Dwarf Meyer Lemon

I posted this over on the fragrant forum but thought I put it here, where more appropriate:
"I know ya'll have spoke about this little cutie but I didn't give much consideration to a "fruit tree" till I (lame, I know) had QVC on for background noise last night and I heard - amazingly scented blooms... Huh? What? Scented...hmmm????? QVC: "Shipped as a 22"H to 30"H " comes in a 9" deep pot - price: $25.46 plus s/h $10.22 from Roberta's. Any thoughts? Good plant? Good price? Know a vendor you think better?????"
Thank you all ahead of time!!

That is about right for that tree. The flowers really do produce a fabulous scent. You will be able to smell it 20 feet away. You will get flowers once a year or possibly twice depending on the weather. There are other citrus like the calamondin that will flower multiple times a year. The fragrance is good too but not as good as lemon flowers. That lemon might have problems with the cold in your zone so you might want to keep it in a 20 gallon when it gets big. The calamondin is cold hardy to 18 degrees but that still wont work in 7a so no matter what, it will need to be a container. You should be able to get both at Lowes for the same price or cheaper when you factor in shipping.



This message was edited Feb 6, 2009 3:42 PM

Ahhh glad to hear such good things about this. Sadly I knew our zone was too cold so I knew it would be container grown. I wonder when the Lowes get these in??? I never noticed before - of course I wasn't looking for fruit trees either. ^_^ Thank you so much!!!

They have been at Lowes in Texas for a few weeks now.

Home Depot had them all winter.

I simply live in the wrong zone...so sad.

I just bought and planted one here in South Florida. It came with 4 lemons on it

BocaBob

I got fruit from mine in December and it started flowering again in January. We had a cold snap down to 23 and the flowers look like they are dyiing. I will probably get another round in March, I hope.

I've grown the improved Meyer Lemon for three years now, in containers (got 2) and I still have one of the regulars ones since 2003. They usually bloom in February for me and do real well down here outside. I like then a lot and would like to get a couple of more--I might try rooting them next winter if I don't buy more.
Debbie

Chantell- the lemon tree from Robertas is the meyer lemon improved. I know 'cause I saw the same tree. I am considering buying one myself, but I have found other places selling meyer lemon improved for lower prices. Robertas does include the pot and I believe even the soil.

Hi, I bought mine from Clayton's through Amazon and it's a great plant. I have to haul it in and out since the winters are a tad too cold here, but still it's a fun plant. The flowers smell great, but they're only half as nice as the incredible fruit. Meyer Limoncello this year was a treat. I'd recommend getting one and just deal with misting it all winter to keep the mites at bay. Really well worth it. Good luck!

The scoop on 'Roberta's Inc.'
Roberta's Inc. has 45 reviews (21 negative, 12 positive and 12 neutral) at the Garden Watchdog.
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/3360/ - 71k - Cached - Similar pages

Should have added a picture of my "crop" this Chrismas

At the going price of about two bucks a pop that is a nice tray full of lemons.

I love improved meyer lemons--went to HD and got 2 more for $19.99 each a week ago. Now I'm up to 6.

nice shot E36

Mine are blooming and trying to set fruit right now....inside of course. A lot of these will drop off if history repeats itself. The better set happens about mid summer on the patio. Those fruit come off between January and February....set outside and harvested inside in our zone.

They do great outside all year here. Mine have been blooming since Jan and are setting fruit simultaneously while still blooming. Fruit ready Dec-Jan here. They slow down a lot after it cools off in Nov.

I will not turn anyone down that would like to go to the trouble of buying and shipping me one...heck I'll even prepay...ok, guess that sounds just slightly rude but most folks around "here" know I'm good for it ^_^ and of course now I'm worried about purchasing through Robertas...ugh

Well. Don't forget they have the guarantee. If the plant dies they will ship you a new one if you call them within the guarantee period. Usually for perennials its one year.

Yeah bubba I know but you know how it is when you REALLY want a plant...like yesterday....and then those reviews...just a bit scary, I guess.

Well. I have purchased from both Robertas and Cottage Farms. I get some things that work and some that don't with each of them. I can say with surety that if you call you will get a new plant, usually the next spring 'cause its too late to send when you call. I also know if you use one of the online nurseries they will replace plants too 'cause they have done it for me. Honestly, the only gamble is a plant you buy on ebay which I have used a lot also. No recourse with them. And there are so many reasons for a plant not flourishing. Could be the plant, could be the gardener. For me a new plant is usually a challenge, trying to figure out what it wants and what I am doing wrong. For me, gardening this last year has been a study in me learning to be patient. I am not so good at that. And learning not to give up but keep trying til I get it right. So. Shop around for the best price for the variety of plant you want. And I have learned to pay attention to the size they are selling when it comes to the dwarf citrus plants, 'cause it is my understanding they have to be a year or two old before they start fruiting. Those on this thread who have been growing the meyer lemon could tell us just what size we need to get fruit.

