Showing posts with label meyer lemon tree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meyer lemon tree. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

My NEW sunroom garden november 2014

If you saw my last post you noticed that I'm back in action and ready to start growing some new plants. The last time around I had too much going on, some stuff worked and others didn't. Some plants required more maintenance than I thought and others did great.

So I'm taking it back to what really got me started and that is FRUIT!

My first plant I ever grew was a Super Dwarf Cavendish plant, so it made sense to pick one up this go around again. I visited my local nursery who has a lot of great fruit plants and picked out a great new plant. I also picked up a few more plants and I'll be sharing those with you shortly.

Here is a shot of my current sunroom garden as it stands. I repotted all of my new ones to new pots today and the rest seem pretty content where they are.

Please note that none of these are from seed, but plants I specifically ordered a little more mature to give them their best shot. My sunroom can get cold at times with our harsh winters here, and dry as well. You'll see a few random containers there with water in them to hopefully help with the humidity.  We'll see how that goes.

This is my southeast window side of my sunroom. Generally this area sees the most sun, so I set everything up on that side. In the past I had it more on the south side. There are 7 plants there, but one is sort of hidden.

I'm going to start with this plant here which is the Cara Cara Navel orange plant. If you look closely there is a small orange forming. I purchased it like that and hope that I can let it continue to grow. I think I overwatered it initially so the leaves were bending upwards. I've cut back on that a little.
This is a closer look so you can see the fruit there.
This next plant is the variegated kumquat plant. I like that the leaves are green with yellow and white stripes. Because of this they do tend to grow slower, but they look neat. There are several small fruit on there as well. I did try one of the large ones yesterday and it tasted great, but none of these are fully ripe yet. I am told that when they are fully ripe they do turn to the orange yellow color and lose the stripes.

Here is a closer look at one of the larger fruits. Most kumquats don't get larger than a golf ball.
This next plant is the pineapple guava plant. They produce miniature guava looking fruit, slightly elongated with a pineapple type taste. These fruit have a furry skin like a peach and supposed to taste really good, and the fruit is just scooped out much like you can with a kiwi.

This is a closer look. You can see the top two branches are trying to produce new leafs.
This is a cousin of the other plant, only by name though. This one is the lemon guava. This one more closely resembles a mini guava fruit. It has more of a lemony flavor, although I've never had one before. This one is also good for growing in pots indoors, but is not as cold hardy as the pineapple guava. I'm super curious about both of these plants so it made sense to get one of each.

This is the Meyer Lemon tree. I ordered it as a 2 yr old plant so you can see that its quite tall. It is still getting used to my sunroom.

This is my Super Dwarf Cavendish banana plant. It looks super healthy and am excited to see the leaves continue to grow. On my previous plants I always enjoyed seeing new growth. This one is more mature to the ones I had before so I'm very hopeful for it.

This is a closer look so you can see the new leaf that is growing there. I would say another full day of sun will allow it to open up. 
This is my new Celeste Fig tree. It looks very healthy and has a small fig growing on the top. I also noticed a new leaf trying to develop and possibly two more figs that should come out soon. This is a hardy variety so I'm hoping that it will like its new spot. Fig trees are known for going dormant in the winter if they get too cold. They will drop their leaves and fruit and just nap basically. There is nothing wrong with that of course as they rest and come back vigorous in the Spring. For me, I want to be able to enjoy the nice foliage and plant all winter so I'm hoping that likes where it is.

There was another spot on this small tree that I saw possibly where more fruit will form. Figs grow in the armpit area of new branches. They do not grow from a flower per say.

This is another branch attempting to grow a new leaf.


 So that is just a quick look at my sunroom garden near the middle of November 2014. I'll update periodically and also will share some videos as my plants continue to grow.

Thanks!


