Anyone Got A Lemon Tree?

Hi Everyone!

Having seen Monty on gardeners world last night talking about lemon trees I was wondering if anyone on here grows lemons at all. I intend to keep mine in the greenhouse all year round as I now have the space to do so. I know a lot of people keep them in the greenhouse overwinter but I want to keep it permanently in the greenhouse as I don't have any space outside. Could this be a problem at all?

 

I must admit to struggling with citrus in pots, they always seem to suffer from deficiencies usually magnesium, I find.
I have a lemon which to be honest doesn't look that great, but I usually get a couple of fruits a year,

I've had a better time with Clementine when I grew it in the greenhouse border, had some really good fruit for a while, but it soon out grew the greenhouse growing that way.
Pruning tended to result in lots of sappy growth at the expense of flowers.

Under glass all year does make them more open to pest problems, the worst two I find are greenfly on early growth and scale insect.

 

I've got a lemon and an orange plant that I propagated from seed about 20 years ago.

They were leftovers from a batch that I was shaping for bonsai and, on a whim, left them to grow in 17lt pots, largely unattended, for the next 19 years on a windswept, south facing window ledge.

Suffice it to say that they never grew any taller than a foot and a bit, and neither ever produced flowers or fruit so to call them trees would be a bit of a long stretch.

But, they did have extremely vigorous and healthy root systems which meant they were able to survive periods of drought, gale force winds and the snows of winter 2009/10.

 

I've got two, given to me by my husband as presents. I love them. One produces nice big lemons, about 20 per year, and it isn't a very big bush. The other is a really pretty specimen and produces smaller but equally delicious mini lemons. I put them outside in about mid May when it warms up. They sit on the terrace all summer until about the end of September (they are still out) and then I bring them in and leave them in the house in front of big SE facing windows, where the fruits ripen over the winter.

They need a lot of feeding. I use a special citrus fertiliser in the growing season but next year I think I will try seaweed extract as recommended by MD.

In answer to Jane's question: I think they would be subject to pest infestation if staying inside all year......having said that, my local nursery keeps theirs in a greenhouse all summer and they look pretty good.

 

We have a lemon tree - producing around 10 large lemons every year.

We have it in a very large pot, as big as two of us can lift, so that we can move it in and out. Winter, it is in the living room, with plenty of light. As it is over one of the under-floor radiators, it sits on a thick rug. As soon as the nights are not too severe, early May, it is moved outside, coming back in again in November. We find that the outside time helps to reduce the scale insect problem ...

We have a happy tree, flowering and carrying fruit the whole year round.

 

Sounds like we have a similar regime Sian, but yours spend more time outside than mine; maybe I am cosseting them too much. When and what do you feed yours with?

 

Well, we maybe hard on ours, but it is an attempt to be even harder on the scale insects!! (Obviously don't use any treatment against it)

We feed with a citrus tree food (both summer and winter food, but I have to admit to being very forgetful with feeding).

Haven't top-dressed since inheriting the plant over 3 years ago, and it seems to get stronger, though has struggled a bit this year - it was v long, hot, and dry.

 

I bought one three years ago that came with lemons on the tree

I've not had a single flower or fruit since! I've used the lemon tree feeds that are sold in the garden centres at a ridiculous price but still no luck

However, after watching Monty on Friday, i'm going to try the simple weekly feed of Sea Weed and see how i get on

The lemon tree is my mountain!!