lisbon lemons are worth growing if you can. They have a superior flavour zest and juice for baking. My mother has a very good Lisbon tree in a sheltered spot in Marlborough where the frosts can be quite hard. However if you want large quantities of juice the Meyer is a better bet and it has less intense flavour. You can order Lisbon through garden centres if they don't have them in stock.
annies3,
Aug 2, 2:31am
I have meyer growing here it is happy very sheltered and has its first set fruit allowed this season, we have had severe frosts as low as -9 this winter, but this little microclimate seems to be doing the trick, it has a glass wall (conservatory )east side, wooden wall south side, glass window west side and some geranium plants to protect it in front nth side, may as well be growing in a green house lol.
pestri,
Aug 2, 3:41am
Lemon trees do well when they have a large organic fertilizer source under them. planted my first on on a dead calf, and it bore fruit for Africa. A second in another location struggled until we got the carcass of a very large Kingfish under it, then it never looked back. If you've seen "The World's Fastest Indian" you will know that they love a bit of pee also. have been trying to get the missus to undertake this duty without luck. so have to do it myself.
Gather up the roadkill in yr neighbourhood, or some stroppy children and use them as organic fertilizer.
brightlights60,
Aug 2, 6:20am
Agree, back at the family home there were various rabbits, roadkill and family pets under the fruit trees and they were fabulous.
samanya,
Nov 7, 2:01am
Give up on hassling the 'missus' . apparently it's male pee that does the trick.
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