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Message
1
Posted on 7/14/25 at 3:00 pm to LanierSpots
OK a few things after looking at this picture:
1) It is planted too deep. Take some soil out to expose the root flare.
2) I would cut off the bottom branches. Meyer lemons are heavy and will pull those things down. Cut them off and get some more space around the trunk.
3) The leaves look healthy. A little sooty mold from some kind of insect, but find me a Meyer than has none.
If it flowered profusely then dropped them all, you can try to force it to flower again. I would switch out my fertilizer to something with zero nitrogen and more phosphorus and potassium. Something like a 0-10-10 liquid. You won't use this permanently. You're just trying to get the tree to stop focusing on wood and leaf growth. You should also restrict watering. Let it get bone dry where the leaves are cupping a bit. I'd try to go 2-3 weeks without water as long as it's not looking too bad. Then water it deeply. The drought stress will induce blooming. After you have blooms, use a paint brush to hand pollinate.
If none of that works we may need to look at thornier issues. I also did not clearly see the graft line. We're 100% sure this is grafted and not a seedling, right?
1) It is planted too deep. Take some soil out to expose the root flare.
2) I would cut off the bottom branches. Meyer lemons are heavy and will pull those things down. Cut them off and get some more space around the trunk.
3) The leaves look healthy. A little sooty mold from some kind of insect, but find me a Meyer than has none.
If it flowered profusely then dropped them all, you can try to force it to flower again. I would switch out my fertilizer to something with zero nitrogen and more phosphorus and potassium. Something like a 0-10-10 liquid. You won't use this permanently. You're just trying to get the tree to stop focusing on wood and leaf growth. You should also restrict watering. Let it get bone dry where the leaves are cupping a bit. I'd try to go 2-3 weeks without water as long as it's not looking too bad. Then water it deeply. The drought stress will induce blooming. After you have blooms, use a paint brush to hand pollinate.
If none of that works we may need to look at thornier issues. I also did not clearly see the graft line. We're 100% sure this is grafted and not a seedling, right?
This post was edited on 7/14/25 at 3:22 pm
Posted on 7/14/25 at 4:02 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:
1) It is planted too deep. Take some soil out to expose the root flare.
No problem. I will do that tomorrow.
quote:
2) I would cut off the bottom branches. Meyer lemons are heavy and will pull those things down. Cut them off and get some more space around the trunk.
Interesting. I wanted to do that but read on the net that I shouldnt do that. I read that I should just leave them that meyer lemon trees should be ugly and leave the lower limbs. But I certainly trust you and will cut some.
quote:
If it flowered profusely then dropped them all, you can try to force it to flower again. I would switch out my fertilizer to something with zero nitrogen and more phosphorus and potassium. Something like a 0-10-10 liquid. You won't use this permanently. You're just trying to get the tree to stop focusing on wood and leaf growth. You should also restrict watering. Let it get bone dry where the leaves are cupping a bit. I'd try to go 2-3 weeks without water as long as it's not looking too bad. Then water it deeply. The drought stress will induce blooming. After you have blooms, use a paint brush to hand pollinate.
There was a ton of buds and flowers. I didnt take any pictures as far as I remember though. Tons of them. I can stop with the hand watering but mother nature is going to water that damn thing a few days a week for me. Not much I can do about that until September. Which I imagine would be too late.
quote:
I also did not clearly see the graft line. We're 100% sure this is grafted and not a seedling, right?
Now you are speaking french. I bought that "tree" at my local nursury last September/October. It had about 5 small green lemons on it when I bought it. I immediately planted it in that big pot. The lemons got much bigger before November but never turned Yellow. It got cold here in December / January for here and over a few weeks, all the leaves fell off. Stayed that way till spring.
I have no idea what it was. Seedling or whatever. I may have a picture right where I planted it if that would help. Sorry, new idiot here to plants in general.
IE: Actually bought it early October. Here it is the day I planted it
[/img] This post was edited on 7/14/25 at 4:06 pm
Posted on 7/14/25 at 4:23 pm to LanierSpots
Almost all commercial citrus trees are not sold on their own roots. They are grafted to a different kind of citrus rootstock, usually trifoliate orange. These rootstocks are usually very cold and disease hardy.
The reason I ask is that every now and then you run across a seedling tree that is not grafted or clonally propagated. Citrus does not grow true from seed. If you plant a Meyer lemon seed you aren't going to get a Meyer lemon tree. You'll get something else. There is only one "Meyer lemon" and every one of them is reproduced by taking cuttings from existing trees and grafting them to rootstocks. There are some exceptions to this, but they are too in depth for this discussion.
Seedling trees often don't bear fruit or flower erratically. There should be a scar somewhere on the base of the tree trunk where you can see where the Meyer was grafted onto the trifoliate rootstock. There is a 99% chance this tree is grafted, but if it's not, I can pretty much solve all your questions immediately (buy a new grafted tree).
