Things are growing like crazy in the greenhouse, and with the weather heating up the past few days I’m having to water the fruits and vegetables twice a day now to keep them from dying.
The herbs I moved out of containers and into the ground are doing really well despite the warm weather. I was a little worried I dug them up too early but the oregano, rosemary and chives are thriving in their new location.
Check out the 3-tired lettuce pot. Doesn’t it look cool? I think it’s only going to look better as time goes on. Harvesting lettuce this fall is going to be fun. {Or maybe I’m just a nerd}. 😉
The first round of peas we planted in the greenhouse are doing great and are just now beginning to climb up the upside down tomato cages. I’m predicting an early October sugar snap pea harvest.
We have green zebra tomatoes coming out of our ears!
Lemon the Meyer Lemon Tree is now down to just 7 lemons.
I’m not sure what happened but one of the tiny lemons is turning yellow and has begun to shrivel up. 🙁 Have you ever grown lemons before? Is it normal for a few to die off like this?
Luckily we have a few clusters of lemon flowers that are producing some new buds. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get a few more.
I need to find some sort of organic lemon tree fertilizer to feed the tree with. Our Meyer lemon is still sitting in the same potting soil I planted it in way back in January. Any suggestions?
~Mavis
Stephanie says
Hi Mavis,
I too am growing a Meyer lemon tree this year, and I had a hard time finding a fertilizer appropriate for citrus, so I just use diluted fish emulsion. Seems to be working well so far (although it smells terrible!)
Sarah says
I got my first Meyer lemon tree this year also and have so far not been able to harvest anything. All of the fruit is still dark green and I’m starting to worry it won’t get a chance to ripen in time before the weather starts to cool down here in Seattle.
Mavis Butterfield says
I don’t think the fruit will ripen until late January if I remember correctly. You’ll need to place your tree in a sheltered spot or bring it inside during the winter months.
Sarah says
Thanks for the info! It is currently sitting on our front porch under cover and backed against a wall. I’m hoping that will be ok.
Diane says
I’m in the Pacific NW (Portland), and my Meyer lemon, in its 3rd year and well-established in a pot, has had a few lemons ripen this summer. Most of them, however, will ripen in January or early February. The tree will go dormant below 48 degrees, so if you want the lemons to ripen (and no loss of foliage), you’ll have to find a way to keep the tree warmer than that. Meyers can overwinter well indoors, if that’s an option for you and you have a sunny spot by a window. We move ours into the greenhouse in the winter (with other non-hardy plants) and run a small space heater to keep the temp around 50 degrees.
As far as fertilizer goes, citrus trees like a somewhat acid fertilizer, like what you would use for rhodies and azaleas. The sites I’ve consulted for learning about Meyer care and feeding say you don’t need to fertilize between about the end of August and late winter (end of Feb., maybe).
Good luck – Meyer lemons are SO wonderful!
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks for the info Diane. 🙂
Cecily says
I’ve grown citrus for several years in the PNW and some fruit drop is usually typical, especially on young trees. For better fruit set you can hand pollinate. I use Iron Chelate when new growth starts in the spring. Hope this helps.
sue says
I live in Central Alabama and we still have days around 90 degrees and cooler evenings. I never planted vegetables from seeds, I usually buy plants for my summer garden but this year I decided to try to grow a Fall garden and opted to plant seeds. The sugar snap peas are doing great. The beets are doing OK but the Italian kale and the bok choy seem to have sprouted and stopped growing. How much water do I need to give them each day? What would be considered over watering. When the dirt seems dry I water which is each day. Also, do they seem to stop growing for a couple weeks and then start again, maybe the roots are getting established?
Any help or advise would be appreciated.
Judy says
Mavis depending on your first Friday date you should be able to move out in another put before winter,I would do it now and give it a light feeding of fertilizer.I like the brand Esponma.. it’s organic and they make it for every type of gardening. you can get out at Lowe’s and home depot..I live in Florida so I know citrus. and yes some fruit drop is normal.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Judy!
Crystal says
It sounds really bizarre, but rabbit urine is supposed to be amazing for citrus trees, and help them produce way more fruit. When we were raising rabbits, my mom used the rabbit urine and rabbit poop on her citrus trees, and got some amazing results. You should totally add rabbits to your collection of “farm” animals.
Jo says
Have you tried worm composting they make the best fertilizer and compost things really quickly you can have an outdoor bin or inside I did it for a while before we moved and I lost the room the compost is amazing
Julia says
It is totally normal for all your little lemons to fall off. I thought I was going to get about 2 dozen limes from my lime tree. I have two huge ones; that’s something, right?