Saturday, November 15, 2014

Restarting my garden for 2015

I feel terrible letting this site sit there for over a year. My photography business really started to pick up and a few other things and although I did keep my garden alive I soon found that I had become over run with plants. In 2013 I did grow a few small plants like tomatoes, lots of peppers and more. Come 2014 I really cut back and only had a few plants, and ended up purchasing two apple trees for the outside of my house so I could harvest them yearly.

I admit that I stepped back from gardening for a while and am now starting from 0 (unfortunately I let some of my plants go). And, I feel terrible about it.

The one positive I learned from all this is that by being an over eager gardener I now know what I DO want to grow and not get overwhelmed. It can happen to the best of us. We get excited about trying this variety and that one and soon you have way more than you can handle.

Some plants require more attention than others and often times during different seasons. I've decided to stick to my original idea of growing fruits and in containers. I have three citrus plants now and a lemon guava plant as well. And, I'm looking to add a couple more to my sunroom garden.

I'm in Massachusetts and the cold is here. So I'm making sure to be very selective on what I grow that will provide food that I can eat and will enjoy instead of just to 'see how it goes'.

I will try to post updates here on a weekly basis and will try to post a video once a month if not more to update you on the different plants I have growing. Also, I'm open to any tips you might have on what you see me growing as well as any questions that you might have.

If you have been following me, I apologize for being away for so long.

Time to continue my sunroom garden!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Garden 2013, work in progress....

I wanted to share a few photos of my garden for 2013. You will recognize my banana plant and my lemon tree. They survived the winter!!

Meyer Lemon Tree

Meyer Lemon Tree

Meyer Lemon Tree

Meyer Lemon Tree

Dwarf Cavendish

Garden beans - first year trying these!

Cherry tomato hybrid

Friday, April 5, 2013

Its finally Spring 2013!

Hi everyone.
Sorry for being away for so long.

This has been a crazy few months. Getting a new job, working a lot more and continuing to grow my photography business.

But, I'm ready to do some gardening for 2013.

Let's go down the list on what I have started this year.

Seeds - Sprouting

Three kinds of leaf lettuce
Garden beans
Cherry tomatoes
Sweet peppers

Growing

Meyer Lemon tree (with one lemon on it!)
Banana plant
Green apple columnar tree
Red apple columnar tree
Aloe vera

I'm hoping to do cayenne peppers and jalapenos as I did last year as they did very well.

Last year I got very carried away, so I'm trying to cut back a little and take better care of some of these plants.

I had a tremendous pepper crop last year and my tomatoes did well as well.  But, my cucumbers didn't do much and my banana plants did ok, but didn't grow as much as I would have liked.

Strawberries - all got white powder mildew
Figs - didn't grow much
Blueberry plant - didn't grow much

I'm going to stay away from berry types this year as there are tons of birds around here.

ALSO, I WILL HAVE A FULL CONTAINER GARDEN THIS YEAR. NO IN GROUND GARDEN. ALL MY CONTAINER PLANTS THRIVED LAST YEAR.

Photo coming up soon!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Now I have several flowers on my Meyer Lemon Tree.

As I posted this morning I found that now I have several flowers on my Meyer Lemon Tree.
I'm not sure how they're doing or if I should be pollinating them or not, but I'm gonna let the tree grow some more. Also, I have at least three more clusters of buds on there that could develop at a later date.

I know that the Improved Meyer Lemon Tree is self pollinating, but it being indoors the likelihood of it having fruit is pretty low. There isn't much of a breeze in my sunroom.

But, its ok. These are my first flowers and the room smells amazing.

Meyer Lemon Flowers

More flowers on my Meyer Lemon Tree.

More flowers on my Meyer Lemon Tree.

I woke up this mornin and found four more flowers opened up on my Meyer Lemon Tree. Last night I knew there were a couple getting ready to open, but I wasn't expecting them to open so soon. As the tree is still quite small I'm not going to hand pollinate these flowers and just let them grow on their own.

