Lemon tree.

[Gsquared]

I had a Meyer lemon in California. It was a gift from a friend. Standard 5 gal. that I popped into a larger (15-20 gallon?) glazed ceramic pot. It lived there happily for about 15 years, but then a house sitter forgot to water it during a heat wave. Still, I got 20-30 lemons on it every year. I just stored them on the tree and had lemons about 8 months out of the year.

 

[c54fun]

I had a Meyer lemon in California. It was a gift from a friend. Standard 5 gal. that I popped into a larger (15-20 gallon?) glazed ceramic pot. It lived there happily for about 15 years, but then a house sitter forgot to water it during a heat wave. Still, I got 20-30 lemons on it every year. I just stored them on the tree and had lemons about 8 months out of the year.

That's awesome.

 

[CasAH]

Hmm. That’s weird, no idea why that would be. Well I’d ship you some cuttings if they wouldn’t be seized by the government!

Probably to protect their commercial citrus producers from imported pests.

 

[Carol 83]

They sell them around here at HD, Lowes, and a lot of the nurseries in Spring, but we don't have a lot of citrus groves in IL. Just corn, soybeans and wheat.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Wow, that thing is really loaded with flowers! Be careful when the fruit sets, not to jostle it around too much. The fruit is easily knocked off, when it's small.

Actually, do not fertilize any citrus from the time they start to flower until the fruit is the size of a pea (about mid-May). If you fertilize a citrus before the fruit sets, the tree will drop its fruit.

Ignore if you are not interested in harvesting fruit that year or if your tree is an ever-fruiting variety like calamondin.

 

[c54fun]

Actually, do not fertilize any citrus from the time they start to flower until the fruit is the size of a pea (about mid-May). If you fertilize a citrus before the fruit sets, the tree will drop its fruit.

Ignore if you are not interested in harvesting fruit that year or if your tree is an ever-fruiting variety like calamondin.

Very good info. Thanks.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

The states that prohibit citrus being shipped into the state are commercial citrus growing states. This is to prevent movement of citrus pests and diseases. Latest plague to decimate the citrus industry is Citrus Greening Disease. It is likely Florida will cease to be a citrus growing state due to this disease. California has some areas with this disease, so states like Texas don't want it to spread to their state. Ornamental citrus can carry the diseases that infect the commercial citrus. So meyer lemon trees to Texas is a no no.

You can ship if you have the trees inspected by the USDA - APHIS, plant protection office. Normally a $200 fee per shipment. Commercial nurseries will go through the trouble, not economically feasible for us hobby growers. In addition, plants shipped have to be bare root, free of all evidence of soil. Easy for orchids, not at all easy for most bonsai trees.

FYI - most international airports have a USDA-APHIS office, for me it is Chicago O'Hare Airport. I brought an orchid I was sending to Nepal to get the Inspection certificate. They were actually quite helpful, but it is a cumbersome process. Plant made it to Kathmandu in good shape. I was actually sending an orchid to Nepal that the parent material was native to Nepal. It was a species that had been over-collected in the late 19th century and now was so rare that many thought it had gone extinct in Nepal. It is actually common in the orchid hobby, raised by seed from plants collect 100+ years ago. So Paph charlesworthii is now back in Kathmandu.

 

[Solaris]

Very cool to see. For some reason its hard to get lemon and orange trees shipped to Texas. Love to have an orange also.

Try buying them at brick-and-mortar shops. I had a key lime tree that I bought in a hardware store in the Ft Hood area. It died when I left it with the in-laws while in between addresses. That may have been the only citrus for sale in Texas, but I don't think I'd have been able to tell it apart from my Meyer or my other lime if they weren't in fruit.
As a bonus, the much smaller key limes really do work better on bonsai than the comparatively huge Meyer lemons.

 

[c54fun]

Try buying them at brick-and-mortar shops. I had a key lime tree that I bought in a hardware store in the Ft Hood area. It died when I left it with the in-laws while in between addresses. That may have been the only citrus for sale in Texas, but I don't think I'd have been able to tell it apart from my Meyer or my other lime if they weren't in fruit.
As a bonus, the much smaller key limes really do work better on bonsai than the comparatively huge Meyer lemons.

