Meyer lemon: variety description, cultivation, propagation, diseases

Description of the Meyer lemon variety

Another name for lemon is Chinese. This is one of the smallest plants among lemons. Due to the compact size of the tree, it can be grown indoors.

The maximum height is about 150 cm. The stem, despite its high strength, is quite thin and abundantly branched, it has a dark green color. Meyer lemon leaves are oval-shaped, small, bright green and slightly glossy. There are small denticles along the perimeter of the leaf. The characteristic lemon smell emanating from almost all lemon leaves is completely absent from this plant.

Chinese lemon flowers have a standard appearance for this crop - they are equipped with 5 white petals with a yellow central part. The flowers are collected in panicle-type inflorescences of 10-12 pieces. Meyer lemon blooms several times a year, most abundantly in the spring.

Fruit ripening takes more than six months. The fruits are round in shape and have an orange peel. Their weight is quite large, considering the size of the plant - from 70 to 150 g. In just one fruiting, Meyer lemon produces up to 3 kg of harvest.

A tree of the Meyer lemon variety is shown in the photo:

Pros and cons of Meyer lemon varieties

The positive qualities of Meyer lemon include:

quick adaptation to new conditions of detention;
low temperature tolerance;
excellent decorative qualities;
high taste characteristics of the fruit;
year-round fruiting with a short dormant period;
several harvests a year.

The disadvantages of the variety include:

the need for relatively complex and careful care;
high probability of diseases due to errors in agricultural technology and care;
vulnerability to pests;
low shelf life of fruits and short storage time.

Advantages and disadvantages

Meyer lemon is not afraid of cold temperatures and can grow in almost any climate;
The tree itself has an excellent decorative appearance and can become a decoration in any room;
The fruits are very beautiful and at the same time tasty , which cannot but please gardeners;
Flowering and fruiting last continuously , so with proper care you can harvest several harvests per season.
In addition to all the advantages, the Chinese lemon has disadvantages, such as the need for constant and high-quality care , in the absence of which the tree can quickly get sick and die;
There is also a high risk of various insect pests ;
The fruits are not suitable for long-term storage and transportation over long distances.

How to Grow a Meyer Lemon from a Seed

Meyer lemons are relatively easy to grow from the seed. The sequence of actions will look like this:

First, you need to extract the seeds from the fruit, wash them and dry them in direct sunlight.
The dried seeds are wrapped in gauze, which is placed in a shaded place at room temperature. Every day you need to check the moisture level of the gauze and maintain it.
As the seeds sprout, they are transplanted into the ground. It is recommended to use a mixture used for growing tomato or cucumber seedlings.
Hatched seeds are placed at a depth of no more than 4 cm.
The plants are watered daily. After about 2-3 days, sprouts appear on the surface.
As soon as the lemon reaches a height of 15 cm, it is transplanted into a larger container.
When the stem reaches a thickness of 8 mm, it is necessary to graft the Meyer lemon onto some citrus crop.

Important!
Without grafting, when grown indoors, flowering and fruiting of Meyer lemon can occur from 3 to 5 years of life. A lemon grafted onto another plant begins to bloom the next year, and bears fruit after 2-3 years. The best varieties for grafting Meyer lemon are Pavlovsky, Kursky, Novogruzinsky and varieties close to them.

As soil for planting seeds, you can use a mixture of the following composition:

leaf soil, sand and humus - 1 part each;
turf soil - 2 parts.

The plant is transplanted into “adult” soil having the following composition:

leaf soil, sand, humus and clay - 1 part each;
turf soil - 3 parts.

Landing rules

Usually, ornamental plants are sold already in pots, but in order to create more comfortable conditions for it, it is necessary to replant the lemon, while adhering to certain rules.

The following soil mixture is good for young plants:

one part of leafy soil;
one part sand;
one part of humus;
two parts of turf land.

For older lemons, the composition of the soil changes slightly:

one part of leafy soil;
one part sand;
one part of humus;
one part clay;
three parts of turf land.

A neutral acidity level is preferable. When planting, you need to monitor the position of the root collar; it should be flush with the ground.

The root collar of the Meyer lemon should be level with the ground.

Until the lemon tree has grown to 5 years of age, it must be replanted annually , while updating the soil and increasing the size of the previous pot by 4-5 centimeters. As soon as the plant becomes more mature, transplants are carried out once every three years, completely changing the soil mixture and, if necessary, replacing the pot.

Under no circumstances should you plant a small plant in a large container; in this case, there is a high risk of rotting of the root system.

Caring for Meyer lemon at home

Caring for Meyer lemon is moderately difficult, but the need to adhere to certain rules is important in maintaining a healthy plant. Each plant care operation, be it watering, fertilizing or pruning, must be carried out in strict accordance with certain recommendations given below.

Optimal growing conditions

Despite the fact that lemon can tolerate fairly low temperatures, it does not like sudden changes. Additionally, like all perennial plants, Meyer lemon has a dormant period when the plant rests from its growth phase. This period for Meyer lemons occurs at the end of winter. It is recommended at this time to slightly reduce the temperature in which the lemon is contained.

Thus, in terms of temperature, we can say the following: its range for a plant can vary widely (from + 12 ° C to + 25 ° C in the growth phase, from + 7 ° C to + 1 2 ° C in the resting phase), but with a slow transition from one temperature value to another. Sharp transitions can cause leaves to fall from the plant.

