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Growing an Improved Meyer Lemon Tree in the Home Garden

Improved Meyer Lemons are one of the most popular lemons grown in home gardens today. The tree’s fruit is round and thin-skinned when compared to other lemon varieties. It’s also rounder in shape and nearly orange when ripe. Because of its low acidity, they’re touted as the juiciest and “sweetest” of all the lemon varieties. The secret is that the Improved Meyer Lemon isn’t a true lemon at all.

What Exactly is a Meyer Lemon Tree?

The Meyer Lemon (Citrus limon x sinensis) is actually a hybrid (cross) between a lemon and a mandarin orange. It was developed in China and brought to the US in 1908 by a USDA worker named Frank Meyer. The citrus was immediately popular until the mid-1940s when a virus attacked the variety.

At that point, the Meyer Lemon was banned from the US to protect the rest of the citrus industry. In 1970, the new and improved – or disease-free variety ‘Improved Meyer’ was introduced, and once again the tree climbed to the top in popularity.

How to Grow Improved Meyer Lemons

This is one lemon tree that seems to always be covered in sweetly-fragrant flowers along with little baby fruit as well as ripe or nearly ripe fruit. When the tree is mature, it’s a heavy bearer and the crop gets larger as the tree ages. The bloom time to fruit time is around 3-4 months. The lemons remain green while they’re developing and eventually become the yellow color that’s associated with lemons.

At that point, they’re edible and have good flavor. Although, at the yellow stage, they’re still not completely ripe. A fully ripe Improved Myer lemon has a rich, orange-ish color. When harvested at this time, their flavor is outstanding. This lemon’s main crop becomes mature in the summer months. Improved Meyer lemon trees can produce all year long in the warmer climates, but the main crop becomes mature during the summer months. It’s also the most cold hardy lemon variety available.

If the lemons aren’t going to be used any time soon, the fruit will last longer if left on the tree than if they’re stored anywhere else. Note that unlike other fruits or vegetables, lemons don’t continue to ripen once they’ve been removed from the tree.

Meyer Lemon Tree Requirements

  • Best hardiness zones are 9-11
  • Improved Meyer lemon trees like to be planted (or placed) in at least 8 hours of full sun, but they’ll tolerate light shade
  • They need regular watering but soggy soil should be avoided.
  • Well-drained, slightly acidic soil
  • Fertilizer that’s especially suited for citrus should be used

The Perfect Container Citrus Tree

While this citrus tree can reach 12 feet tall when planted in the ground on its own rootstock, most of them are grafted onto semi-dwarf (6-8 feet tall) or dwarf root stocks (3-4 feet tall) which only increases their popularity. Not only do their compact size make them excellent container specimens, but the grafted citrus tend to bloom and produce fruit earlier than those trees grown from cuttings or seedlings. Resistance to frost seems to be boosted, as well.

This tree has a growth pattern like that of a spreading shrub and is quite handsome in a container in the garden or flanking the front door. If this citrus tree is grown in a container, the soil will be depleted of all its nutritional value after 3 years or so. The tree will need to have its roots pruned and the soil replaced if it’s to remain in the same container or it can be transplanted into a larger pot with fresh soil.

For more information on lemon trees, check out Growing Lemon Trees in the Home Orchard, and Dwarf Citrus Trees in Containers for Indoor Growing.

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