Well, it's the same plant as a non-variegated one, it will just grow less vigorously since it has areas lacking chlorophyll. So I would think you'd treat it just the same, but expect less.

I have read that variegated trees are weaker and less vigorous, and wondered if there were special methods of growing to compensate for that.

Well, I mean you could treat it better than your other trees, but wouldn't that make them jealous? I mean why would you treat the non-variegated trees worse? :)

Nothing is going to compensate for being the blonde headed stepchild of the family, but it's still a citrus tree. Treat it like one, I mean you could throw nitrogen fertilizer at it, and make it grow faster, but it'd be weaker and probably wouldn't fruit on that diet.

Depending on where you live, you may have to give it a bit more shade. For example, I would think the white parts of the leaves would burn in full sun in Phoenix.

Actually Dave, I wonder about that...because white is reflective of all colors, it wouldn't seem to make sense that it would be more sensitive to burning, but real life experience trumps theory..so maybe someone will chime in.

The only time I notice burn in variegated foliage is in case of full brutal sun coupled with insufficient moisture. Otherwise, no burn problems.

dbarron, yes, I am going to treat it better than the other trees in my collection. lol. It's the only variegated tree I will have so IT WILL BE SPECIAL for now. At least until I feel comfortable with it. Not all varieties of citrus like to be treated the same. Some prefer shade from the hot afternoon sun. I cannot remember if it's the Meyer or the Eureka lemon so I put both closer to the house and they are doing fantastic. Here in the South, the sun is brutal. Even I hate living here. lol.

Oh, I live in the South too and my Meyers told me it would prefer some midday shade, so I gave it some. It's happier, I like to think.

I like living here, I can garden (or at least putter outside) all year. The only problems is huddling in midday in the AC.

In order for a variegated plant to maintain the same level of vitality as its all green counterparts, it would need more light. The problem lies in how much chlorophyll the variegated parts contain relative to the all green plants of the same species. Chlorophyll is sometimes referred to as nature's sunscreen for plants; and, since the lighter parts of the variegation have much less to nearly no chlorophyll, the lighter parts are considerably more susceptible to photo-oxidation (commonly - 'sunburn'). So your variegated plant is destined to exhibit less vigor than the green species plant, this, because it won't tolerate the photo load intensity that is no problem for the all green plants of the same species.

Al

Variegated plants would need more light to compensate for the lack of chlorophyll. However they cannot tolerate intense sunlight either - because of lack of chlorophyll. Sort of a conundrum. A screen to reduce the light intensity should be helpful and longer periods in reduced lights should be helpful.

Yikes. Looks like Al already addressed that with better explanation. May be we were writing at the same time.

A bit off topic. One of my in-ground rose of sharon produced a variegated branch. Shows signs of distress since it gets quite a bit of Sun. I air layered it and I hope it succeeds in rooting so that I can move it to a shaded location.

My variegated lemons and calamondin get enough water but the yellow parts of the leaves consistently get sunburned under my T5HO lights. It's too intense. So made a sunscreen out of black tulle (two layers) a week ago and moved them so that they don't get the direct light. I don't think it's going to be enough- may have to move them further from the light. I have too many plants to attend to and travel too much to count on being able to move them consistently so this will have to do. And I'll just adjust their light as needed.

Symptoms of plants' negative reactions to a number of cultural conditions our variegated plants dislike are first made manifest in areas of the leaves that are devoid or nearly devoid of pigments. Over/under-watering, most toxicities, plasmolysis (fertilizer burn), pH issues, root congestion, ........ usually show up in pale areas of foliage first.

Al

You know, I would love to see or know of anyone on this forum who grows in ground variegated trees in all day hot sun? Anyone? How do they fare in intense sun?

Even here I think grows in very HOT sun all day. Evan, where are you???

Please post a picture of your tree here.

I am thinking based on Al's point made above, potted ones are more sensitive/susceptible to symptoms of discoloring than grounded ones..

Mike

One of my potted VM is under the full sun almost all day and doing just fine.