Meyer Lemon tree care is easy; that’s why this variety is popular among home gardeners in the US because they are easy to grow.
Growing Meyer lemon is most times by grafting, and this helps fruit production in a short period of about two years.
When you propagate Meyer lemon by seed, it might take about four to seven years to produce fruit.
You can even grow Meyer Lemon trees outside in the US Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 8-11.
Suppose a Meyer lemon tree grows in a northern area; in that case, its growth can succeed in large containers.
You need to make sure you keep them indoors, away from freezing temperatures during the winter season.
What is Meyer Lemon?
Meyer Lemon is a dwarf lemon tree that crosses between ordinary lemon and orange. Its origin is from China and was popular in the United States.
Meyer Lemons became tolerant to diseases, and they banned it was spreading viruses to other healthy fruit trees.
Meyer Lemon fruits have a thin crust and a delightful taste. These lemon trees thrive in readily right conditions.
A Meyer lemon tree reaches six to ten feet tall, but if you prune the tree, it will have a manageable and fuller appearance. The tree is also self-pollinating, so you only need one tree to get fruits.
Meyer Lemon tree care
Growing Meyer Lemon tree trees is easy. Are you new to growing lemons, or are having difficulty in developing them?
Here are the steps for you to care for your Meyer Lemon tree;
1. Location helps Meyer lemon tree care
Find the right location for a Meyer Lemon tree. You can choose to cultivate it in a container or the ground.
The temperature of the site needs to stay at 50°F and above.
Place the Meyer lemon tree at the southern side of the window if it’s indoors to shield it from the northern winds.
2. Place the tree in sunlight
Meyer Lemon trees need enough sunlight for at least six hours every day for the tree to bloom.
If it’s in the summer season, you give the Meyer Lemon tree a morning sun and afternoon shade for proper growth.
3. Propagate by grafting for Meyer Lemon Tree care
When growing Meyer lemon, get a healthy tree and graft it onto a hard rootstock to have a healthy tree.
Grafting is better because seed propagating for Meyer lemons is often unwholesome and barely reaches the point of flowering or producing fruit.
4. Well draining soils are good for Meyer lemon tree care
When growing and caring for Meyer lemon, you need to use proper and well-draining soils.
These soils hold enough water whenever you saturate the surface hence keeping the grounds moist.
Ensure that you always allow the soils to first dry out before watering again to avoid roots from rotting due to overwatering.
5. Fertilize regularly during Meyer Lemon tree care
You need to use a fertilizer specifically for the citrus tree while caring for the Meyer lemon tree.
A fertilizer is high in nitrogen to help in the general well being of the tree. The best time to fertilize is between April and September.
If it’s in the winter season or autumn, you need to withhold fertilizing. If you notice Meyer lemon trees becoming yellow, it’s a sign your tree lacks water and fertilizers.
6. Pruning of Meyer Lemon trees
Lemon fruit clusters need pruning of one or two fruits whenever little lemons bring a marble size. Prune the fruits before they develop and remove one bud in a batch.
Doing this will help the tree to produce huger Meyer lemons because of its effectiveness.
When do Meyer Lemon trees bloom?
Meyer lemon is usually more round than regular lemons, a distinctive bright flavor with an orange-yellow pigment.
So long as you take proper care of a Meyer lemon tree, you will get to enjoy the sweet, rich-tasting fruits all year long.
Meyer lemons produce fruit heavily in fall and winter from about three to five years old.
Once the Meyer lemon tree is in a place with temperatures not below 50°F, it will produce fruits all year long if it reaches maturity. Fruiting will continue for decades.
Pruning Meyer lemon tree
Pruning Meyer lemon trees are essential to reduce the branches from the tree and improve the branch set.
Pruning Meyer Lemon also reduces the possibility of the tree breaking due to plump fruit, increasing availability to light and aeration. Pruning also helps to improve the general quality of the fruit.
Whenever you prune Meyer lemon tree, you are helping in fostering a healthier lemon fruit. All weak, dead, and diseased branches and fruits need you to remove them from the tree.
While pruning Meyer lemon, you need to do it after the tree’s fall harvest to recover before the following year’s crop.
Prune with sharp and clean tools, but you need to avoid cutting the branch flush with the trunk. Prune your Meyer Lemon in its first or second year to have it grow the way you want it.
Keep a Meyer Lemon tree extensive and look for branches growing straight upwards to cut them because this lemon variety tree doesn’t have to be tall to bloom.
Meyer lemon tree care indoors
Meyer lemons are a dwarf variety, making it easy to grow the tree indoors from a container.
This tree is self-pollinating and loves the sun though it can produce fruits if you care for it and put it in place to get light.
How to care for Meyer lemon indoors
1. Pot a Meyer lemon
Have a potting mix specifically for citrus trees and put it into a container to plant the dwarf tree indoors. If the tree is small, use a 1 to 5-gallon pot, or if it’s mature, use a 15-gallon.
