Well, I suspect you've already hit on the answer - different rootstocks. There are not different Meyer lemon cultivars - all are the Improved Meyer lemon and are basically clones of the original tree. Rootstocks can affect size of tree, productivity, vigor, fruit set and flavor. I would contact Monrovia and ask what rootstock they used for their Meyer lemons 5 to 6 years ago. Photos of both trees would be helpful. Please post close up photos of the leaves and the fruits, and it you can cut a fruit of each in half, too, that would be helpful.

Patty S.

Thanks again Patty S. I will get those photos and post them in few days when we get a warm up.

DL

Meyers can be surprisingly variable in size, shape, and even color. I have three of them, and one plant occasionally bears massive oval lemons right next to smaller round ones. I picked my first winter 2012 harvest a week ago, and most of them were still partially green in color although fully ripe.

Make sure you feed them properly. They get really hungry during harvest season!

The two trees could possibly be on different rootstocks, which can affect the size of the fruit; or they may just have come from different parent stock. Most nurseries use budwood from various trees/sources. My budwood grove and all the trees we sell or plant are genetically identical; there may be some potential downside, but it works for me.

John

jkom is correct, the fruit will vary on the tree. My Meyer lemon has round lemons with no nipples, and then the more traditional elongated "lemon" shape with a nipple all on the same tree, this is a trait of the Meyer. But, for two trees with very drastic differences in not only the fruit size and appearance, but also the size of the tree, I suspect you have Meyers on different rootstocks. The small one may be on some sort of dwarfing rootstock, and your other one may be on own roots.

Patty S.

I have found, growing apparently wild near Warrenton, VA, a bushy tree with small (1.25" diameter) yellow citrus fruit, with a sharp taste and lots of pips. The skin is thin and smooth, with a light peachy "fuzz". It doesn't seem to match any of the lemon or lime descriptions I have found. Any ideas?

I should mention that the bush is spectacularly thorny.

Interesting. Sounds like citrus pontiferos which is a cold hardy type used for root stock. Could be seed grown from a bird or other critter or an abandoned tree that died back to the root stock. Could this area have ever been part of a yard, maybe an old abandoned farm?

It's on farmland, but on the bank of a steep-sided creek. I can't imagine it being part of a yard - it's right on the rough edge of a 30 ac lot, nearly half a mile from the house. The idea of a bird or critter "sowing" the seed seems very likely. I make marmalade, and usually add a lemon to the Seville oranges. I thought I might try a few of these.

I Googled citrus pontiferos, and Poncirus trifoliata came up as the first item. Photos look just right, so maybe that's it. Thanks for the link!

Yeah they're similar if not the same thing. You're wecome. :)

It's Poncirus trifoliata. It is the only citrus relative that could possibly be hardy here.

Thank you!

old Meyer post with a trifoliata switch. My lemon

almost as big as an under inflated football

Ironically, when a fruit tree is stunted, in certain cases, more of the tree's energy can go to producing fruit, rather than growth. This is the reason cherry trees almost always have grafted rootstock, by the way. I'm not sure what is causing your smaller Meyer tree to be stunted, maybe the bigger one is getting more nitrogen in the soil?

The biggest one I get is about 21 inches around, they do have a 1 inch thick skin, but they are very meaty and taste very good. The inside the middle is hollow where all the seeds come together, strange! I will start saving the seeds. It is the first year it has yield fruit. Its about 15 to 18' tall. Could I sell the seeds?.............Estevan

Estevan Guzman Mine turned out to be the rootstock Cuban Shaddock. They look just like yours including the leaves. I picked mine much to soon. Was yours sweet, sour, or a balanced mix.

We planted our tree 4 years ago. We get 100's of lemons that range is size from 8 oz small to 15 oz. We see recipes for 3 to 4 meyers lemon to get a cup of fruit. 3 or 4 of ours would yield 2 or 3 cups. Everyone we give lemons to are amazed at the size. Is this normal? I feel better after seeing Mr Guzman's melon size lemons.

Mr Guzman's melon size lemons Are Cuban Shaddocks not Meyer lemons. I have learned that the C.S. fruit is better than store bought lemons and are closer to the taste of a Meyer lemon. Your tree serves you well. Could you post a picture of your tree/s

Here is my Meyer tree

Where?

Tallahasse FL

Phil Where is the

picture of your tree. It appears to have not posted.

Did someone need me to post a picture of my tree? Cuban Shaddocks! I will look into that, Thank you for the info!