Terry K. says
Mavis, I am closely watching your Meyer lemon tree before I take that plunge. I spent part of my childhood in southern California, where we had 5 lemon trees in our yard. That was nearly 50 years ago and it still KILLS me to pay for lemons in the grocery store. My husband insists we can’t grow lemons here in central Illinois. I would LOVE to prove him wrong. Please continue to keep us in the loop regarding your Meyer lemon tree. Thanks! 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
No problem. 🙂
Laurie says
I live in central CA. I feed my lemons and oranges sulfate of ammonia once a month and deep water once a week (less if it is a rainy week. Citrus will self prune so it is totally normal to get some drop off. Citrus doesn’t reach full production till year 7/8. Check with your local ag extension office on weather conditions for your variety. It can take cold temps but not extended hard freezes. Hope that helps.
Erin says
Hi Mavis
The yellowing and dropping fruit is perfectly normal. Last year I had 50 lemons drop to 31. It wasn’t all at once. It was over the summer. Some dropped and new babies formed at the same time. You should have lots more than 7 by winter. Then they ripen over the winter. The ones that are big now, will be the first to ripen and they are staggered so you should have lemons November through to spring. This spring my darling lemon started fading. Light green and then yellow. Barely hanging in there. I started pouring my secret weapon on once a week. Reindeers liquid Seaweed. Slowly but surely, back to light green, medium green….I emailed my fruit tree guy and he said to use Fish Fertilizer every two weeks. I gave it two doses but still used Seaweed as well. SUCCESS!!! It is now a nice colour green and is setting flowers like crazy. Now I know. They are heavy feeders. I won’t let it get yellow again, and I shouldn’t have to assault the poor thing with so much fertilizer.
We love our lemons don’t we Mavis. Oh, by the way, I added a Bearrs Lime to my citrus family this year. I am trying to eat local as much as possible, so I’m working on having interesting fruits here.
Feel free to contact me if you have any lemon questions I can help with. 🙂
Erin
Mavis Butterfield says
I’m excited to hear about you having a lime tree as well. I think I’m going to order one of those and give it try. Do you have a mandarin orange tree? I know my kids would love it if I could grow those. Thanks for the tips Erin. 🙂
Erin says
Hi Mavis
The lime is growing just like the Meyer Lemon last year. Limes that are almost fully grown but still flowering. So I should be taking limes off the tree all winter. I’ve just done a post about the lemon. I was pretty certain it wouldn’t make it through this winter. It was yellow and not growing…not budding, nothing. I started pouring on the Liquid Seaweed once to twice a week. It took a bit to respond, but it is nice and green now and budding like crazy. I love the tree, so I’m really glad.
I do not have a Mandarin Orange tree. My tree guy at Fruit Trees and More sells their own orange marmalade, so next year, I may feel confident enough to add an orange!! Are you going to get one?
Erin
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks for the update Erin, yes I think I’m going to get one as soon as I clean out the greenhouse this fall. 🙂
Laura M says
Hi Mavis,
Love your blog! 🙂 I live in the Pacific NW also ( vancouver, wa) and one day I saw a few citrus trees planted in this yard!- in the ground, not in pots AND they had fruit !!! I thought it was a joke at first, but I later found out there are 2 types of citrus- actually relatives of citrus- that are cold hardy enough to stay outside all year in our climate. Yuzu ichandrin and flying dragon. Naturally, I had to try growing these myself, so I bought 1 of each, but they are still babies, no fruits yet. They overwinter easily though, just need a little mulch. Maybe they would produce fruit quicker if I had them in a greenhouse? They sure are pretty in the yard. I hope to get some nice fruits from them someday. By the way, where did you get your greenhouse? do you like it? looks like it is working out well for you. I’m looking at greenhouses now, and am not sure what kind would be best for this area.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks for the tip on the citrus trees, I look them up. As for the greenhouse, we bought it from the Glass Gardener in Tacoma and I LOVE it! 🙂 Thanks again.
CathyB says
We also got a Meyer’s lemon tree around the same time that you did and the nursery we got it from recommended Jobe’s organics granular fertilizer for fruit and citrus. It does not have much nitrogen in it – it has bone meal, sulfate, potash, feather meal, fungi, bacteria, and a little bit of composted chicken manure. It is a 3-5-5 fertilizer. You are supposed to fertilize it about once a month. The nursery also told us to avoid the temptation to repot the tree too often, they like to be a little bit rootbound. Our lemons are at about the same spot as yours. And we too lost most of the original lemons and only a few look like they will make it to the ripening stage.
Becca says
I live in rural Califrnia where citrus is grown commercially. The growers suggest fertizing with steer manure ans water it in as the citrus roots are shallow and don’t like to burned. Good luck.