That loks like one beautiful tree. Love the lemon on it. Looks like it will be ready to use very soon. Where did you get your tree from?

This was my first tree ever. I got it this summer at Zhangs Floral or something... It was almost like a Chinese Variety store, very small, family run. I was skeptical at first but so far it has been a much better tree than the one I got at Plant World.... Both of these places are in Toronto. I was literally driving around Toronto one day while I was working and I always wanted to try growing a lemon tree.... and I saw this floral shop so I stopped for a quick second to see what they had.... (I wasn't even sure you could get lemon trees because I had tried ordering online for a while). As I'm walking in I see these two small tree's with huge fruit on them.... and I decided to get one hahah. They were literally the only lemon trees she had. She had a couple of orange trees inside too.

Please, cut that lemon and enjoy it; the tree will hold on to it, no matter how much it suffers. Except for that, looks like you are doing a good job.

The lemon is still hard like a rock... Has a slight yellow on one side. I'm going to wait until it's a bright yellow or it falls off.

dave,

do what you like, it is your tree and your lemon. The lemon will not get better; it is ready to harvest

Bigger, probably not... But I think it will get juicier and sweeter. Plus, a nice yellow colour makes it look better. I'm waiting for more yellow and a softer touch. Might as well let my first lemon mature as much as possible and see the end result and than next year I can pick them sooner if I think it's right.

I am no expert, but from what John (Texas) has said about his many ponderosa lemons, they should be juicy and deep yellow. That lemon looks like it still has a bit of green towards the top. For a meyer, that would be fine, but I am not sure for a ponderosa, especially if it’s so hard. Let us know what you decide to do.

I have Update worthy news on my Ponderosa lemon. It appears that the "Iceburg lettuce" things are actually flowers coming out. I have a few baby leaves coming in as well. I'm so excited to see these flowers open.... They look very green to me... I thought they were suppose to be White/purplish. Here are the pictures.

The lemon looks like it's starting to turn yellow but some spots still have a dark green color.This is a close up of the flowers coming in. As you can see, they're green instead of the white/purple I've seen on other lemon trees.This is another cluster of flowersThose are the baby leaves coming in with.... more flowers it looks like. All of this is new growth that has happened indoors.

Today was a beautiful day in Toronto, reaching a high of 17C or 64F for you Americans... Unfortunately, I didn't bring my plants outdoors.... I did decide to bring the Ponderosa outside tonight to see if I can get the lemon to turn more yellow. I'll bring it back inside tomorrow morning before work because it's only going to be 5C or 40F tomorrow....

Great looking Ponderosa lemon Dave, I agree about leaving it on the tree it will ripen more. The tree doesn't look to be stressed at all so what could it hurt to leave it. Here's a pic of my Meyer they are getting close but still don't have that beautiful golden yellow hue so I will leave them a bit longer.

Dave, I have 4 of these trees and I would grow more if I could. They are my most resilient trees. They grow well even in little sunlight. They never loose their leaves even in winter where some of my others would if not given the perfect conditions..They are always flowering several times a year, and fruiting and I always wait until mine turn a nice yellow..They are much sweeter then. I LOVE this tree!

Mike, So far it's my favorite tree. This is my first Winter with citrus so hopefully all goes well. Can't say my other tree is doing as well.

Here is an update on how the blooms are doing.

I see absolutely no purple on any of the flower buds.... Lots of green and white.

Does it look like ponderosa flower buds?

I have 2 more clusters like that... same color and size.

Yes, no color because of lack of direct hot sunlight..That is common for them to be completely white like mines. The leaves are typical and big buds too. Enjoy the fragrance))

The first flower has opened overnight while I slept. I just noticed there's no space for the other flowers.... or a couple of leaves....

Nature will probably do whatever it thinks is best but.... I'm wondering if I should just chop the flowers off.... I have another cluster of blooms coming in where it has much more space for a lemon to grow.
As you can see, if that flower turned into a lemon, there would be no space.... Either the leaves would have to go or the flower/lemon

Dave, let it do it's thing, don't worry about space. Some of the fruitlets will fall off later.

I just harvested my lemon today because my parents were leaving for Portugal. They liked my tree soo much they wanted seeds to grow.... (They have a few lisbon lemons in their front yard already, no maintenance required cause they're only there 3 months a year, The trees pretty much grow themselves lol) Anyways, here are the pictures.

I harvested the lemon a bit under ripe.... It was about 50% light yellow, 25% light green and 25% dark green. Good thing I waited a bit longer hahah... I think it didn't further develop as i'd like due to the temps being constantly 16-17C and an LED grow light of 25W (Equivalent to 80W regular light I believe.)It only weighed slightly over half a kilogram... A little disappointing but again, I don't think it was fully ripe yet. It was also a bit hard to squeeze... but I did get a bit of juice into a glass to taste...I'm going to save the lemon until next weekend to make a pie or to use in my Gins and Tonics... so I wrapped it with plastic wrap and put it in fridge.
When I sliced the lemon in half, it was slightly tough to do so, I did notice a little juice come out as I cut it... Hopefully it's loaded with juice and not seeds hahaha.... I already removed 8 seeds for my parents. It appears to have another 20 seeds inside the lemon. Anyways, the initial taste of the juice was satisfactory. I drank it (About two small gulps)... It wasn't overly sour/bitter... I actually thought it would be more sour... again, maybe because it was slightly under ripe.

This lemon came from a "Cutting" I bought from a random chinese store. The tree is about 18inches tall (+/- 2") I got it in early September already a good size lemon. I've had the tree inside under a light and very rarely upstairs by a sunny window since the beginning of November.

The tree is in bloom right now, hopefully it holds onto a few fruitlets. Two bunches of flowers have opened, one is still medium sized buds. I am going to move the trees into a sunny window this week where it'll constantly get 20-25C temps, same lights if necessary and much more natural sunlight.

Ponderosa lemon is believed to be a lemon hybrid, but whether it's a hybrid with citron, grapefruit or shaddock, I don't believe anyone knows for certain. It would be interesting if a genetic test were done on it.

I'll supply the lemon if you're willing to test it.

Here are some pictures showing the progress. From where I removed the lemon, it grew out a new branch with leaves and flowerbuds

The second picture is of the fruitlets that came from the first flowering and some new buds
And here is another photo of a different angle. It really has been thriving indoors. You can see other new growth on this side of the tree and more mature buds

Dave,

I notice what looks like the stem of your lemon still on the tree. I am not sure about the Ponderosa; but most lemons will last much longer, if you cut it from the tree with a small piece of stem instead of pulling it from the tree. With oranges, grapefruits, pomelos it doesn't seem to matter. I can tell you that with Meyer lemons, if you pull it off, it won't last 2 weeks; but if you cut it, it can last up to 2 months.

That's good to know... I think it looks ugly and was going to cut it off.... My lemon was used pretty quickly so I didn't have to worry about preserving it... But it's good to know for future lemons.

Just updating my post and how my ponderosa tree is doing. I just re-potted the tree today. The lemons haven't grown much since last time... It did put out new flowers and now has even more little fruits... and 2 small lemons.

The tree itself is still about 18"... It looks like it's starting to put out new leaves so hopefully it branches out.The tree looks like it's leaning to 1 side... I'm not sure if it's the weight of the small lemons... I tried my best to keep it centered. Hopefully it grows new branches towards the sky because right now, it looks like the existing branches are growing downward... again, might just be the lemons bringing the branches down.