That satsuma tree has produced more than 500 fruit some years about 4 to 5 boxes of fruit.  It is about 13 feet tall and 14 feet wide.  The trunk is very very large.  I have so many satsumas (over 8 boxes some years) that I give most of them away to family and friends.  I keep about 300 in the refrigerator and it usually lasts all winter into early spring.  I still have some from the 2010 crop.  I also have a large Meyer lemon tree that produces 600 to 800 fruit each year and a smaller one that produces 250 fruit each year. That is nearly 1000 Meyer lemons each year far more than I could ever use.  I extract the juice from about 250 fruit and get about 120 cups of juice that I use to make lemonade all year long until the next harvest in the fall.  The Meyer lemons I do not use either rot or I give them to family or friends.   There is no way I could possibly ever use 1000 Meyer lemons as I could probably fill  a couple of large freezers with juice! That is enough juice for several families!  There are still about 30 meyer lemons on the tree that are out of reach in the top center.   The meyer lemons on these trees are almost grapefruit size and have lots of juice.  I get almost 1 cup juice from only 2 fruit! 

 



 LSU purple is planted in the ground and is growing fast.  The roots are healthy and do not show any evidence of damage.

JCA, where are you located, again (city/USDA zone)?

I don't know many people who grow Meyer lemons, so I thought I'd share pictures of my mom and dad's trees this year.  The branches are probably going to be on the ground in a couple of months with hundreds of fruit.  These trees are only a couple of years old at this point.

thanks Noss for your concern as soon as the weather warms up a little I plan on repotting it and changing the soil hopefully that will help it thanks again for your insight every suggestion helps bud!!!!!

Hey satellitehead that is one huge lemon tree WOW!!!  I have a small one that my mother gave me for my birthday but it was a weak year for lemons this past year!  I also have a lemon tree that I started from seed from a smuggled amalfi lemon that I bought when I was in italy a few years back.  I know alot of people say that a lemon tree grown from seed will never bear fruit but I figured it dosen't hurt to try and every time I glance at the tree it reminds me of the beautiful amalfi coast and the wonderful family trip to my grandmothers birth place.  If you have any suggestions of things I can do to make my lemon trees more productive please let me know!!!!

I am in zone 9 with mild winters.


Here is a picture of this Meyer lemon plant
It has lots of blossoms now.  There is a bird nest in this tree!

http://img834.imageshack.us/i/001frd.jpg

http://img821.imageshack.us/i/002ka.jpg

http://img860.imageshack.us/i/003qu.jpg
 

Here is a close picture

http://img585.imageshack.us/i/007yz.jpg

http://img705.imageshack.us/i/008me.jpg

Here is a picture of the smaller Meyer lemon tree

http://img713.imageshack.us/i/004pme.jpg

Here is a picture of a Meiwa kumquat

http://img854.imageshack.us/i/005mt.jpg

That meyer lemon tree looks huge!  a good 50% larger than my parents.  what size are your fruit?  theirs are the size of softballs.  they started selling them to the local fruit stands at the flea market, the people go nutso for them, nobody seems to grow this type of sweet lemon in the Bradenton/Sarasota area.

I've thought about planting kumquats.  i wish we could grow satsumas or clementines here in Atlanta =(  my neighbor grows Yuzu and some other asian citrus, but it's all pot culture, and it's hit or miss, he gets fruit some years and doesn't get anything others.  he is constantlyl fighting with spider mites as well.

I can't wait to get my Satsuma and Meyer Lemon trees now.  They are tiny, though.  Even so, the Meyer Lemon tree had a huge lemon on it.  I didn't think to ask to be able to pick it.  The Nursery has been holding it for me and will put it in soon.  What is the best way to plant those trees?  If we should put them in ourselves, should we put soil conditioners in the planting hole?

Can we keep the trees pruned down lower and for a smaller diameter of the tree spread?

I've heard that Meyer Lemons make the best lemonade.  I used the juice of one in cooking and it was so much better than a regular lemon, flavorwise, that it's the first time I used lemon in cooking where I really liked it.

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Will, just a thought, but if you could find someone who knows how to graft trees, maybe you could have them take a graft cutting from that special lemon tree and graft it onto better rootstock.  Could that affect the production?  I surmise that some rootstock are hardier/tougher and that's good for the growing top of another variety.

I'm thinking I should have gotten dwarf Meyer Lemon and dwarf Satsuma trees, maybe.  JCA, can you tell me about the dwarf trees?

Thanks,

Vivian

Make sure when you plant your Meyer lemon tree you do not amend the soil.  Plant it with native soil only!  Meyer lemons are very easy to propagate through rooted cuttings.  They are also very prolific in pots.  A tree in a 50 gallon pot could produce over 100 large fruit!  I plan to grow some in pots soon.

The Meyer lemons grow very fast.  The big Meyer lemon in the pictures above grew to over 8 feet high and more than 10 feet wide after only two years in the ground and produced more than 800 fruit that year.  One branch had over 200 fruit and broke from the weight load.  The second Meyer lemon is smaller because it is competing with an oak tree nearby.  It is about 9 feet tall and 12 feet wide which is not all that small.  The large meyer lemon is growing in some very good soil for citrus with lots of sun and almost ideal growing conditions.  It is also better protected from cold on the south side of a brick home.

Thanks, JCA, for all the information.  If grown in a pot, does that limit the size of the Meyer Lemon tree?

I knew the Meyer Lemon is not a true lemon, but whatever it is--It's surely delicious and beautiful to look at as well.  I wan't to try making the lemonade with simple syrup and that way, you don't have to worry about the sugar dissolving because it's in the syrup in suspension because it's been heated.  Using club soda sounds like it would be a lemon soda pop.

Would the lemon need cold protection in South Louisiana in the winter?

noss

A satsuma orange at peak bloom.


http://img233.imageshack.us/i/002hjl.jpg/

Could someone please direct me to the fig fourm?   I seem to have gotten off the thread....:-)

Hello Centurion,

Just use the back arrow and it will take you to the fig posts.  Not uncommon here to go off on other fruit tangents from time to time...  ;)

noss

I transplanted a brown turkey fig into a larger pot when it was dormant and had to cut some if the roots back as it was very pot bound. Since leaves started to grow in spring they are curled some what stunted and have developed yellow coloration. I am a novice fig grower so any advice would be great.