I'm going to look around this spring for an orange tree to go with the lemon.

 

[substratum]

Meyer Lemons grow well here in north Florida's zone 8b. Most people plant them on the south side of their homes, and they get pretty big. Most of them even survived our 6 days below freezing and snow earlier this year (a true anomaly for this neck of the woods). Someone gave us a sack full of them right before the freeze last month, and my wife juiced them, froze the juice in ice cube tray, then bagged them, and she's still using them.

 

[Carol 83]

I'm going to look around this spring for an orange tree to go with the lemon.

If orange trees are difficult to find or get there, they sell them here in the spring at most garden centers. I'd be happy to send you one. I have a Calimondin orange, but have never tried to take cuttings from it.

 

[substratum]

Probably to protect their commercial citrus producers from imported pests.

It is. I shipped two boxes of citrus from FL to CA in the ‘90s, (a fundraising auction item), and got a nasty and threatening letter from CA Ag Department about it, telling me they destroyed the product. Pretty much all citrus states are VERY sensitive about importing uninspected citrus.

 

[c54fun]

If orange trees are difficult to find or get there, they sell them here in the spring at most garden centers. I'd be happy to send you one. I have a Calimondin orange, but have never tried to take cuttings from it.

Thanks Carol. I'll let you know.

 

[sorce]

Ought not go shipping them!

Didn't we just hear from a dude who had a FED run thru and take his tree....

Leo said NO NO!

I haven't had a seed from an orange not sprout.

PBS Sprout!
P.lant B.ig S.eeds!

Sorce

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Meyer's Lemons are a hybrid - half lemon, half orange. I have two Meyer's lemons and two Eureka lemons (traditional large lemon) in my landscape. The nice thing about the Eureka lemon is that it is ever-bearing - i.e. it won't drop its fruit. The Meyers lemon fruits in the winter and bears for two-three months max.

Calamondin will grow just fine on its own roots. I air-layered one last summer and it is right now covered with blooms. Calamondin is ever-fruiting. It will bloom and bear fruit in a constant sequence all year.

Another natural citrus is Golden Bean Kumquat (Fortunella hindsii). It is the only kumquat found naturally in the wild. It is apparently common in China, but is not commercially available here in the US. I managed to get a seedling last year and it will be interesting to see if I can get it to fruit.

 

[CasAH]

Ought not go shipping them!

Didn't we just hear from a dude who had a FED run thru and take his tree....

Leo said NO NO!

I haven't had a seed from an orange not sprout.

PBS Sprout!
P.lant B.ig S.eeds!

Sorce

When I was kid in the like ‘69 or ‘70 I found a grapefruit tree with a seed sprouting a root. I put it in my Cap’n Crunch seed starter greenhouse, a little plastic box shaped like a house with a blue sponge in it. It grew to have a six inch base. My mother killed it by hacking back most of the branches in the early 2000’s. It was getting too big for my dad to get through the door to bring back inside in the Fall. It flowered for years, but never set fruit.

 

[wireme]

When I was kid in the like ‘69 or ‘70 I found a grapefruit tree with a seed sprouting a root. I put it in my Cap’n Crunch seed starter greenhouse, a little plastic box shaped like a house with a blue sponge in it. It grew to have a six inch base. My mother killed it by hacking back most of the branches in the early 2000’s. It was getting too big for my dad to get through the door to bring back inside in the Fall. It flowered for years, but never set fruit.

I planted a sprouting orange seed when I was 4 years old in 1976.
Here it is today. It has grown three oranges for me so far!

 

[AZbonsai]

I have a lemon tree. I repotted it and threw a little wire on it to open it up. It is starting to come back.

 

[JoeR]

I planted a sprouting orange seed when I was 4 years old in 1976.
Here it is today. It has grown three oranges for me so far!View attachment 179119

42 years of water, soil, and fertilizer isn’t much for 3 oranges! Lol. At least it looks nice

 

[wireme]

42 years of water, soil, and fertilizer isn’t much for 3 oranges! Lol. At least it looks nice

It’s been fertilized about once every ten years, so no great loss there anyways!