Re: Meyer lemons - problem

In a message dated 9/21/99 4:24:17 PM EST, rsgt@california.com writes:

<< Since all the talk of Meyer lemons I'll ask all of you about my tree. It's
 been in our garden since we moved in, 29 years ago. It's never produced
 well but we've been satisfied with what we've gotten since it's half under
 our neighbor's redwood tree. But this year it's had smaller than ever
 lemons and only 4 of them! >>

Barbara:

First of all, citrus are not incredibly long-lived trees.  Although they 
still have the "original" Washington Navel orange (around 100 years old) down 
in Riverside, I believe, (now in a tiny little triangular plot of land at the 
intersection of two very busy streets) they have had to keep adding root 
grafts and such to keep it alive.  There are some 100+ year old sour orange 
trees on the State Capitol grounds, and you occasionally find a still 
healthy-looking tree in the garden of a Victorian home that looks as though 
it's been there since the house was built.  Those are exceptional, though.  
I'm not saying 29 years is old for a citrus, but production will naturally 
decline as the trees age.  The main problem is most likely the shade and 
competition for water and nutrients from your neighbor's redwood tree .  
Although citrus will grow all right in partial shade, they won't flower or 
produce fruit as well.  I moved my original Meyer lemon from one place in the 
garden to a sunnier spot, where I thought it would perform better.  It did, 
and for several years seemed very happy there.  Unfortunately, we had a bad 
wind storm one winter and the tree, which was loaded with fruit, was blown 
over.  I propped it back up, as it still had some roots in the ground, and 
pruned it back, but it never fully recovered, and I took it out just last 
year.  I did notice, though, that the fruits were always much smaller in the 
few years after it blew down than they had ever been before.  I just don't 
think the remaining roots were able to absorb enough water and nutrients to 
produce full-sized fruit.  Your tree seemed to respond well to the 
fertilizer, so my suggestion would be to also keep it well-watered through 
the growing season.

Happily, in my garden, another tree grew in the original spot from roots that 
were left in the ground when I moved the 'mother' tree.  (Meyer lemons are 
usually grown on their own roots, not grafted). That is now the only Meyer 
lemon I have in my garden.  It is currently around 7 or 8 feet tall and, 
although it is shaded on the south by a nectarine, on the west by a false 
cypress in my neighbor's yard, and on the north by a plum tree, it flowered 
and set fruit well this year and has dozens of green lemons on it that are 
maybe 2/3 of their eventual size at maturity.  I give it plenty of water, 
however, as it has lots of competition, and also fertilize it once or twice 
during the growing season with a citrus and avocado formula.  You can also 
always buy a young tree and plant it in a better spot in your garden.  They 
don't take long to reward you with fruit.  Hope this helps.

Kurt Mize
Stockton, California
USDA Zone 9
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