The reason I ask is that every now and then you run across a seedling tree that is not grafted or clonally propagated. Citrus does not grow true from seed. If you plant a Meyer lemon seed you aren't going to get a Meyer lemon tree. You'll get something else. There is only one "Meyer lemon" and every one of them is reproduced by taking cuttings from existing trees and grafting them to rootstocks. There are some exceptions to this, but they are too in depth for this discussion.
Seedling trees often don't bear fruit or flower erratically. There should be a scar somewhere on the base of the tree trunk where you can see where the Meyer was grafted onto the trifoliate rootstock. There is a 99% chance this tree is grafted, but if it's not, I can pretty much solve all your questions immediately (buy a new grafted tree).
This post was edited on 7/14/25 at 4:28 pm
Posted on 7/14/25 at 4:49 pm to Tigerlaff
quote:
There should be a scar somewhere on the base of the tree trunk where you can see where the Meyer was grafted onto the trifoliate rootstock.
there looks like a knot about 6" above the dirt that looks like the trunk changes. I would imagine that is what you are talking about
The place I bought it is a big nursery and Id bet you are correct.... And it did have some small fruit on it when I purchased it
Thanks for all your help. I will keep learning and see what happens with it.
If it started to bud again soon, would it be better to move it outside my pool cage for the blooming process or manually pollenate it?
And this thread should be stickied for the record.
This post was edited on 7/14/25 at 4:50 pm
Posted on 7/14/25 at 5:13 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
If it started to bud again soon, would it be better to move it outside my pool cage for the blooming process or manually pollenate it?
You're in central or south Florida, right? If so, l would hand pollinate inside. If that tree goes outside it's only a matter of time before it gets infected with HLB. Lemons have some resistance to the disease, but Meyer lemon is not a pure lemon. It has a lot of mandarin orange genetics and is susceptible to death by HLB.
This post was edited on 7/14/25 at 5:14 pm
Posted on 7/14/25 at 5:26 pm to Tigerlaff
Ok. Thanks. I will watch some tree porn videos to get caught up. LOL.
Posted on 7/14/25 at 8:48 pm to LanierSpots
tree looks healthy. You'll get some fruit. Just don't let it get cold again!Posted on 7/15/25 at 3:47 am to Tigerlaff
quote:
You'll get some fruit. Just don't let it get cold again!
What should I do about the cold. It does not get very cold here but we do occasionally get a few nights in the 40's during the dead of winter.
Should I actually bring that thing inside?
Posted on 7/15/25 at 3:53 am to LanierSpots
No. It should not be defoliating in the 40s. Something else is up.
I would focus on the fertilizer regimen and wait for spring. If it defoliates again this winter with no freezes then I've got questions about root health and whether this is even a Meyer lemon. Honestly if it doesn't produce anything this spring chuck it and start over.
I would focus on the fertilizer regimen and wait for spring. If it defoliates again this winter with no freezes then I've got questions about root health and whether this is even a Meyer lemon. Honestly if it doesn't produce anything this spring chuck it and start over.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:27 am to Tigerlaff
quote:
Yes, tip branches at 12-18 inches. More fruit, bushier tree.
It broke my heart to do it but I tipped mine this morning. I also ordered some Osmocote + for it and my dragonfruit. I was using 10-10-10 before.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:55 am to Loup
Big day here in Louisiana zone 9a. 2 mangos left on the Pickering and this morning rats or squirrels penetrated one of them. You may remember that I've already lost one of my 3 total fruit to animals. Today the mangos were contained in a plastic cage secured with a rubber band and an organza bag. Even this was not enough. The animal loosened the tie on the organza bag and chewed through the rubber band to get to the mango. Thank God the protection was enough to only allow for surface level damage of a very small part of the fruit. But since the skin was barely broken, this mango had to be picked.
This is not the ideal ripe color for a Pickering. It should ideally have no green and be totally yellow/orange. This had me extremely pissed. But then I cut off the tiny part that the animal scratched up and sliced the rest of the fruit...
Absolute syrupy mango flavored sweetness with a bomb of coconut flavor on top. Imagine a mango/coconut/brown sugar smoothie. The only problem is that the top 1/8 of the fruit near the stem had not completely ripened and was still a little resinous. 90% of the fruit was perfection.
For my last remaining mango, I now have three layers of protection: plastic cage with rubber band, organza bag, steel mesh bag secured with zip tie on top.
I am determined to harvest the last one perfectly ripe in a week or two. Wish me luck!
This is not the ideal ripe color for a Pickering. It should ideally have no green and be totally yellow/orange. This had me extremely pissed. But then I cut off the tiny part that the animal scratched up and sliced the rest of the fruit...
Absolute syrupy mango flavored sweetness with a bomb of coconut flavor on top. Imagine a mango/coconut/brown sugar smoothie. The only problem is that the top 1/8 of the fruit near the stem had not completely ripened and was still a little resinous. 90% of the fruit was perfection.
For my last remaining mango, I now have three layers of protection: plastic cage with rubber band, organza bag, steel mesh bag secured with zip tie on top.
I am determined to harvest the last one perfectly ripe in a week or two. Wish me luck!
