Well Andrew, first off..HAPPY FRIDAY!

I would have to say that I am reminded of this very thing that you brought up every time I see them being sold..
You are right, I know of three people that lost their trees because of bogus info that is until they asked me for help..

What is worst, is that this applies to just about all plants I ever see sold anywhere around me.

I also find that many people working at store in which you want to ask questions about anything, like a pet shop for fish, Best Buy for a T.V, my cable company are all clueless...They give me bad advice, don't know what I am talking about, or sell me a product that does not work..

Is the the new way of America? I am not sure..
But I seem to get better helps from friends that know their stuff, like my smart buddy about electronics and T.V's, and this garden forum about trees..

Why if it were not for this forum and left up to the people that sell citrus around these parts to help me out, I would have killed thousands of trees and given up..

I see what you are saying....

I must admit thought, Four Winds seems to know their stuff, care enough to listen to their successful hobby growers and share that with others on their site. They took some my advice and now help others with it in their care instructions...

Have a great day buddy!

Now will you return to see this, that is why guess since you seem to to not come back to engage these days telling me you have been under the weather..

Hoping you my friend!

Mike:-)

andrew What part of cincinnasti do you live in. I live near the junction of I 74 and I 75. The reasons the trees are so expensive is that we cincinastians are a backward people. Mark twain once said that if citrus trees were ever sold up north it would take 20 years longer before you would see them for sale in cincinnati. I would like to see your garden set up and show off mine. my email is listed with gardenweb.

I grew all mine from seed at a 50 5 death rate in the first year this year.

Steve

This post was edited by poncirusguy on Fri, Sep 27, 13 at 8:55

Hey Steve...

You have a lot of patience to grow from seed...The reason why I don't is because I like immediate gratification with fruits and flowers...

I hear from many sources it can years upon years to get anything realistic except for leaves....Is this true in your case?
Have you had any success in a short time with trees in flowering and or fruiting?

By the way Andrew....I did listen to many people at Aquarium stores to help set up my fish tank and I ended up killing all but one fish because of then so called knowledgable people there..
Had to turn to my buddy and a forum to save the last one and get my tank running the way it is suppose too...lol
I wasted over 55 dollars in fish!

Mike

Well, we sort of see the same thing here in California, Andrew. I walk through many good nurseries, not just box store nurseries, and I see the very lovely Japanese Maple for sale in all it's glorious red-purple glory. I love them. I had one in front of my office window when I lived in Indiana that was spectacular. I have many photos of it, it had the most gorgeous striking structure, and of course the leaf change - oh my gosh, breathtaking. But. The will not grow in the ground here so close to the ocean. They are VERY sensitive to salts in the soil, and their leaves will burn, and the tree will eventually die. Every time I'm at a nursery, and I see someone trying to buy one, I stop them and ask them where they plan on planting that lovely tree. If they say in the ground, I let them know it is going to be the sure demise of the tree, that they will do well in large pot, and will stay beautiful. I wish the nurseries would put a tag on the tree and tell customers that, but no, there they sit, waiting to die in someone's garden.

I also will see fruit trees sold here at big box stores on occasion still that require more chill hours than our coastal S. California climates can provide. So, you'll have a pretty green tree than will never set fruit or set just a handful of fruit.

Interestingly, I'm seeing less and less of this, as I think we have a much more informed customer base due to the Internet, and lists like this one. So, sellers and growers are catching on, and doing a better job of providing better growing directions, and stocking more appropriate plant materials. Contact the grower about the label, Andrew. Tell them they need to improve their directions so that their lovely citrus trees have a chance at surviving container culture. Offer up your instructions. See if they bite :-)

Patty S.

Mike I have found that 3 out of 4 store bought fruit trees die. That comes out to about $100 per fruit tree. My apple tree on m11 rootstock took 14 - 19 years before they fruited and my pear trees took 20 years for moonglow 17 years for maxine , but I giant turnble produce in 7 years. Out of 11 fruit trees only 2 produce enough to have made their purchase worthwhile. The rest were a waste of time and money. However my seed grown trees are doing very well. They grow very fast and will be very strong trees when they produce and I have many of them so the the best trees will win.

I have also come to the conclusion that I will never break even on my investment with the fresh fruit they produce. Might as well go to my fresh fruit orchard man. He does a great job.

The 1 nagami kumquat and 4 sweetlee tangerine trees are less than 9 months old The meiwa kumquat is about 1.5 years old. It will be a while before they will be big enough that I would even let them go beyong just flowers.

