New Meyer's Lemon Tree to grow in container

I just purchased this fragrant beauty. I could not wait to get it after seeing at the nursery yesterday and then coming here to do some research. I decided to purchase it and am excited to get it into a new pot. At the bottom of the plant close to the trunk there is new stems coming out with blooms. I was wondering if I should "prune" those off or leave them there?

Thanks for any advice!

hope this link help http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS132

That is a great article with lots of great information to get me started and for future maintenance. Thanks for the link.

It's my favorite lemon. The Meyer lemon is great for growing in pots. It has a tendency to get very bushy and is naturally smaller than other citrus varieties allowing it to be kept in pots longer. Check to see if you have a grafted tree. You can tell it's grafted by the presence of graft wounds or a change in the texture of the bark.

Whether you cut the branch depends on your preference. Do you want a bushy plant or a single stalked tree. I have two Meyer Lemons: a grafted dwarf and an ungrafted regular sized one. I prune suckers off the grafted one, dead tigs and branches and branches that cross and rub against another. Otherwise I don't prune.

Depending on the pot size, your tree will grow happily for several years before you have to repot. If you are potting on to a bigger size pot, you don't have to prune, but if you are repotting in the same pot, since it's recommended that you root prune 2" all around the root ball, you will have to prune some of the top.

How large a pot was it in originally? I have several citrus trees growing in 24" or 30" pots.

Texas A & M has information on growing citrus in Texas. It also has a Citrus Center and you have access to it through the extension service. I've provided links to 3 TAMU websites:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/patiocitrus/containerstext.html

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/citrus/citrus.html

http://primera.tamu.edu/kcchome/

One last thing. I had several citrus trees growing in large pots in California, too. They were in full sun all day without any ill effects. Here in Texas, I've found that the roots get too hot when the pots are in full sun all day. I used to have my potted plants at the edge of a large live oak's canopy until last year when the tree became part of a heifer pasture. This year I want to put up a low fence on the south and west sides of the pots to see if it makes a difference.

bettydee -

thank you also for taking time to provide me with such good information. Great links. I forgot to look and see if it was grafted or not. I did notice that it was in about a 12" pot. So today I am off to look for a 20" pot to repot tonight or tomorrow. Also, I was planning on putting it on my patio in full sun, but after your last comment, I think I will move it over to this spot where it can get a little bit of shade from my fence. It is really ugly over there now, so maybe this will make it look a little nicer over there. :-) I am just right out of Austin, and yes, it does get mighty hot in the summer here. I hope this tree takes well and survives the weather and me. :-)

I went out this morning and watered the tree and it smells so pretty. I am infatuated with this thing. The blooms are so pretty and fragrant.

Thanks again for your time.

Merae

The Meyer is my favorite lemon, too. The one I have now is a bush type, about 6 ft. tall. It is planted inground and has been there for six years, producing reliably all along. It gets only a little shade in late afternoon from a banana. I had one of the tree type in California and it was quite large. The Meyer will tolerate more cold than standard lemons, and I prefer the milder, fruitier taste. I have a tangerine, also cold-tolerant, near the back door that furnishes a very large crop and that wonderful fragrance. I'm looking for a kumquat. The grove of them at the Botanical Garden carries huge crops in December and begins blooming at the same time. The fruits are small, but the rind is said to be sweet and edible. Some cooks candy them for a special treat. Yuska

I love kumquats and really miss mine. I had to give them away when we moved. They were dwarfs trained into standards. There seems to be only one nursery that sells dwarf citrus trees here in Texas. They are rather pricey. I was told by someone from the TAMU's Citrus Center that they will overwinter in the ground in zone 8b. The Nagami variety is the one usually sold in grocery stores, but the Meiwa is sweeter. You eat the whole thing. The sweet rind is a good contrast to the tart flesh.
Veronica

Veronica, would you please Dmail me the name of that nursery? Maybe I can spring for one if I economize elsewhere. I understand the reasoning behind the restrictions on ordering from outside the state, but it does limit our choices. As for inground, the ones in the San Antonio Botanical Garden (8b) are thriving. There must be at least twelve of them. Thanks for the TAMU reminder - I'll go do some reading. Yuska

Yuska-
I don't know if it helps or not, but the Meyer Lemon Tree that I just recently purchased was at Home Depot, but the tag on it said it was grown by Hines Horticulture. I looked them up on their website hineshorticulture.com and they sell to Home Depot, Lowes, Walmarts' etc.... So maybe with spring here, hopefully you might find a kumquat or a new citris for your place. :-)

Many thanks...I'll call around. And maybe I can get one of our specialty nurseries like Rainbow Gardens to do the ordering for me.

Yuska,
Here's the link to Dwarf Citrus (Acorn Springs Nursery):

http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/492/

I wish they had a bigger variety of dwarf citrus, which I prefer because their smaller size makes them easier to maintain. Unfortunately, dwarfness is not a top priority here in Texas. I've spent hours searching for dwarf citrus growers, but found only this one.

Last year, I went on a wild goose chase looking for a variegated Meyer Lemon. Turns out there is no such thing, but I did learn a lot about growing citrus in Texas. TAMU's Citrus Center controls the entry of citrus budwood into Texas. They grow it or import it and make it available to citrus growers in Texas. Nothing is imported from Florida and new varieties from California may take years if not decades to get here.

During one of my searches, I came across this grower:
http://www.thompsoncitrus.com/

It is listed in DG's Garden Watchdog. They sell standard size citrus, have a large variety and are almost 50% cheaper.