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jakkom

July 2012 Meyer photos INCLUDING trunks

jakkom
11 years ago

I'll post this separately as it's replying to two separate threads: meyermike's "June pics. please share some of your trees, sm. or lg. with us" and DandyLioness' "Caring for IN GROUND Citrus".

On DL's thread, there was some spirited discussion on how deep/shallow to plant citrus. I was asked to show or measure the trunks of my three Meyers, because one of them is an exceedingly rare natural shrub that grew from a seed from a neigbor's discarded fruit. The fertility of Meyers must be extremely poor: in five years dozens of Meyers fell to the ground and rotted (she never picks them!), and this was the single plant that ever sprouted.

Starting off with 5 gallons of Meyers I just picked. I had already taken out a couple of dozen to juice before I remembered to take a photo!

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Front yard purchased 2002 Meyer, full sun, pruned 2 mo. ago. Angle is deceptive because I'm on the stairs looking down at it. If I stood right next to it, you'd realize it's 6' tall (I'm 5'6"):

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Trunk of this Meyer, planted from a 3 gall container:

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For comparison, here's what this Meyer looked like when first planted:

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Now the backyard Meyer, purchased one year later 2003, severely pruned back 7-8 mo. ago. Morning sun, bright shade after that:

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Same tree, but the other side of it. I'm standing above it on my back stairs:

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The trunk of this 2003 Meyer (this is the side that was pruned back):

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Biggest/oldest/from seed Meyer: sprouted 1995. Clay soil, severe slope, never watered in summer (lives on runoff from above). Shrub form (ungrafted) and so big I can't get a good angle on it. Approx. 10' deep, 8' across, 7' high - gets 2 hrs direct sun and after that moderate shade only. You might note on the LH side, middle, are very curled, somewhat yellowing leaves. That is my neighbor's navel orange tree, which she refused to move. It's planted on the very edge, about 2' above my Meyer, which is busy encircling it on both sides:

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The trunk of this Meyer. The soil is very slowly sliding downhill, so the level is probably at least four or five inches higher than it was in 1995:

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Our only other citrus is a Bearss Lime. Lovely little tree I almost killed by moving it around three times in five years. I promised it that if it would survive in this spot - it didn't look very good for the first six months - I would never move it again. This year was the first year I got limes from it in over three years, so I guess it believed me! On the upper left, a pink cestrum is leaning on top of it, which I'm going to have to tie up and away from the Bearss. It's suffered enough, LOL:

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Trunk of the Bearss Lime:

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Comments (5)

  • Randy31513
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Zest those lemons before you juice them then freeze. Lots of good things to use zest in.

    Great pictures!

  • meyermike_1micha
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good work and such great pics! I hope you enjoyed them lemons because they look really good!

    Your trees are very nice too! It just goes to show you that citrus trees don't need FULL HOT sun to thrive. In fact, I find that my potted ones prefer partial sun than hot sun. I love your trees.

    Patty, if you are seeing this, I can't wait to see an update on some of your beauties!
    Been sick lately I wish you were around for advice:-)
    Hoping you are having a safe Holiday friend.

    Mike

  • timsf
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi jkom51,

    Thanks so much for posting pictures of your tree trunks - again, lovely looking trees!

    Now I have some idea of what to expect when my in-ground Meyers (hopefully) get to be the same age. Hard to tell, but relative to leaf size, the trunks look to be about 3-4 inches in diameter, is that approx. right? I'm a bit surprised actually since I thought they'd be much thicker at this age. It's also intersting to me that the diameter of your newer/store-bought Meyers (presumably on dwarfing rootstock) look to be about the same thickness as the germinated-from-seed/older one out back.

    A couple other observations: Both (newer) Meyers are on raised beds, so any disadvantage you may have otherwise encountered in planting your trees too deeply (like Phytophthora) are negated by their excellent drainage in being planted higher than your general soil level (I would contend). Also, as I'd thought, your oldest/sprouted Meyer may have had it's root crown exposed higher up initially before erosion had covered it. As you say it is in a site that is quite sloped, excessive moisture around the trunk (and therefore crown rot) is not too much of a concern given no standing water.

    I do have a question about your oldest Meyer surviving our dry summers on purely run-off. Do you mean to say that it derives water from a natural underground spring, or that you water the surrounding area by hand/drip and this eventually works its way to that tree? I ask since my Meyers are also on an extremely steep (about 20 degrees) slope, and I'm wondering if they'll survive on no summer water eventually once they're more established.

    Best,
    Tim

  • johnmerr
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tim, once they get to that size trunk and limbs Meyers will survive without water other than rainfall; because they have enough carbohydrates in the trunk and limbs to carry it.... but survive is ALL they will do; for decent production and fruit size, they need water during the dry period... once every two weeks in most climates and soil types is enough; once every week is better.

  • jakkom
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tim: The seed-grown Meyer is approx. 80' down from the front of the property (which is 145' long). There are three separate garden beds above it. The first two are watered regularly. The third, and the Meyer below it, are never watered.

    All the Meyers are old enough to give fruit several times a year, and happily for me, they pretty much alternate the harvests (probably due to the differing amounts of sun they get). The lemons I picked were from the front yard Meyer. In a few weeks I'll pick from the seed-grown Meyer, and a little while after that, the back yard Meyer.

    Biggest harvest, of course, is always in the late winter/early spring.