The link below sends you to a video of my out of hand type citrus/fortunella trees

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: https://plus.google.com/photos/111099372377958308731/albums/5869826671114565057/5923300816998549858?banner=pwa&pid=5923300816998549858&oid=111099372377958308731

Here is the advice I give to all recipients of my gift Meyer trees.

Congratulations, you are now the owner of one of my babies... a Mayan Meyer Lemon tree for you. Welcome to the family. The Meyer is truly the world’s finest lemon.

Please keep my email in case you have any questions or problems with the tree. If you email me your question/problem along with a photo of the tree, I can usually tell you what is the solution.

Some basic information:

1. Your tree has been in full sun; and should be planted in full sun, or mostly full sun. Meyers are sensitive to significant light changes which can cause your tree to drop leaves. If you are not going to plant it in full sun, let me know and I will tell you what to do to avoid the problem.

2. Your tree is grafted onto Macrophylla rootstock (the white painted portion of the trunk); any rebrotes that arise from that area should be taken off, as they are not Meyer.

3. Plant the tree at the same depth as it is planted now, being careful not to break the rootball; do not fertilize it for 2 weeks; only put water when you plant it; and once per week after that in the dry season. The absence of fertility will encourage the roots to grow in search of food and water. After the roots grow, leaves and shoots will grow; and they need food. Since you have only one tree I would suggest you fertilize with Vigoro Citrus and Avocado fertilizer, which you can usually find at NOVEX; it is an excellent product, although a bit too pricey for our field trees.

4. Your tree has been treated with Bayer Leverage (Imidacloprid) insecticide; and Bayer Silvacur (fungicide); both are topically active and systemically active. We recommend application of these two products twice per year; at the beginning of the rainy season and the beginning of October; they are tank mixable and are rainfast in one hour, or as soon as dried.

Enjoy your tree.

Should you find yourself becoming a Meyer addict, here is a link to a citrus forum where you will find lots of folks with similar addictions; and a few experts who will answer all your questions or solve your problems.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/citrus/

Remember… If life gives you lemons, pray they are Meyers.

John A Merrifield
President and Founder
Mayan Meyer Lemons

Hi Steve. I live in western NY, and I have to say, I did pretty darn good with buy in all my citrus trees this year at a great price BUT, I waited for end of season clearance sales. If I lived closer to you I would love to show off my trees! I am very proud of them, as I am sure you are very proud of your trees!

Hi Patty! Thanks for your input. I always appreciate hearing from you. I do see what you mean in regards to this being an issue just about everywhere. In south Florida you can buy all kinds of rare, hard to find tropical fruit trees, but it does not mean that they will grow, and fruit for you!

I may just take you up on your advice and contact the growers, and let them know that they need to change there care tags, so there nice trees have a better chance of surviving, AND most importantly, the customers that but there trees are happy! Why just sit here and whine about it? My parents raised me to do something about the situation if I didn't like it!

Hi Mike! Sorry you had your issues with dealing with salesman that couldn't help you with what you needed. At one point in my life, I was very into the whole fish tank hobby, and I have to say, I did pretty well with it, and we still do have some excellent pet shops locally that do give out good advice!

I also agree with what your saying about Four Winds. They are great to deal with. When I see people complaining about there prices, I try and remind them that you are getting what you paid for. Once you have bought and received a Four Winds citrus tree, you can clearly see the HUGE difference in there quality. I cannot think of ANY mail order grower that offers higher quality trees than Four Winds BUT, they are not a local grower. They are in the citrus belt and I expect growers in those areas to have more knowledge and tips for growing citrus, but like Patty said, you still see sellers in those areas that don't know what they are doing.

Hi John. I also appreciate your response, but most of all, thank you for verifying that you provide the correct info for growing your Mayan Meyer lemon trees!

I really do appreciate all of you taking the time to check out my post, and for understanding just why I get so angry with some(not all), of these darn local nurseries and garden centers, but in my experience this summer, it seems like the damn growers are also a big reason as to why the customers fail at growing citrus trees.

My hope is that some day citrus trees will be more readily available and common in the north east, and more importantly, the customer will feel more confident in growing them.

For this to be realistic though, the nursery or garden center is going to have to also carry the products that ensure the proper health of the tree. I wish that the Miracle Grow company would re evaluate there Citrus and cactus mix. It is
NOT good for anyone to plant citrus trees into that soil unless you add stuff to it to make it more porous and free draining! They also need to carry fertilizers that are good for the trees, and more importantly, when they do have a good fertilizer, they need to keep producing it, and NOT DISCONTINUING IT....right PATTY!