Many gardeners recommend not exposing the plant to unnecessary stress and not changing the temperature of the air around it. In this way, stability can be ensured in the life of the plant and its productivity. The recommended temperature for keeping Meyer lemon is + 20 °C.

As for lighting, everything is simple: the plant requires 12 hours of sunlight per day. The lack of lighting is compensated by LED lamps of white or yellow colors; excess lighting will not harm the lemon.

Watering and fertilizing

It is important to maintain the humidity level in the room where the Chinese lemon is located at 70%. Watering in the warm season should be both root and sprinkling.

Important! Root watering and sprinkling should be carried out in spring, summer and the first half of autumn simultaneously.

Watering in the warm season is carried out twice a day, in the period preceding dormancy - only root watering is used once a day. During dormancy, from the beginning of January to the end of February, irrigation with sprinkling is carried out once every 15 days.

Lemon feeding is carried out regularly. Starting from the second half of March until mid-November, every 15 days the plant is fed with complex mineral fertilizer for ornamental plants.

Twice a year, before flowering and after harvesting, mineral supplements must be applied. Supplements should include most of the following microelements:

boron;
copper;
zinc;
molybdenum;
manganese;
iron.

Trimming

Pruning a plant is purely decorative and has virtually no effect on the fruiting period of the plant (unless, of course, the generative buds are touched). Usually the first trim follows the standard algorithm:

The trunk is shortened to 20 cm, with up to 3 buds left in the upper part.
From these buds the skeletal branches of the plant develop. Of these, the 3 strongest ones are left, and the rest (if they are formed) are shortened to 25 cm.
Shoots of the following orders are made no more than 15 cm long.

After the shoots appear, 4 orders are cut only to the length that is considered necessary. Then, corrective and sanitary pruning is carried out every spring.

Transfer

The plant is transplanted as it grows and into a pot with a diameter 3-5 cm larger than the previous one. The replanting rule is quite simple: the plant is replanted every year for the first 5 years, then every 3 years.

At the same time, the soil mixture is completely changed. It is best to do this by completely dissolving a lump of earth with roots in water.

Why does a lemon need pruning?

In order to create a tree, it is necessary to form a plant from an early age. If growth is not regulated, the plant tends to rise. By multi-level formation of the crown, the conditions are created for obtaining a leafy, compact, dwarf plant.

Annual spring pruning, pinching in summer and light removal of branches during harvesting are necessary to obtain a harvest from indoor lemon in the house. Flower buds form on new shoots, and the laying of the future harvest occurs. On young plants, the number of buds is adjusted manually. An adult tree itself sheds excess color, determining the load.

Even before the first flowering, the bush is formed in several stages:

A young plant of the first year of life with a height of more than 20 cm is trimmed, leaving 6 lower leaves. After some time, several new branches will grow on the sides, one of them will be central.
After waiting until several upper branches grow to 20-25 cm, they are pruned again, like the first central one. Later, after regrowth, branches of the second order are formed.
Third-order branches are formed in the same way. As a rule, after the third pruning, flower buds begin to form.

Meyer lemon propagation

Previously, we discussed the method of propagating Meyer lemon using seeds. In addition to this, there is a method of growing lemons using cuttings.

Propagating Meyer lemon by cuttings not only allows you to obtain a sufficient amount of planting material, but significantly speeds up the process of flowering and fruiting of lemons. To implement this method, you must perform the following steps:

Cut the required number of cuttings from an adult plant. They usually consist of a stem with 4-5 leaves; in rare cases, the number of leaves can be reduced to 3.
Cuttings are disinfected in a solution of potassium permanganate with a concentration of 0.1% during the day.
The container for growing cuttings is prepared as follows: 5 cm of drainage is poured onto the bottom of the pot; then lay the soil mixture (soil for seedlings, or a mixture of sand and peat in equal proportions), not reaching the edge of the pot 3-4 cm; Cover the mixture with 2-3 cm of sand on top.
The cutting is placed in a container and deepened by 2-3 cm.
The plant is watered and covered with a glass jar, plastic bottle, or simply tied the pot with a plastic bag.
The container with cuttings is placed in a warm place with diffused sunlight.
For 15-20 days, regularly moisten the soil around the cuttings.
After this, the process of hardening the rooted cutting begins - every day it is opened 1-2 hours longer than the previous one. At the same time, watering does not stop.

After the hardening process has passed, the plant can be moved to its permanent location.

Meyer Lemon Pests and Diseases

If not properly cared for, Meyer lemon can be susceptible to various diseases, which are visually identified by the following signs:

Lightening leaves are an indicator that the plant is lacking nutrients or sunlight. The problem is solved by moving it to the sun and adjusting the watering regime.
For the same reason, lemon leaves may turn yellow. However, in this case we are not talking about plant nutrition, but about the lack of necessary microelements. It is necessary to feed the plant in a timely manner.
Withering and falling of leaves without changing color is a consequence of irregular and poor watering.

Plant pests include spider mites and scale insects.

Spider mites build shelters from cobwebs on the leaves; when they are discovered, you should immediately wash the plant with plain water from a spray bottle.

A symptom of the appearance of scale insects can be numerous black dots covering the stems and lower parts of the leaves of the plant. The fight against scale insects is carried out using a mixture of 10 ml of kerosene and 20 ml of liquid soap. This solution must be used to treat the affected areas of the plant.