Citrus will generally self abort any fruit it can not support, having said that it has been reported that Meyers is a bit of an exception to that rule and does benefit from fruit thinning after it drops the fruit it can't support. This usually happens before the fruit gets to be golf ball size, with most citrus this occurs in 2 stages a month or two apart.

Potting mix appears quite dry. Is it?

You can take the fruit off if you want the tree to focus On growing. It will drop any fruit it cannot sustain. If it were me, I would remove the fruit and let the tree grow. I know it hurts to do that, but if it is allowed to focus on growing bigger you will have many fruits later on.

Thank you all for your help!

Ike, it had about 19 flowers, but only 7 fruit, so I am not sure if that is a type of thinning. This is my first citrus so it is all new to me. I am much more used to peaches!

Jean, the potting mix is well watered, but I think it appears dry due to the minerals in the water which leave a residue on the soil.

Amanda, it is continuing to grow, but I guess it would be growing more if we removed some or all of the lemons! How long would they take to ripen if I left one or more of the lemons on the tree?

Meyers lemons on my in ground tree take about 8-9 months to go from flowers to ripe fruit. With in ground citrus fruit in my region we typically see flowers in March-April, and a big round fruit self abort thinning in June.

I find it takes 2-3 months for the flowers to open and 2 weeks to set fruit.

Steve

Seven is way too many. Just think about tying 7 golf ball size lemons to the tree. It would totally overload it. Best to take all off, but at most leave one or two. The fruit will stunt it this year but will not cause long term damage. Peaches seem to be able to take a load and still grow. Letting apples fruit the first year can permanently stunt a tree.

I had 2 Meyers in pots, and the one without fruit was more vigorous. With peaches I let the young tree make a few fruits. There is time to grow after it has fruited. With citrus, the fruit stays on all year and is harvested in late summer to middle winter for my area. Not any time for the tree to really focus on growing vegetation.

No amount for my trees is too many if they get the appropiate light and fertilizer. If those needs are not met, the tree will not be able to support that much fruit anyways and just drop what it is not capable of hanging on. I never worry about it.