Re: Requiem for a lemon tree

Growing citrus in pots is always a challenge, Cyndi, mostly because it's difficult to control the drainage and citrus do not like wet feet. Even in the ground, they can be a tribulation--I never heard of one growing in even medium clay soil, for instance, and mulching them is almost sure death even if the soil texture is to their liking. Most commercial potting mixes are formulated to hold moisture and need to be seriously cut with sand if used for citrus. 

On Sep 24, 2007, at 10:39 AM, Johnson Cyndi D Civ 95 CG/SCSRT wrote:


I killed my lemon tree. This was #3 in my quest to have my own lemons
and I've failed again. I'm not entirely certain what happened to it this 
time. I had decided not to move its pot out into the veggie garden area
because last year squirrels bit off the lemons. So I moved it into the
front yard, where I have a little hose attached to the sprinklers that
could water it directly and I could just leave it. Well we were pretty
busy this summer, the front garden is totally overgrown, and because it
wasn't directly in my path every day I only took a look at it now and
again. It wasn't exactly thriving but I was so busy I kept telling
myself I would move it in a few days, didn't have time right now. Last
time I saw it was really waterlogged so I moved the little irrigation
hose away from it figuring the regular sprinklers would keep it moist
enough but let it dry out some. Saturday I looked and it's dead. So I
don't know if it was too much water, or whether I moved the hose just
before that awful heat wave we had around Labor Day and it didn't get
any water at all.
I'm not sure if I'll try it again. I keep remembering the Meyer lemons
from the dwarf tree my mom had and how good they were. But it's been
YEARS and I haven't managed one lemon, not one. Hmmm.

Cyndi

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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.1 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Sunset Zone 25
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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