My first lemon harvest

[Junebug]

Last summer I impulsively purchased a small lemon tree from Lowe's. The ID tag described the Ponderosa Lemon as dwarf citrus that produces large lemons. After returning home I did some further research and discovered the Ponderosa develops football sized lemons. The young tree was a prolific bloomer and I was careful to remove each bloom to encourage vegetative growth. Somehow one escaped me. The immature lemon was positioned beneath a leaf near the base of the tree, but had become so large that it could no longer be overlooked. I decided to let it mature. I'm estimating it weighs about 2 lbs. now, and is still attached to the tree as it continues to grow and develop it's color. It should be ready for harvest in a week or so.

[mollycart1]

Originally Posted by Junebug

After returning home I did some further research and discovered the Ponderosa develops football sized lemons.

What are you going to do with the football sized lemon? Oh, it's time for SuperBall.

I had to ask since I have never seen a lemon with that size. Please keep us posted.

[Marissa]

That's a lemon???? Looks like a Pomelo

[cb977]

Way cool, June!

We have a fruit cocktail tree which we planted in the yard (grafted lemon, orange and lime) about three years ago. About two weeks ago, my husband called me outside and showed me a bunch of oranges, a lime...and the biggest lemon I've ever seen! I wonder, after seeing yours, if they used a Ponderosa Lemon tree as that part of the graft

[smweaver]

June, how tall is your tree? Does the tag say how big it's supposed to get when fully mature? I like the look of it, and it looks a lot smaller than the Meyer Lemon I got last spring, which I was also informed was a dwarf. I'm getting suspicious of it, however, as it doesn't seem to be what I would consider a dwarf tree (It's currently taller than I am, and I'm just over 6 feet tall). Your tree is beautiful, and I would definitely be interested in trading my Meyer Lemon for one if the Ponderosa's truly a dwarf.

Steve

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by cb977

Way cool, June!

We have a fruit cocktail tree which we planted in the yard (grafted lemon, orange and lime) about three years ago. About two weeks ago, my husband called me outside and showed me a bunch of oranges, a lime...and the biggest lemon I've ever seen! I wonder, after seeing yours, if they used a Ponderosa Lemon tree as that part of the graft

Cocktail trees are neat. My daughter used to have one growing at the house she rented, but the frost had taken 2 of the grafts. I hadn't researched lemon varieties before purchasing this one and actually thought I was getting a Meyer from the description. I had no idea that a lemon could get as big as a football. My lemon isn't that big, but it's probably due to the age of the tree. The lemon I have feels heavy for it's size and hopefully the weight is from juice and not seeds.

My parent's had a Meyer Lemon Tree and the lemons were thin skinned and very juicy. They were about the sized of a small orange, and tasted a little sweeter than the average lemon. The Meyer is very sensitive to frost so put a blanket on your baby if the temperatures drop.

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by smweaver

June, how tall is your tree? Does the tag say how big it's supposed to get when fully mature? I like the look of it, and it looks a lot smaller than the Meyer Lemon I got last spring, which I was also informed was a dwarf. I'm getting suspicious of it, however, as it doesn't seem to be what I would consider a dwarf tree (It's currently taller than I am, and I'm just over 6 feet tall). Your tree is beautiful, and I would definitely be interested in trading my Meyer Lemon for one if the Ponderosa's truly a dwarf.

Steve

It's 3 1/2 feet tall at the tip of it's longest branch and is just under 3 feet wide. I believe it's supposed to get about 6' tall with a spread of about 6'. I hope it stays within those perimeters because it's planted near my driveway on the narrow side of my lawn. My parents had a Meyer that was at least 12' tall with a 15' spread so I guess 6' is considered dwarf for a lemon tree.

[Ross]

My Dad and Mom had one in St Pete (same as yours) and they always said the juice was not as strong as the Meyer or the commercial ones. But there was a whole lot more of it. Mom used to make a whole pitcher of lemonade from one lemon! Have fun, cause this thing can really put out fruit when more mature. Theirs got to maybe 8 feet tall or shorter, but pretty wide (as I recall). I was amazed at the grapefruit sized lemons (never saw one as large as a football, but wouldn't doubt that could happen.) I do believe Dad said he removed all small fruits except X number (can't remember that little detail though.)

[Gin]

Lemon pie yummm .. I have a Meyer lemon bush in a pot it is old but never got tall . I made lemon pies for Thanksgiving .
I just bought a tangerine in Nov. Thought it would be small when i bought it on line, oops ! Not lolol .. When I was in So. Calif. we had a tree that was Orange , Lemon, Grapefruit grafted, trouble was the lemons tasted like flat grapefruit cross pollinated I guess . Gin

[jencrafted]

Originally Posted by Junebug

Last summer I impulsively purchased a small lemon tree from Lowe's. The ID tag described the Ponderosa Lemon as dwarf citrus that produces large lemons. After returning home I did some further research and discovered the Ponderosa develops football sized lemons. The young tree was a prolific bloomer and I was careful to remove each bloom to encourage vegetative growth. Somehow one escaped me. The immature lemon was positioned beneath a leaf near the base of the tree, but had become so large that it could no longer be overlooked. I decided to let it mature. I'm estimating it weighs about 2 lbs. now, and is still attached to the tree as it continues to grow and develop it's color. It should be ready for harvest in a week or so.

We bought a meyer lemon tree - the improved meyer lemon tree - from a local nursery four years ago. It has been consistently providing regular-sized meyer lemons starting the 2nd year of planting. However, this season, it started fruiting cannon-ball sized lemons, i.e 3-4x larger! What could have gone wrong? The tree is planted along our sideyard, sunny location, with drip water system (minimal watering) although this summer my parents were visiting and they helped water the tree a bit more regularly than we did. Surely that could not have contributed to the oversized crop? Also there was a time when our backyard was infested by pigeons and there were pigeon droppings everywhere, esp. near where the meyer lemon tree was planted. We've dealt with the pigeons last year, no further bird droppings this year. Help?!?