Thanks again everyone for listening to me complain about this stuff! Maybe things will slowly change, and improve! We can only hope right!

Andrew

Hi Steve. I live in western NY, and I have to say, I did pretty darn good with buy in all my citrus trees this year at a great price BUT, I waited for end of season clearance sales. If I lived closer to you I would love to show off my trees! I am very proud of them, as I am sure you are very proud of your trees!

Hi Patty! Thanks for your input. I always appreciate hearing from you. I do see what you mean in regards to this being an issue just about everywhere. In south Florida you can buy all kinds of rare, hard to find tropical fruit trees, but it does not mean that they will grow, and fruit for you!

I may just take you up on your advice and contact the growers, and let them know that they need to change there care tags, so there nice trees have a better chance of surviving, AND most importantly, the customers that but there trees are happy! Why just sit here and whine about it? My parents raised me to do something about the situation if I didn't like it!

Hi Mike! Sorry you had your issues with dealing with salesman that couldn't help you with what you needed. At one point in my life, I was very into the whole fish tank hobby, and I have to say, I did pretty well with it, and we still do have some excellent pet shops locally that do give out good advice!

I also agree with what your saying about Four Winds. They are great to deal with. When I see people complaining about there prices, I try and remind them that you are getting what you paid for. Once you have bought and received a Four Winds citrus tree, you can clearly see the HUGE difference in there quality. I cannot think of ANY mail order grower that offers higher quality trees than Four Winds BUT, they are not a local grower. They are in the citrus belt and I expect growers in those areas to have more knowledge and tips for growing citrus, but like Patty said, you still see sellers in those areas that don't know what they are doing.

Hi John. I also appreciate your response, but most of all, thank you for verifying that you provide the correct info for growing your Mayan Meyer lemon trees!

I really do appreciate all of you taking the time to check out my post, and for understanding just why I get so angry with some(not all), of these darn local nurseries and garden centers, but in my experience this summer, it seems like the damn growers are also a big reason as to why the customers fail at growing citrus trees.

My hope is that some day citrus trees will be more readily available and common in the north east, and more importantly, the customer will feel more confident in growing them.

For this to be realistic though, the nursery or garden center is going to have to also carry the products that ensure the proper health of the tree. I wish that the Miracle Grow company would re evaluate there Citrus and cactus mix. It is
NOT good for anyone to plant citrus trees into that soil unless you add stuff to it to make it more porous and free draining! They also need to carry fertilizers that are good for the trees, and more importantly, when they do have a good fertilizer, they need to keep producing it, and NOT DISCONTINUING IT....right PATTY!

Thanks again everyone for listening to me complain about this stuff! Maybe things will slowly change, and improve! We can only hope right!

Andrew

Andrew,
I was at the well-known local nursery last week where I purchased my Meyer Lemon in the spring. I'm so excited about having lemons that I thought I'd see what else they had. Well, me being the sucker for the down-trodden ....... they had a cute little Key Lime in blossom that I fell for. But it was in a broken pot, split down the side. Half the dirt was gone, with bare roots exposed at the top. I figured what the heck - even me being a newbie could do better than that. So I bought it (full price: $25), brought it home, repotted it in gritty mix and have all you folks if I run into trouble. I just immediately cut the the tags off and trashed them.
Becky

Good for you Becky! Did you buy your citrus at a Lowes, or a Home Depot? I purchased 3 citrus from them this summer when they had them on clearance. Same reasoning you had for buying your key lime! I saw that many were in rough shape. Some of them just had aesthetic issues...broken branches, cracked pot...etc. Most of them all suffered from horrible care. I spent quite a bit of time pouring over each individual pot, and even with that, when I got to the cash register, I found scale on my Bearss lime tree! I just isolated it and sprayed it with F.E. until the mites were gone. The infested leaf I actually removed.

Good luck with your trees Becky! I had intended on going back to the other nursery for there B.O.G.O. sale but now I am having second thoughts. Temps are really dropping now and I don't want to end up with 2 new trees that have insect problems. Trying to isolate infested trees when temps are too cold outdoors is very tricky for me. The apartment I live in isn't tiny but it is still small and I have way too many plants to have to find space for, and also only so much light to go around.

I am stoked right now though because I have quite a few citrus trees that are coming into bloom again. I should have an apartment that smells like a citrus orchard here pretty soon:)

Andrew