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nafex - [NAFEX] meyers lemon (was figs)

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  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] meyers lemon (was figs)
  • Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2010 14:04:52 -0500


On Dec 11, 2010, at 11:15 AM, Alan Haigh wrote:

> . . . I hope someone will do some more experiments to sort this out-
> meanwhile I'm OK with putting my trees in the well house. Digging them up
> cuts enough roots to help dwarf them and it's actually quicker than putting
> up a fence ring and filling with leaves.

I live in zone 6, and have a Meyers lemon that I put out every summer, and
treat as a houseplant during the winter. It often loses its leaves when I
move it in and out, especially in. I think it's partly from the shock of
having its roots trimmed (not on purpose, but you can't pot a ground-dwelling
plant without trimming some roots) and partly from the change in temperature
and humidity.

I tried something new this year. I dug it up and put it in its pot. Then I
watered it VERY well, and let it sit outdoors another day or two, to
acclimatize itself to being potted, and to fully hydrate itself. This seems
to have worked. It didn't shed any leaves this year, neither the old tired
leaves nor the tender new growth it had just been hardening off when I potted
it up.

By the way, people sometimes as why I don't just leave it in the pot over the
summer, outdoors. The
answer is that I cannot water it reliably enough to keep it alive in a pot in
the sun. But it doesn't really need all that much water, so it does fine
planted in the ground. Even during droughts, I rarely water it.

happy soltice,
Ginda
eastern MA, zone 6



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