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  • From: <tloallergyfree@earthlink.net>
  • To: "gardenwriters-on-gardening" <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [gwl-g] Lemon tree, not very pretty
  • Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2004 23:13:31 -0700

Duane,

I could be wrong but I think your lemon tree is suffering from old age.
Lemons don't normally live especially long, and 30 years in a 20 inch
pot...well, my best guess is you've done very well to keep it alive this
long. I'd take a few cuttings...citrus isn't all that hard to root and most
of them will grow okay on their own root.
Personally I'd advise against hard pruning it....you'd lose all those good
top leaves....and it possibly could just kill it outright. Might make sense
though to try putting it in a slightly larger container, with some fresh
potting soil.

Tom Ogren....in California

----- Original Message -----
From: "Duane Campbell" <dcamp911@juno.com>
To: <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2004 6:29 PM
Subject: [gwl-g] Lemon tree, not very pretty


> I'm supposed to know something about container gardening, but living in
> northern Pennsylvania, I'm just a tad weak on citrus.
>
> I have a variegated lemon tree 25 - 30 years old, about four feet high
> from the soil line, growing in a 20 inch terra cotta pot. For years it
> was full and beautiful, producing many lemons that were indescribably
> delicious. The last two, maybe three years though it has been very
> reluctant to put out new leaves except at the very top. I've cut back
> some of the old wood lower down, to see if it prompted leaves, with no
> luck.
>
> I think I'm taking care of it pretty well. It goes outside in full sun in
> summer, gets top dressed annually with compost, watered regularly (which
> is at least daily, sometimes twice daily in summer), fed weekly with
> 15-30-15 to compensate for the frequent watering. This spring I switched
> over to a higher nitrogen fertilizer. Still no new lower leaves.
>
> I'm thinking of giving it a severe pruning, maybe by half, root pruning
> it, and repotting. But I've never done this with a large citrus and don't
> know how it will react.
>
> Does anyone have more tropical experience than I do? Or, maybe, does
> anyone know Tovah Martin's email address?
>
> D
>
> I am Duane Campbell and I approve this message
>
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