Ponderosa Lemon - Should I or Shouldn't I?

St. Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

I'm placing an order with Logee's later today, gifts for my Mom's birthday. Of course, I happen upon their Ponderosa Lemon plants. They advertise them as cuttings from their original mail order tree from 1900. Who can resist such a neat bit of history tied to these plants? I already have a Meyer Lemon and a Key Lime tree, both of which are doing quite well in containers in my front yard. I'm curious if these are easier or harder to grow than what I already have. I LOVE my citrus trees and would like to add to my collection, although my living room is going to look like a jungle come winter time. Basically, I am trying to rationalize making this purchase since I have already spent a great deal of money on plants this season. One more couldn't hurt, right? I'm already paying the shipping costs for an order... lol. Please, rationalize with me! ;)

Harlingen, TX

I say pull the trigger, go for it! My house is actually recessed into a grapefruit orchard (not my first choice of citrus btw but it was already here, we just bought the land) and we have recently planted various kinds of oranges, tangerines, and I added a key lime and a lisbon lemon tree. I live in zone 9 though so they grow large staying in ground year round. If you are just debating whether or not to buy an extra plant just go for it :p

I may not be the best influence though... our property is becoming our own little (or huge depending on how you look at it) jungle. I've recently been on an exotic fruit kick and now have a jaboticaba, cherry of the rio grande, and a jamaican cherry on the way. This already added to my countless roses, gardenias, flower, vegetables plus all the fruit, pomegranate, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, banana, 3 kinds of peaches, 2 kinds of nectarine, 2 kinds of plum, and 2 kinds of apples.

Gosh, just typing it all out just makes me feel like some crazy plant collector :)

San Marcos, TX(Zone 8b)

I would go for a Meiwa Kumquat.
It will produce tons of fruit, it can handle shade better than most citrus, it stays smaller for pot culture, you can also eat the peel which is very sweet and it is cold hardy down to 14F so you can safely leave it outside even in the 20's.

I believe Logee's carries them as well. I have many of them and they really are a low care citrus.

St. Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Wow, A!! That's quite the collection you have there!! It's like the Farmer's Market in your own backyard. How nice!! Serve a nice bloody Mary and I'll start coming to your place to shop for produce! ;) And thanks Jujube, I will have to keep that one in mind. Low care is probably what I need. I placed my order before I saw your comments and I ended up getting the larger of the Ponderosa's, since they were out of the cold hardy gardenia I was looking at also. The ones I really have high hopes for are the ones I ordered for my Mom. She loves unusual things, and succulents, so I ordered her a split rock and some of the living stones for her birthday. Fingers crossed they are a hit. :)

San Marcos, TX(Zone 8b)

You should try some plants from OneGreenWorld.com and BurntridgeNursery.com.
They have tons of unusual fruiting plants that you could plant outside.

Be careful, their sites can become addictive.

Dahlonega, GA

Jujube, do you keep your tropicals in pots in a greenhouse in winter ? I ask because I see San Marcos isn't that far south and just asking. I'm on the coast at Rockport over winter and don't have that much success with tropicals .
I think I talked with you several years ago about some of my failures .

San Marcos, TX(Zone 8b)

I only keep a few select cold sensitive tropicals now and I keep them in a sunroom in winter for my cats to use as litter boxes (hate).
I have found select varieties of different tropicals that have good cold tolerance that I plant in the yard.
If you are looking for something in particular, I probably know the most cold tolerant of that species.

Dahlonega, GA

I'll be leaving for the coast a month from now . I'll see what survived the summer and get with you then . I sure appreciate it .

St. Louis, MO(Zone 6a)

Just a little update on the Ponderosa Lemon I bought last summer. It came as a tiny plant and quickly turned into a little tree. It now has a lemon on 1 branch, and 2 sets of flowers on 2 of the other 3 branches. I'm pretty proud of it considering it is almost 4 feet tall now. It's my citrus success story of the summer/winter. From what I've read, I probably shouldn't let it bear fruit since it is so young, but part of me just wants to see what will happen. ?? Happy Gardening! So happy spring is finally here.

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