Posted on 7/15/25 at 7:07 am to Loup
quote:
It broke my heart to do it but I tipped mine this morning.
I also hate pruning. I have this paranoid fear that for some reason it won't grow back despite years of experience to the contrary.
Here is my jalisco roja guava after a very hard shaping prune on May 11, 2025. The lower branches were too close to the pot/ground and I wanted a good tree shape. I removed probabaly 70% of the plant. I then made the longest remaining brach the new central leader and staked it vertically. This is an extremely rare and sought after cultivar and it killed me to do it. I tried to root the cuttings and all 5 failed.
Here it is this morning, July 15, 2025. The tree is now 5'9" with good branch structure developing for a study tree.
So yes, don't fear the clippers. It is essential. I fact, the natural state of most fruit trees is bud break. Flowering is the default state. They regulate this with a hormone called abscisic acid (bud break inhibitor) that is produced in the roots. There is only a finite amount of this inhibitor available. When you have more branches and tips, that inhibitor gets more dilute in the tree and it will flower much more easily.
This post was edited on 7/15/25 at 7:48 am
Posted on 7/15/25 at 7:18 am to Tigerlaff
Man that looks like a healthy tree.
I've never eaten a guava but I like this tree so much I'm already considering getting another. I love the big ole leathery leaves. It's also been easy to keep it looking happy.
I've never eaten a guava but I like this tree so much I'm already considering getting another. I love the big ole leathery leaves. It's also been easy to keep it looking happy.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 7:31 am to Loup
Guava is bulletproof as long as you 1) don't let it freeze and 2) control the mealybugs. Always be checking the bottoms of those leaves. I've got 7 of them. 
Posted on 7/15/25 at 7:46 am to Tigerlaff
I’ve had a rat/mice problem for 2-3 years now.
Don’t have fruit for them to eat yet but they’ve destroyed vegetables on a few occasions. I’ve killed many of them with traps. I’ve got some nice watermelon and cantaloupes that are big right now and I’m just waiting for mice to start nibbling at them. I even got a cat to help.
As much as I like feeding the birds I think that’s the #1 reason why I had a mouse problem for so long, b/c they had ample supply to food from the bird feed falling year round. Quit feeding birds about 3 months ago and killed a bunch with traps and haven’t seen much of them lately.
Don’t have fruit for them to eat yet but they’ve destroyed vegetables on a few occasions. I’ve killed many of them with traps. I’ve got some nice watermelon and cantaloupes that are big right now and I’m just waiting for mice to start nibbling at them. I even got a cat to help.
As much as I like feeding the birds I think that’s the #1 reason why I had a mouse problem for so long, b/c they had ample supply to food from the bird feed falling year round. Quit feeding birds about 3 months ago and killed a bunch with traps and haven’t seen much of them lately.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 7:49 am to TeddyPadillac
Yeah I'm gonna have to do something. I've got small kids and don't want a bunch of rat poison on my patio.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 8:41 am to Tigerlaff
Good info! Will tip it back!
Watched some more videos and I finally pruned my mangos also. It looked as though they had clipped the last round from the nursery at the growth ring, I had 5 new branches coming from each of those spots. The vertical middle shoot being the dominate branch, with 4 others around the ring.
So I clipped that one back, and let it have three branches off of that.
Plan to keep doing that in 12” segments
Hope that’s the right move!
Watched some more videos and I finally pruned my mangos also. It looked as though they had clipped the last round from the nursery at the growth ring, I had 5 new branches coming from each of those spots. The vertical middle shoot being the dominate branch, with 4 others around the ring.
So I clipped that one back, and let it have three branches off of that.
Plan to keep doing that in 12” segments
Hope that’s the right move!
Posted on 7/16/25 at 6:11 am to DickTater
I had a passion fruit drop off the vine. I say drop but I'm thinking that one of the two knuckleheads in the background had something to do with it.
Based on what I've googled I don't think it was as ripe as it should be. Still, it was almost overpoweringly sweet with a pleasant tartness.
Based on what I've googled I don't think it was as ripe as it should be. Still, it was almost overpoweringly sweet with a pleasant tartness.
Posted on 7/16/25 at 6:36 am to Loup
That looks amazing. Passionfruit are actually climacteric, meaning they ripen off the vine/tree like a banana or pear. You can set it on the counter let it get wrinkly for maximum sweetness.
Most purple passionfruit (edulis) is still very tart, but there is a lot of genetic variation. That kind of looks like the sweet cultivar that I'm trying to grow (edulis Panama red). If you've got an exceptionally sweet one you should clone it with cuttings and preserve it. They burn themselves out and decline after 4 or 5 years so you want to have another young one started. If it's that good people will be beating down your door for cuttings, me included.
Most purple passionfruit (edulis) is still very tart, but there is a lot of genetic variation. That kind of looks like the sweet cultivar that I'm trying to grow (edulis Panama red). If you've got an exceptionally sweet one you should clone it with cuttings and preserve it. They burn themselves out and decline after 4 or 5 years so you want to have another young one started. If it's that good people will be beating down your door for cuttings, me included.
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