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Meyer Lemon Trees

Q.Lemon Meyer Pruning Question

Zone 76028 | Lairk94@yahoo.com added on February 4, 2025 | Answered

I got a lemon Meyer improved tree years ago & just threw it in a pot from Home Depot. The only thing I researched was what type of soil to use. We’ve drug this thing in & out for years, it’s been frozen, lost all its leaves, grasshoppers destroyed it etc etc. I’ve tried to help it out when it blooms with qtips but only get small lemons. I started researching & learned about grafting. I’ve read the forums on Home Depot & some say their improved Lemon Meyer tree was from clippings. I asked a guy there with knowledge & he said some lines at the base of limbs can be growth lines but it’s hard to tell bc it’s been years. The bark & leaves look the same. I think the 2nd branch coming from the soil is prob coming from the bottom trunk & maybe taking away from the main tree so why it’s not producing. It looks like there may be 2 big places I should trim but the tree is going to look jacked up if I do. I opted to do the bush style not keep the leaves just at the top. I’ve neglected it for the last year so don’t judge but what would u do? I have it inside again & it’s blooming before I was able to prune it and now loosing leaves again.

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BushDoctor
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
Answered on February 4, 2025

The two most bottom branches need to come off! Those have been taking nutrients from the Meyer lemon for quite some time, it looks like. After this, find out what your nutrient levels look like, and correct anything out of place. They need a high nitrogen food, but if that doesn't have enough potassium and phosphorus, then your fruit will be very small or have a thick rind. I believe that after pruning those bottom branches the tree will start to produce better.

For the pruning part. Yes, that is going to make the tree funny for a awhile. But once you establish the shape that you want after that, it will start looking better again. Citrus will take a hard prune with no issue. Just make sure that you do any maintenance trimming later, since you will be taking a good bit of the tree already. Now will be the time to do this. You are in window of hard pruning. When it is time for shape pruning, You can shorten the branches, significantly. This will reset the canopy and make the trees structure more dense and short. Do that pruning next year about this time.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/citrus/fertilizing-citrus-trees-best-practices-for-citrus-fertilizing.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/lemons/lemon-tree-pruning.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/citrus

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