2. Place under sunlight
When growing a Meyer lemon indoors, put it near the south side of your window where it can receive direct sunlight. Meyer lemon needs not less than six hours under the sun each day for proper growth.
3. Feed the tree with nutrients
Add citrus fertilizers to the indoor plant every six to eight weeks, especially during the spring. The nutrient level will be high for blossom and fruit growth.
The amount of fertilizer depends on the Meyer lemon tree’s size, so if it’s small, add little organics.
4. Ensure proper watering
Water the Meyer lemon tree regularly, but you need to check with your fingers before wetting again to see whether the soil is damp or dry to
Know whether to water again.
Too much watering spoils the tree, and so does underwatering. Keep it once a week if it’s not a hot season
5. Temperature
Maintain room temperature at 65°F during the day and at 55°F at night. Try not to let it go below 50° F, and the tree will become dormant due to much coldness.
6. Check for pests
Always check a Meyer Lemon tree indoors to make sure of any signs of insects. You take care of them as soon as you notice them.
Always wash the trees’ leaves every three months by gently wiping them with a damp cloth. Doing this will help keep pests away at bay.
7. Hand pollinates indoor Meyer lemon tree.
When growing indoor plants, you need to aid pollination with a brush or cotton swab to support the tree into fruiting. Though Meyer lemon tree is self-pollinating, it may not happen when it’s indoors since it has no benefit to having insects aid pollination.
The cotton swab will help to rub against a stamen to carry the pollen grains and move them to the stigma, and the fruiting process will take place.
8.Put a fan indoors
A Meyer lemon indoors needs air circulation, and a fan will support it. A fan may also pollinate because of the moving wind that shakes the blossoms, hence dropping pollen grains from the stigma’s stamen.
Why are my Meyer lemon leaves becoming yellow?
1. Under watering
Meyer lemon tree leaves are becoming yellow because you are giving them very little water. Most times, when the lemon tree does not get enough water, its leaves will turn yellow because you wait for the soils to dry out.
2. Overwatering
Too much water still makes your Meyer lemon leaves turn yellow due to defoliation. When you water excessively, and the soils become muddy and soggy, it leads to root rot, affecting the entire tree, not leaving the leaves.
3. Deficiencies
When your Meyer lemon lacks nutrients such as magnesium, it leads to yellowing of leaves. Whenever you do not add fertilizers to feed the tree, it will become unhealthy, turning the leaves yellow.
Planting a Meyer Lemon in the ground
A Meyer lemon tree you choose to grow directly in the ground will grow faster than the container tree in-door due to the advantages of out-door.
When you plant a Meyer lemon tree in the ground, you need to put it at the same level as its grower’s pot. Keep the same depth of the original soil line of the plant.
Consider these points while planting Meyer lemon outside in the ground:
1. Warm & well-draining location
The location where you choose to plant a Meyer lemon needs to have sunlight access for about eight hours daily to keep the plant warm.
A location that will allow cold air to settle in winter is fair and place the tree near a wind shelter and south-facing side of the house.
2. Space planting holes
If you are growing Meyer Lemon trees and assembling them in a backyard, it’s best to put them apart at least 10 feet apart. Add raised beds mixed with composts in case the soil is boggy.
3. Dig the planting hole twice broader and deeper than the rootball
You need to dig the hole and double its size to that of the rootball. Loosen the soil in the spot and then pour some water to soften the ground so let the water soak into the soil.
4. Add a balanced slow-release fertilizer and plant the tree.
The fertilizer is essential to add nutrients to the Meyer Lemon tree. Balance it to 10-10-10, put it into the soil, and then cover it with a soil layer.
Plant the tree plant in the soil on the trunk. Fill with soil and gently tamp it. Water the soil thoroughly to enable it to settle around the roots of the tree.
Meyer lemon tree growth rate
Meyer lemons make a sweet lemon because of its hybrid of lemon and oranges.
Meyer lemon trees thrive in the US Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 8-11.
A standard Meyer lemon tree grows up to a height of 6-10 feet, and a dwarf Meyer lemon tree in a container grows according to the size of the pot but, on average, 5-7 feet tall.
Meyer lemon trees have glossy green leaves with white blossoms, and the fruit has a yellow-orange pigment.
Meyer Lemons are self-pollinating and can produce fruits in as little as two years if you give proper care. The tree is capable of fruiting both indoors and outdoors.
Meyer lemon’s massive harvest is in the winter. Its requirements are consistent moisture to the soils, soil pH between 5.5 and 6.5, enough sunlight of at least 8-12 hours each day, and optimal temperature.
The lifespan of the Meyer Lemon tree is up to 50years still so long as you give it proper care, as we see in this article.
Conclusion
Meyer Lemon tree growing and care is easy if you pick the tips on how to help the tree flourish indoors in a container or if it’s directly in the ground.
Maintain the same care as other citrus plants to mention watering, direct sunlight, warm temperatures, pruning, and fertilizing the dwarf Meyer lemon tree. It will bloom and fruit at the right time. Soon you will be enjoying the fruit for its incredible benefits in your kitchen and your health.