Lemon Tree

[jofanning]

I bought myself a lovely lemon tree yesterday, it has two large lemons on it at the mo. When I collected it I noticed it is tied to a little frame, does anyone know if I have to keep it tied up or should I take it off the frame and let it be free!!!

[Mrs Dobby]

We've a small lemon and orange tree, on the windowsil of the lounge, each of which is about 2' tall, and dont have any support on them at all, and both seem to be doing well, so if it looks like it will be able to supp[ort itself, then I'd take it off the supports, unless its being trained up them in some way or something along those lines!

We've a large lemon nearing ripening atm, plus 2 smaller green lemons and about 15 fruit that have just set from the flower we had last month! The orange has about 7 small ripe fruit on it, each between an inch and 2" in size, plus gods alone know how many new fruit from the flowers that have only just finished! Cant wait til March when we can start to feed then and see what they start to do then!

[JennieAtkinson]

How warm do you have to keep these plants? I was wondering about getting one for the greenhouse (MIL sent me money for Christmas and said get something really different!), but wondered if it might be too cool. Although catalogues do say they are hardy.

[Mrs Dobby]

We keep ours in the lounge, for the winter, and pop outside in the back tard for the summer, but as long as they arent exposed to frost then they should be ok in a cold greenhouse Jennie!

[JennieAtkinson]

That sounds interesting then. I just fancied having my G&T in the greenhouse with a fresh bit of lemon!

[jofanning]

Mrs D
I have been reading up a bit on the lemon tree and it says to feed all year round, at the mo you use Winter Feed, followed by Summer Feed. It says to feed every 7 to 10 days and only use rainwater as the tap stuff is too harsh, the same as blueberry bushes. I have Chempak Citrus Tree food if its any help.

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi Jo, the info that came with ours said to just water in the winter and feed from March to September, but it may be different cos they are dwarf trees grafted onto a dwarf root stock. I got the summer feed, but wasnt aware of the winter feed, so may have to take a look at that, many thanks for letting us know about it!

[xspye]

My lemon tree ( rescued from garden centre bargin bin and did not have a label) now has loads of flowers I was wondering if i need to pollenate them or do i just leave it and the fruit will set. It's currently inside so no insect life will get near it.

[Code Numpty]

I have lemon tree in a South facing conservatory that is not double-glazed and does get really cold. The lemons were already on the tree when it was given to me and we moved here in September. I was told about the only use rainwater but have been a bit lazy on that one. I am currently enjoying bright yellow small lemons in my G&Ts of an evening.

[olde9856]

The leaves on mine are going yellow! Its in the cool greenhouse

[Mrs Dobby]

Xspye - use a mister and spray the flowers when you are watering it, it helps the pollen to be carried to the stamen and thus set fruit!

Jo, found some of the winter feed at the garden center yesterday, so will commence using it now, amny thanks for the info and advice there chuck!

[xspye]

Thanks for the advice Mrs Dobby i'll try that tonight. I had one green lemon last year, I think i was probably a little premature in picking it . I'm hoping for more next year as there are loads of flowers open and more coming

[Miss Muffet]

We keep ours in the lounge, for the winter, and pop outside in the back tard for the summer, but as long as they arent exposed to frost then they should be ok in a cold greenhouse Jennie!

I am thinking about buying a lemon bush and what has been said on this forum, it is better inside, but with a heated mat to keep the roots warm. I would be putting it in a unheated kitchen, but at times would cook in there, so a bad place? How big do they grow indoors? What type do you suggest? Where to buy a heated mat? So many questions, I feel I may have more....can you help?

[starloc]

At this time of year they are fine / best outside ( they grow quicker due to light levels and pefer the moisture in the air ), once it gets to october they need to be inside untill there is no chance of frost, if you have frost and want it outside you an wrap the plantpot with bubblewrap and then the whole plant with fairy lights nd frost fleece on the outside, the plant then will grow ok outdoors, as long as you kep frost off it the temperature isnt usualy a problem but it must not actualy freeze so its best kept indoors in winter, bring them in and take them out at a point when the room is about the same temperature as outside so they dont notice the temperature difference

Heated mats if its in the winter, inside the house , it will stop the leaves from falling of and the plant dieing , the roots need to be over 70F for the plant to operate, any light on the leaves if below 70F the leaves overheat and fall off, the lack of leaves means te roots will be too wet as they cant use the water and the roots rot and the plant dies

2 ways for winter, cold roots and dark, or warm roots and light , both need humidity in the air, if you put it on a bright window ledge light is ok, but not direct sun on its leaves unless you have a heatermat

How big do they grow....It depends on the plant!, but if you prune them you loose the fruit for that year as most types of lemon mainly fruit on the newest growth, they dont grow that quickly though, but the bigger the plant the more lemons, new branches grow all the time from the center, so they grow lemons on them and you can prune a bit at the top if needed ( but you shouldnt ), it will branch underneath anyway when pruned and flower on the new branches, they tend to flower all year long unlike most citrus so unless pruned a lot its not that much of a problem

if you keep it in the house over the winter the most important thing other than the warm roots is the air temperature, the daytime temperature is not important as long as it gets no frost, the night must drop below 12C for 400+ hours over the winter ( when you add up all the cold hours ) to make it flower next year, the more cold hours the more it will flower
Cooking in the room wouldnt hurt i dont think as the steam will increase humidity, as long as it doesnt get too hot, but thats unlikely

[rustylady]

Very helpful Starloc. My daughter bought me a lemon tree last year, with strict instructions not to kill it. At present it's on the patio near the greenhouse and has lots of baby lemons on it. Will bring it in again for the winter.