Hi, just bought a nice young lemon tree, it’s around 1/2 m high and currently still in pot. I have a place in garden that I would like to plant, (it’s not that well sheltered and will definitely be in frost zone) So wondering whether I should keep in pot until after winter, that way I can better look after and protect from hard frosts , what do you think, plant now or later?
lilyfield,
May 2, 8:02pm
Give it a bigger pot if you have one, keep under eaves. Next year plant out but keep under frost cloth for next 3 winters.
wheelz,
May 2, 8:03pm
I would leave it until after winter, but how do you plan on protecting it next winter?, and the next? Etc
harm_less,
May 2, 8:36pm
What variety of lemon tree is it? A Meyer will better tolerate being frosted as more hardy than the true lemons but you will still need to provide some protection in winter.
Frost cloth or even just a fabric sheet will provide enough protection from light to moderate frosts but better if the tree is planted on a slope and/or under eaves or with foliage from larger trees above it.
Frosted air will flow downhill which is why a slope is recommended, to benefit from 'air drainage'. http://www.fao.org/3/y7223e/y7223e0c.htm Observing where frost occurs will also show you which areas are most at risk.
Also avoid pruning in Autumn as this will promote regrowth which will be frost tender going into winter.
budgel,
May 2, 9:06pm
While on the subject of lemons, I have one that has been planted in my garden for a few years and has never fruited. No frosts here. Can it be induced to fruit, or have I bought a lemon?
hazelnut2,
May 2, 9:31pm
Funny! lol Needs a feed and plenty of water. sprinkle citrus food around the drip line. Wait a season. Voila! This happened to our young lemon tree. Last year slow growth, 2 lemons, so fed and watered well. This year plenty of blossoms and leaves and 60 lemons!
harm_less,
May 2, 10:20pm
Citrus fertiliser at recommended rates around the dripline of the tree should help as I suspect potassium (potash) is the limiting factor. Unless you're seeing wilting I don't think lack of water will be an issue unless your soil is particularly sandy.
harm_less,
May 2, 11:01pm
An afterthought; Is it getting enough sun? Shading can limit flowering and fruiting.
borolad,
May 2, 11:40pm
Hi, lemon tree in question is a Meyer variety. Planted a couple of meters away is a lime tree and is thriving. I just have to remember to protect as I don’t think these are as tolerant to frosts as Meyer trees?
harm_less,
May 3, 12:45am
You're right. Limes are less cold tolerant than Meyer lemons but the fact that your lime tree is thriving should bode well for the lemon. Just look after it until it 'finds its feet'.
crazynana,
May 3, 12:56am
We have a Meyer lemon tree. When we first planted it it was about half a metre high. We had snow and when it had all gone parts of the tree were obviously dead so I thought I may as well cut off the dead bits and hoped for the best. Well now 9 years later it is about 2.5 metres high and about 3 metres wide.At present it has approx. 100 lemons at various stages on it. We covered it with frost cloth for the first few years and if we know it is going to be a frost now we do cover it as we are in Christchurch and the frosts can be quite hard. It is planted in front of a 6ft fence and the wind comes down the side of the house and through it, so it is sheltered from the strong SW wind. An old friend told us that the wind needs to go through it but I don't if this is a fact or not but seems to be good for our tree. It gets sun for a lot of the day. As said above feed it round the drip line (which sometimes is hard in a pot) and don't over water it.
borolad,
May 3, 1:50am
Think that may have been my problem in the past, over-watering. I’ve killed many lemon trees and each time say that this is it, no more attempts but I always succumb to one last try haha. Do you think giving it a good water only every month or so , or more regular/less regular?
harm_less,
May 3, 2:09am
crazynana was referring to potted plants requiring watering I think. Open grown plants seldom need watering except during the height of summer, especialy in the case of established trees as their roots go deep enough to get the moisture they require.
The problem arises when you radically change a plant's growing environment such as putting it in a pot and more so in a greenhouse. In doing so you become responsible for supplying what nature (soil and weather) otherwise does; rainfall, drainage, fertility, soil pH, temperature control and insect biodiversity. Many don't realise how much input potted plants and greenhouses demand.
joanie04,
May 3, 2:35am
I have a similar problem. I have a meyer which we planted when we first moved here 22 years ago. That one is still surviving after being replanted a couple of times. The other one (which the neighbour assured me) was a self grown one is not quite as old. Flowers every year but has never set any fruit. Both are fertiised when needed. But I have observed that the bees do not go near the flowers on the non fruiting one. They are planted side by side as well.
harm_less,
May 3, 4:11am
Assuming your second tree is a seedling grown one this situation isn't surprising. Seedlings are notoriously unreliable as you don't know what hybrid the seed has been as the parent tree that supplied the seed could have been pollinated by whatever other citrus tree was nearby.
nesta129,
May 3, 4:44am
I had bought a young dwarf lemon meyer years ago.Repotted it in a bigger pot and left it to grow under the eaves for 2-3 years,with regular fertilising.It did awesomely well that I was super surprised.Same thing with my dwarf sastuma mandarin too and I sold it laden with fruit.The new owner paid double what I asked for. Keep the young ones safe.
borolad,
May 3, 5:42am
Great advice, thanks everyone
joanie04,
May 4, 4:44am
Thanks. If I remember correctly there were other citrus around where it was originally grown. I will probably replace both with a dwarf lemon and lime in pots, when I get time to sort that area out. Not happy with it but work takes most of my time.
harrislucinda,
Jul 28, 3:11am
we have hard frosts here and snow i have 2 lemons both meyer i cover with micro frost cloth and spray the lemons with liquid frost cover -- it is the cold that stops lemons from being juicy not watering doing all this i have lovely juicy big lemons now
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