I'm sure someone with more knowledge will offer an opinion on the pruning but my initial thought is that it's going to be very hard to keep it compact at the top with your lighting conditions.

My understanding is that internode length is directly related to the amount of certain wavelengths of light that the tree is getting and generally indoor plants will not get high amounts of that light. This has also been my experience. When I overwinter my citrus in a sunroom with supplemental grow lights I see longer internode lengths than on the flushes that come when the plant is outside in full sun. The leaves are also much larger.

It might be possible to keep a compact canopy with a good deal of pruning but then I think you're trading a lot of growth (which is hard to come by indoors) for a form which isn't really suited to indoor growing.

My experience has been that lemons are very apically dominant. If you are set on trying for a compact "tree" shape then you can probably just wait and you will get good growth at/near the top very soon. If you want to try to hurry things along taking off the lower branch might help but then you're left with, what, 7 leaves supporting the lemon? I read somewhere that 5 leaves can support a lemon on a small meyer but I can't find the source and I'd want some margin for error...

I'd wait and let the tree develop a little more if you want to keep the lemon. The only reason I can think of not to wait is if you don't want to see a scar down there when you take the branch off down the road.

I would not consider pruning at this time. You have nothing to prune as far as I can see.

What do you suggest I do? Cut off the lemon and hope more branches appear at the top where I want them?

No doubt in my mind, I would snip the fruit off and go buy a lemon from the store ;-). If you want you could make a little bed for your proud fruit, right next to the tree as recognition of its sacrifice for the better good of its parent tree.

You are going to have enough issues already with a lower-light scenario I would not be putting any of my tree's energy into making fruit, not for a couple years anyway. Cutting the tip will induce more branching at the top and yes it will probably be apically dominant and have several branches at that top. They will help thicken the trunk up and later you can decide what to keep/remove.

If you do nothing, you risk keeping the tree stagnant while it tries to grow that lemon: the only thing that will grow is likely that low branch since it will also sap a lot of vigor from the tree.

Only snip off just under the fruit, don't remove any of the leaves off the trunk. They will fall off later and hopefully you can get a branch of two to sprout from the trunk later, not just at the top. Light, light, light.

That's my $.02.

Chris

Jessica,

One option worth trying is to release the tree from it's bondage, at least down to the lowest tie by the graft. This will cause the tree to sag under the weight of the lemon, providing a higher node to establish dominance. I would try that if you want to both save the fruit and have higher branching. Leave the new lower branch for now, your tree could use the energy that it will generate. You can always cut it off later, root it and play with another tree.

Barb

Thanks for the feedback.

I live in Seattle so lighting is always going to be a problem. And putting this tree outdoors is just not an option. We have not had a 60 degree night so far this year, and there is not one anywhere in the near future. We have barley come into summer here.

I have come to terms with my lighting issues and addressed them as best I can. I have put the tree in the best possible position in my home, given it a tray of pebbles and water for humidity, gone out of my way to track down the ingredents to assemble the Gritty Mix for it and use Foliage Pro regularly. (These photos were not taken in its regular place, I had to take it out of its sunny window because of backlighting. I wanted to have clear photos to share on the forum).

I am willing to limp my tree along in our conditions. It may not be the best lemon tree out there, but I am willing and really want to give it a try.

I am just curious about what my pruning options are from here and whether or not I should remove the lemon.

Thanks Barb- I had not thought about letting the tree sag a bit giving another node dominance, maybe I will try that before I snip off the lemon and see what that gets me. If that does not work, I can always take the lemon off and trim just the very top as Chris suggested.

This tree is just an experiment for me. A learning experience in soil and water retention as well as pest control and pruning. As each new problem presents itself, I learn something new. :)

Thanks.

Jessica, I did not mean to discourage you about the light scenario. I'm all for folks trying to make a go within their current environment. And your attitude about the learning experience is exactly how I approach things, too. I do this all the time with my trees, many of which are not exactly beautiful as I stress them by testing out various mixes, lighting & heat (high/low) locations, fert, etc.

Barb has a good suggestion there if you really do want to keep that lemon. Later, as the weight increases, you could even support it by staking at the natural bend point it (will) make right now when it's small.