20 Meyer Lemon Recipes That’ll Make You Glad It’s Winter (2024)

FAQs

How long does it take for a Meyer lemon tree to bear fruit? ›

As for fruit, the Meyer lemon tree should produce citrus every year after it reaches maturity—i.e., around four years old. Growing a citrus tree on your own may sound daunting—most of us aren't farmers—but we promise it's just as easy as caring for your favorite houseplant (and maybe easier in some cases).

In the ground, Meyer Lemon Trees benefit from the soil's natural nutrient reserves. However, they still need a balanced NPK fertilizer, ideally one with added micronutrients to cover any soil deficiencies.

Standard Meyer lemon trees grow to be 6-10 feet tall, while the dwarf variety grow to be 5-7 feet. If you grow your Meyer lemon tree in a garden pot, it will grow according to the size of the pot and be smaller. Meyer lemon trees have glossy, dark green leaves and fragrant white blossoms that are purple at the base.

You can use this highly nutritious organic material to help feed your lemon tree. As coffee grounds are high in nitrogen and other nutrients that allow for your plants to prosper, they are a surefire way to help keep up the health of your lemon tree.

Meyer Lemon Trees are the easiest citrus plants to grow indoors and they offer sweet scented blooms and fruit up to 4 times per year. Meyer lemon plants require no chill hours to fruit so they can be grown indoors all year-round.

You can freeze lemon wedges or slices, lemon zest, lemon juice, or whole lemons. Always wash fruit with soap and water or a fruit and vegetable wash before starting the prep work for freezing. Use a microplane to create lemon zest from the peel.

In winter, you only need to water your citrus tree once every 3–4 weeks! It might not seem like enough, considering that you need to water multiple times per week in spring and summer. But this will help your tree to remain in dormancy and build up the energy for next year's growth spurt.

Oranges and lemons are also less cold hardy than mandarins. General cold hardiness for mature trees: kumquat (18°) > Satsuma mandarin (20°) > Meyer lemon (22°) > oranges (Navel, blood, etc. )( 24°) > grapefruit (26°). Leaves, green wood, and fruit are more cold sensitive than hard wood.

Use on all fruit, citrus and palm trees.

You can prune your Meyer lemon tree according to your design preferences since its shape doesn't affect its ability to bear fruit. Wait until the tree is at least 3 to 4 feet tall to prune, and try not to begin the process until the winter after the plant's fruits ripen and fall.

What is the best natural fertilizer for lemon trees? ›

They're sweet enough that they can even be added raw to various dishes; although you probably still wouldn't want to eat one whole like you would an orange, you can mix chunks or slices of Meyer lemon into salads and salsa.

The layer of bitter white pith that makes a thick protective coating for regular lemons is so thin on Meyers that they may be eaten in their entirety, peel included. Cut thin slices, remove the seeds and roast them with root vegetables, chicken or fish.

Another way to keep your Meyer Lemon Tree happy is by pruning it. Meyer Lemon Trees don't have to be tall to produce fruit – just healthy. Keep them wide and branched out. When you decide to prune your trees in the early fall or early spring, look for branches that are growing straight upwards.

You don't need two Meyer Lemons to produce fruit - since they are self-fertile, a single tree will produce lemons. However, having multiple trees can increase pollination and lead to larger harvests.

Meyer lemon trees are self-fertile, so only one tree is needed to produce fruit. However, pollination is more likely to occur when the tree spends some time outside exposed to insects and birds.

That means they don't need pollen from another lemon tree in order to bear fruit. But in nature, lemon trees rely on insects to pollinate their blossoms. Better pollination translates to more and better fruit. With popular indoor varieties your tree should bear fruit on its own, but you can also help it along.