meyer lemon

Growing Meyer Lemon Trees Indoors

Dan Fruits & Vegetables, This Land of Ours

meyer lemonCathy Isom continues her interesting series filling us in on how to grow a Meyer Lemon tree successfully indoors. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

Growing Meyer Lemon Trees Indoors

A Meyer Lemon Tree grown indoors can be done successfully and with very little effort. If its fruit production that you have in mind, here’s what you need to know about how to grow them.

The tree will need to be near a sunny window, getting at least six hours of sunlight a day, or possibly grow lights if that isn’t possible. Ideal temperatures are in the 50 to 80-degree range, though the tree may survive a short spell of borderline freezing temperatures. It will need good, quality potting soil, with particular attention to having a well-draining structure, and regular feeding. In the springtime, trees should be transitioned outside only when temperatures stop regularly dipping below 50 degrees, and in the autumn, the tree should come in when the temperatures start falling below 50 at night.

When grown from seed, it can take up to seven years for the tree to produce, but grafted trees can provide fruit after only a couple of years. Young trees can be started in one-gallon pots, but a mature tree of more than six feet tall should be in something closer to a five-gallon pot. Pruning is another part of regular maintenance. Especially with container-grown trees, sucker branches are very common. These should be pruned away immediately.

Tomorrow we look into when to harvest Meyer Lemons, and some of the best uses for them.

I’m Cathy Isom…