There are two more clusters forming as well which should turn into flowers in probably two weeks. I will allow those to grow as well.

In addition to that there are two tiny clusters on the tree as well, so I guess that I will have plenty of flowers on my tree for the next couple months at least.

When I get home later today I will update this post with a few pictures.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

How to care for your Meyer Lemon Tree.

I wanted to do an update on my Meyer Lemon Tree today. Its so nice out and the sun is really brightening up my sunroom.

This is just a start, but I wanted to continue making videos on specific plants/trees.

Enjoy!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

All about growing an Improved Meyer Lemon Tree

All about growing an Improved Meyer Lemon tree.

Info:
The Meyer lemon is originally from Asia and is a cross between a lemon and a tangerine. Initially this variety of Lemon was brought to California and did very well there.  Later on it proved to adapt to the American climate better as it is quite hardier than a traditional lemon tree. You can now find it a favorite for citrus lovers.

Color:
Flowers - White with yellow and are very fragrant
Fruit - Very round yellow with a hint of orange
Leafs - Wide oval, mid to dark green

Flavor:
Very much like a traditional lemon, but sweeter
This is a great variety for lemonade and to use in mixed drinks
The rind can also be used in cooking

Size:
These are about the same size as the traditional lemon, but are a rounder shape
They tend to be around 6 inches long
Sizes may vary with variety of tree (whether dwarf, or semi-dwarf)

Interesting facts:
The Meyer Lemon tree is very special as it not fixed to any particular season. This means that it will bloom and bear fruit year round! The most abundant harvest will be during early winter, but it will bloom in the spring fall and summer. To keep this tree bearing fruit on a year long period it is best to bring it indoors in the colder months as it will continue to develop fruit if grown indoors. Also, these trees are happy to live their whole lives in pots so if you don't have a lot of room you do have that option. Also, although these do require pollinating to grow fruit they can bear fruit indoors on their own. So they are semi-self pollinating.

Preferred pot size:
This tree likes to be a little snug in its pot so don't be in a rush to up-pot it.

Up to a year old - 10 inch pot
1 - 3 years old - 3 gallon container
3 years plus - 10 gallon container

Size:
The Dwarf variety will grow to about 5 feet tall. Has very nice green leafs and white flowers.
You can trim these down in the fall if they get too big.

This is a fantastic tree to grow in your house or sunroom  as it will provide a great aroma, attractive foliage, plenty of fruit and will never get too large for you to manage (with pruning).

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

First Meyer Lemon Tree Flower!

First Meyer Lemon Tree Flower!!

Ok, so as I suspected this morning, my first flower has developed and opened up on my Meyer Lemon Tree!  When I got home I was busy misting all my plants that I didn't even notice. Then I went over to the Meyer Lemon Tree and saw there was a little more white there than usual and bam, I saw the flower.  I then went for my camera to take a few pictures. The flower smells really nice and now all I need is some more of the buds to open up so I can start doing some pollinating.

Here are some pics of my very first Meyer Lemon Flower!

Meyer Lemon Tree Flower

Meyer Lemon Tree Flower

Meyer Lemon Tree Flower

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Quick update of my sunroom garden on a snowy day.

This is a quick update of my sunroom garden on a snowy day.

Ok so we have about three inches of snow on the ground now. No biggie my plants are in my sunroom protected from most of the elements. So I was heading out to Logees, but I think they might be closed today so instead I went to Home Depot. I picked up another spray bottle for my liquid fertilizer, (fish fertilizer), some Cantaloupe seeds, and a water meter.

So I headed home and gave my citrus ONLY some of the fish fertilizer. Tiny amounts, but found that that stuff smells awful. Oh well, the citrus will like it as it is high in nitrogen.

I also noticed that my temple orange plant has just bloomed a flower. I was pumped! Here is a pic.