If you meant the ones I mentioned at HD--they are almost 3' high in 6-7 gallon pots--the shipping alone would be outrageous.
=)

We don't have a Home Depot in Woodward. Basically all we have is a Walmart, so I have to shop online. I have found a dwarf meyer lemon kit at Springhill Nursery which includes the pot and soil for $19.99 or you could get the plant only for $12.99, but I notice they are in 4" pots so it would be a couple of years before I saw fruit from it, right?

6-7 gallons??? OMG....much bigger then what I'd imagined....wowzers!!! I think I'm gonna put a call into my HD tomorrow and see how they'd like to special order one for me...ya think that'll fly?
bubba - someone else will need to answer that one for you....since I don't have one I dont' know what size they need to be. Course it would depend if it was from cuttings of a mature plant or not...those would bloom sooner.

Well. From everything I have read you can get fruit when the plant is 1 to 3 years old.

I would think they might would have them at WW in a month or so--those shipments kinda follow the zones. I hate to admit it, but I did buy some 12 x 12 concrete stepping stones for a patio area at Wally World (because they were cheaper than HD + Lowe's and closer to the house and I only own a Toyota so distance hauling heavy stuff matters). While I was waiting for the cashier who was on a break, I noticed they had blueberries and raspberries in. Our last avg frost is Feb 28, so they had pansies + petunia's but no zinnia's or marigolds yet. So in a month WW might very well have their citrus shipments into OK.
Debbie

Thanks Debbie! I will sure be looking! So far they don't have much of anything there. About a month ago I had to go to Ace Hardware (which is much more expensive) to buy some peat pots and seed starting mix because Walmart didn't have any. I even had to buy my potting soil there. Walmart only had the 2 cubic feet bags! I am only 5 ft. tall, and handling those bags is very difficult for me. They are as big as I am. Turned out, for only a couple of bucks more, I should have gotten the 2 cubic feet bag! Anyway, I digress. I was soo surprised last year! They actually had musa basjoo banana trees here!!!! Usually our Woodward Walmart only carries the usual same ol' same ol'. I was thrilled because I had just ordered some from Robertas and they were 3 times as much! I was able to get 4 'cause they were only $9.95 a piece! I have never seen blueberries or raspberries here. But I will sure go look! Actually. I just bought my blueberries from Henry Fields (in case anyone is interested). I chose the saskatoon blueberry because it is not actually in the blueberry family and I won't have to keep amending my soil. Also got a goji berry! Boy! Just talking about it makes me hungry! Ha! ha!

Ok...maybe it's just cuz I wasn't looking in the past...but I don't ever recall my Wally World carrying citrus trees - you can count on it that I'll certainly be looking out for them though...and HD/Lowes!!!

Walmart has them for 11.00 they are in gallon pots and are about 2.5 ft tall they have a good assortment here in fla

Too bad FL's not shipping citrus...ugh

TX can't either.
=(

Order from Four winds - no where else - IMHO. http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/

Ahhh 2nd - thank you!!! Going to check them out now!!!

(Great tip on the Four Winds resource. They look to be a whole lot more reasonable than the place I used from Amazon.) I planted some seeds from my lemon fruit last year and have a few baby plants that I naturally thought would also be Dwarf Improved Meyer Lemons, but someone told me that you can't get dwarf offspring from seed. Has anyone had any luck with growing their own from seed?

They may not be true to seed. But some meyers are.

My Meyer Lemon tree is flowering. How can I tell which blossoms are male and which ones are female? So far I've had luck by randomly swiping a Q-Tip over every blossom but I'd feel better knowing what I am doing.

Hee Hee...........it is not at all neccessarry to hand move the spore found in the bloom of the Meyer Lemon. Meyer Lemon flowers have both parts in each bloom. Look closely the polen parts has the female part inside its circle of polen. As the flower develops or opens the polen is brushed upon the female parts automatically. If you are a real good close-up camera person photograph this and show all of us what I have just said.

Interesting ... all Meyer Lemons or just the improved?

Waaaaa-Whooo found a great ebayer...will share name once I receive plants but thus far GREAT price both on plant and shipping. Canceled my QVC order...just couldnt' risk it with Roberta's feedback here - I trust my fellow DGer's opinion more then any "guarantee" could help.

I think all citrus is self polinating. You don't need the bees or to play bee when the plants are inside.