I was wanting to see what a 4 year old in ground Meyer lemon tree looks like

Not the best angle, but here's a Meyer in the ground at least 40 years. The fence is about 5' tall. Does that help?

Barb and Nick, those make me sick with envy! I have a couple of meyers but they are way less mature than yours... I can't wait for proper production- for containers anyway.

Barb what do you do with them all???

I don't live here anymore, it's now our rental house, and we live elsewhere. So I don't know what the tenants do with them.

When I lived there I made tons of lemonade, lemon curd, lemon meringue pie, lemon pound cake, etc. And gave away as many as they would take to friends and family.

But even so there were so many that it couldn't be helped that some of them just ended up falling and rotting under the tree. A mature Meyer lemon tree is a lemon factory!

I think that's partly what got me so into citrus. Our current place has two mature navel orange trees but no lemon trees. So I got a Meyer, and then I like mandarins a lot, so got a mandarin, then someone gave me a Yuzu lime, and so on, and the rest is history. We have a bad gopher problem here, so they've been in pots for the last 3 years or so until I could save up the money to do something with them.

This week we planted 14 of them in an old orchard area. Had irrigation put in too. I'll start a new thread with pics of the project.

My Meyer lemons are like Nick's. My tree is about 5 ft (in the pot) and it produced nearly 3 dozen huge lemons..the size of my palm. They look nothing like ones I bought at the store recently...and mine were MUCH juicier, although they had thicker skins.

It a little hard to see but it's next to the wall. We move in 5 years ago and planted it the next spring.

Phil your photo has not posted... if it had you would see it here.

Barb I love to cook so to have so may at my disposal would be amazing! Lemon curd is my absolute fave too- I have ducks so their eggs are just Perfect!

Laura that is encouraging that so many can grow on a container tree! Can't wait! My local garden centre has some big more mature meyers, maybe I deserve a treat this week lol!

I bought my Meyer lemon tree in July of 2014 and it was only a foot tall. Now its about 3 feet. Last fall I had over 40 lemons on the tree. Take a look at the thread I started called my Citrus in containers and see my last post of the tree when I bought it and what it looks like now in its new container. It looked like a charlie brown tree when I took it home lol. Here is the link.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3718197/my-citrus-in-containers?n=7

Amazing Nick! Yes I saw that old thread, the trunks are so thick, my trees are like pencils compared to yours. Your climate is a bit more hospitable than mine, but still your progress is encouraging, thanks! In a couple of years I should get a decent amount then.

Nick, those look great!!! Those look like the Meyers I get. Hobby, I love to cook also and am eagerly anticipating my new crop of lemons and Key limes. As of now, my biggest tree (Meyer) has just over 30 lemons...they range in size, but they are a decent size. However, it is loaded with buds! As soon as I get it outside it will burst. Can't wait!!! My Key lime that was soooo pathetic has 30+ Limes and is loaded with buds. It IS possible to get lots of fruit from container trees. Actually, the way I got into citrus was through a friend of my daughters who gave us a bunch of lemons to trade for honey. Her tree produced close to 50 lemons!!!

My key lime had over a 100 limes on it last year and it is in a container. Its about a 5 foot tree.

WOW Nick! That is incredible! Mine is pretty small still and recovering. How wide is your Key lime? I've heard they get bushy. Mine is bush-like, though only less than a foot tall. I think it is wider than it is tall...

The Tree is about 5 feet tall.

Nick, it is a great-looking tree! I have one that is tree-like and another that is more of a bush. It will be interesting to watch them develop. They are both pretty young. I would be thrilled with so many limes....just think of all the Key lime pie....;-)

very nice looking tree and container. I don't know what anyone can do with that many limes but if that were a kumquat tree and mine I would be ecstatic.

My Key lime is also 5 feet tall and looks a lot like Nick's but it has only flowered a few times and no fruit yet. But this is encouraging, I could be close to fruit!!!

I can't wait for mine to recover and bloom. When it does, I'll post pics!

I'm sure my weather in the Central Valley has everything to do with the production on my small dwarf trees. I'm having the same good luck with my small avocado trees as well. I'll keep my fingers crossed this season. :)

Thanks for the information, our first year,I have 2 trees,one at 6' and one at 2',we have kept them indoors throughout the extremely cold weather, the tallet plant bloomed first a few weeks ago, smaller tree just did open a few blossoms today, we are looking forward to whatever fruit we get, maybe I will sell lemonade in my old age,almost there LOL.