Temple Orange Flower
I apologize for calling this a small navel orange in the past, but it is a Temple Orange. These flowers are much smaller than the flowers developing on the Meyer Lemon Tree. These oranges are about the size of a mandarin and I can't wait for more flowers to open up soon. More pics to come!

I also saw that my Meyer Lemon tree continued to grow its buds and some new leafs as well.

Meyer Lemon Leafs

Meyer Lemon Buds
These buds are starting to grow very well. You can see some hints of purple on some of these. Also if you look there are several smaller ones behind these as well. There are more buds on the other side of the tree as well. As this plant is quite hardy I'm sure it will continue to grow very well.

Meyer Lemon Leafs
As you can see these new leafs are looking very healthy. Last night they were all scrunched up, but now they are spreading out and you can see a couple smaller leafs in the middle looking to grow as well. I hope the fish fertilizer will help them to grow some more. To think when I first got this tree there was no growth on that branch.

A couple additions to my garden are my little experiments.

I have some Alpine strawberry seeds in a small container and some Cantaloupe as well. Below is a picture of the two containers with the Cantaloupe seeds in them. They say 7-10 days to germinate so we'll see how that works out.

The Alpine strawberry should germinate in about 5 days as I put it in soil about three days ago.

More to follow....

Cantaloupe seeds in dirt.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Quick update of my Meyer Lemon Tree buds

I just wanted to post a quick update of my Meyer Lemon Tree buds.


I happened to have a couple skeptical people on a forum that thought that perhaps I didn't have a Meyer Lemon Tree as their buds/blooms are usually purple.

So, I decided to post a more recent picture and if you look closely the largest bud on the left and the one slightly out of focus in the middle both are starting to get some purple in them.

I know these are closeups, but I'm pretty sure that the largest bud is getting very close to opening up.

I  can't wait to smell the flowers as I hear they are very refreshing.

Here's the picture I took about twenty minutes ago.

Meyer Lemon Tree buds

I really hope that by next weekend this bud decides to open up.  And soon after that I will attempt to help pollinate the flowers. On the other side of the plant I have two other clusters of buds, but they are smaller at this time.

I'll post again in a few days.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Why I pruned my Meyer Lemon Tree.

Why I pruned my Meyer Lemon Tree.


I have been doing a lot of research on youtube and other places about pruning and shaping your trees. It looks like you can train your tree to form in a bush shape or a tree shape. Of course there are other ways of training it, but these are the two most common.

When I got my Meyer Lemon Tree it was very healthy with leafs and they were growing all over the place. After some inspection I found that some of the major branches were growing towards each other and many of the leafs were getting caught up with one another. At the time I didn't mind so much as long as the plant continued to grow, and it did. Soon I started seeing tiny buds growing and some new leafs developing.

Now, almost two months after I got my plant I am really starting to get concerned about the shape of my tree. I had two large branches coming out of the same spot and running parallel with each other. This meant that their little branches and leafs were also getting really congested. I know that these wouldn't grow much more as they were intertwined.

I did some research on Youtube and on other blogs and found that training them or pruning back unwanted branches would help the tree develop better and in an upward manner.

So this morning I took a closer look at my Meyer Lemon Tree and started cutting off a few tiny branches.

I feel like the plant now breathes better, has room to grow and will be able to focus its energy on the large buds that have developed.

Here are a few images.

My Meyer Lemon Tree after pruning.

My Meyer Lemon Tree after pruning
Its interesting, but now that I look at it from this angle that lower branch is too low to the ground. I am hoping to encourage this plant to grow upwards if possible. I will have to look at it again and see if the tree will do better without that very low hanging branch.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Citrus Update 1/14/2012

With the new year I have grown my citrus garden a little bit. On my last post I showed you a video update of most of my plants, but I wanted to follow up on how my citrus plants are doing.

I have also decided to move them around to a sunnier place of my sunroom.

So lets take a look at some picture highlights of my citrus.

