starts are the real thing?
Background: My neighbor has a lovely lemon tree in her backyard; she doesn't have the faintest idea what variety it is, but her lemons are huge, juicy, thin-skinned and fragrant, not to mention plentiful, so I'm guessing it's a Meyer. She has been lovely and generous, and has given me two starts from her tree: one from seed, and one from a sucker that she rooted.
Do Meyers come true from seed? The sucker does not have huge thorns or trifolate leaves, like Flying Dragon rootstock, so I'm thinking maybe her tree is on its own roots. Is there any way to tell, short of nurturing them until they bloom and set fruit (or don't)? I hate to lavish all that attention on a dud, when I could plant a tree that I know will produce.
Help, please!
How can I know if my "Meyer Lemon"
Meyer lemons are supposed to come very close to true from seed so I think your chances are decent with it assuming her tree is indeed a Meyer, although I'm not sure how many years you have to wait for a seed grown citrus tree to fruit. For the sprout, it's definitely a good sign that it doesn't have thorns or trifoliate leaves, but if I were you I'd go over there and take a look at the tree and look for a graft line just to be sure. It'll probably fruit a bit more quickly than the seed grown one, but you still may have to wait a bit so if you want fruits soon and guaranteed to be Meyer lemons, then your best bet might be to buy your own tree.
Thank you so much, ecrane -- I think I'll toss them and plant something I know will produce fruit.