Meyer Lemon Tree Buds
 The first few pictures here are of my Meyer Lemon Tree. The buds are continuing to grow and I keep finding tiny ones all over the place. As you can see in this picture there is one large one and a few others following right behind.  I hope that these open up in the next week or so.  As I mentioned earlier in the post I have moved them to a slightly better spot where they should get more sun.

I still have something chewing on the leaves but I'm determined to catch it tonight and get rid of it.
Meyer Lemon Tree Buds

Meyer Lemon Tree Bud
If you look at this picture above you'll see that there are actually three buds there. The big one, a tiny one and another larger one above hiding behind a leaf. This is not the same cluster of buds as the picture below.
Meyer Lemon Buds

Meyer Lemon Leaf Sprouts
 These two pictures here are great as you can see the tree is trying to grow some new leafs and another cluster of buds as well.  I am very happy with the Meyer Lemon Tree. It has grown well, (took about 4 days to settle into new soil and climate), but now is doing rather well. I honestly wish it was in more of a tree form as apposed to a bush form as the leafs get tangled a bit, but its ok.  I'm sure the new growth will start to grow the plant upwards a bit.

Meyer Lemon Tree bud and leaf
Look at this tiny bud. I found it yesterday. I know you can't tell in the picture but this is about an inch off the ground. I'll keep an eye on it and see how it does.
Small Meyer Lemon Bud
 Now we're moving on to my Navel Orange plant. I forget which variety, but this is a smaller Navel than the orange you see at the supermarket. Also, this variety tends to fruit at a much younger age than the traditional Navel. This plant is currently about 12 inches tall and as you can see there are some nice buds forming. Personally I don't think the plant is large or old enough to support a fruit, but it will be nice to see the flowers bloom.
Navel Orange Buds

Navel Orange Buds
Ok, so I snuck in the LEMON guava plant in this update. I know it's not a citrus, but it's close enough.
This plant is almost 19 inches tall and is growing well. I will make sure to put a stick in there to keep it upright as it is starting to get top heavy. There are signs of buds near the top, which I forgot to take pictures of, but I think those are just new leafs. I could be wrong. So for now you can enjoy some leaf shots and mid section shot as well. The plant is very healthy and will support colder weather than the citrus plants. Its fruit is the size of a large grape and they are supposed to taste like lemon/guava but a tad sweeter. The lady at Logee's highly recommended it. So I can't wait to see it grow further.
Lemon Guava Leaf
These are the two buds on the Lemon Guava plant. I'm going to have to keep en eye on them. I'm not sure if these are going to be fruit or new leaves. I'm sure that in a week I'll be able to see some more growth.
Lemon Guava bud

Lemon Guava bud


Lemon Guava Leaf

Lemon Guava plant.
 One shot from above of the navel orange plant. The plant is just starting to show signs of adapting to the new soil and climate.
Navel Orange Buds.
My Nagami Kumquat plant is doing well although I haven't seen much change in it. This one is almost 24 inches tall and has 4 fruit on it. You can see each of them in the following pics. Two have a lot of yellow and the other two still have a lot of green. I have moved this plant to a sunnier spot hoping the sun will help it ripen. I've been told that at this stage they won't fully ripen until early February. That's ok, I can wait. Also this is meant to be eaten whole, skin and all. The skin/rind is supposed to be sweet and the flesh/fruit inside is tart which makes for an interesting flavor. Depending on what stage of ripeness you get it the better it tastes. So it might take some trial and error to know exactly when to pluck it for best flavor. The Kumquat does not ripen once its off the plant so you must pick it when its fully ripe or when it tastes how you want it to.
Nagami Kumquat Fruit

Nagami Kumquat fruit

Nagami Kumquat fruit

Nagami Kumquat fruit
I am really enjoying growing my citrus and plan on maybe getting another plant at Logees today. I have my eye on the Miracle berry as supposedly it makes all things sour taste sweet! But, if I do go I'll be sure to update you guys on what I get or don't get.