How To Grow BUSHELS Of The World's BEST Lemon!

what's going on gardeners it's Thursday December 29th and it is a gorgeous late December day here on the Southeastern coast of North Carolina and on today's video I'm going to show you what I think is the greatest lemon in the entire world if you want to grow a lemon this is what you have to grow because it's simply the best and I will tell you how to grow it whether you want your own lemon tree growing in ground like I have right here or whether you want to grow a lemon in containers if you're new to the Channel please consider subscribing and hitting the Bell to receive new video notifications and check out our Amazon storefront and spreadshop in the video description for a list of the gardening products I use and awesome custom designed apparel and other gear your support is greatly appreciated and that lemon tree is none other than the amazing Meyer lemon the Meyer lemon was introduced to the United States in the year 1908 by an agricultural Explorer named Frank Meyer who discovered the plant on a trip to China the Meyer lemon is believed to be a cross between a true lemon and a Satsuma the Satsuma lineage is why the Meyer lemon is so much juicier sweeter and more cold hardy than most true lemons this Crossing with the Satsuma means that the Meyer lemon is a hybrid and not a true lemon because of this none of the seeds that you grow will be true to type there was only ever one Meyer lemon tree ever grown from a seed and that was that one seedling discovered by Frank Meyer out in the wild every single Meyer lemon tree ever grown since is essentially a clone of that one tree if you want to grow a Meyer lemon tree you must either get a grafted tree or grow a tree from a rooted cutting taken from another Meyer lemon tree back in the 1940s widespread Meyer lemon plantings were found to be infected by two deadly viruses Citrus tristezovirus and citrus tatter Leaf virus to correct this the University of California Riverside underwent a tissue culture program which resulted in a new virus free strain of the Meyer lemon this new variety he was called the improved Meyer lemon and it was released to the public in 1975. all Meyer lemons widely sold in the United States today are improved Meyer lemon so you don't need to specifically search for an improved Meyer lemon if you live in the United States if you're buying a Meyer lemon tree from a reputable Nursery it is going to be an improved Meyer lemon now that being said if you know of an old estate with a really old Meyer lemon tree on their property somewhere planted in the 1970s or earlier which I guess is technically possible maybe skip taking cuttings from that tree since it could technically be one of the old strains although it's very unlikely since the lifespan of most citrus trees is only about 50 years citrus can be a challenge for backyard gardeners because most Citrus varieties can grow to be 30 feet tall or more if grown from seed or if grafted on full-size rootstock for this reason it is strongly advised that most backyard gardeners only grow Citrus grafted onto dwarf fruits stocks such as trifoliate root stocks like flying dragon Meyer lemons however are perfect for the backyard Gardener because they are naturally dwarfing plants if you're growing a Meyer lemon from a rooted cutting like I am this is not a grafted tree right here it will only grow to be a maximum height of about six to ten feet and can be easily maintained as a small Bush just like this through annual pruning this allows me to easily cover it on especially chilly nights like we just had over the past week and if you're growing it in zone 8 like I am where this tree could potentially be killed down to the ground in a very hard winter that means it will grow back true to type from The Roots this is a big Advantage speaking of cold temperatures the Meyer lemon is one of the more cold hardy varieties of citrus you can grow that mimic a lemon it's cold hardy to somewhere around the 16 to 18 degree Fahrenheit range once mature although some tip burn to new foliage and freeze damage to the fruits themselves can take place under 25 degrees Fahrenheit height however that's true for all citrus for the most part most true lemons are very Frost sensitive and while there are some lemon-like Citrus varieties out there that are more cold tolerant none are as high quality as the Meyer lemon in fact despite not being a true lemon the Meyer lemon is probably the best lemon in the world at least in my opinion no lemon I'm aware of has more juice and better flavor and the aroma is just breathtaking so if you're looking to grow some of the most high quality cold tolerant Citrus possible and you need a lemon with some cold tolerance this is the Lemon to grow now I want to show you the Harvest and take you in for a bit of a taste test what's amazing about this Meyer lemon right here is that I planted it as a tiny rooted cutting only two seasons ago so this is on its second full season in ground it's a three-year tree overall if you count the amount of time it's spent after rooting as a cutting and you just have to see the ludicrous yields that are on this tree you can see see there are lemons everywhere as far as the eye can see look at that production right there on only its second year in ground and again this is a rooted cutting not a grafted tree as long as it is rooted from a mature Scion that is in the prime of its fruiting you will have incredible production just like this and we just got done a massive cold snap where we got down to 16 degrees Fahrenheit and also two nights at 18 degrees and this tree just sailed through it with nothing more than a plant jacket on it and some incandescent lights and this water barrel for warmth so absolutely breathtaking the amount of production on this this baby of a Meyer lemon just look at that fruit set they are literally everywhere back there now I want to show you a direct comparison between a Meyer lemon and one of the grocery store lemons that you'll typically buy which are true lemons when you go shopping at a grocery store or most of the lemons they sell are either Lisbon lemons or Eureka lemons and this is just a sun-kissed lemon that I bought at the regular grocery store that's the nicest lemon I could find in the grocery store and then right next to it is the Meyer lemon that I just picked off of my Maya lemon tree and when you put them next to each other there's no comparison the Meyer lemon is so much larger and it feels completely differently the lemon has a very pithy and thick skin whereas the Meyer lemon has a very thin skin and that's why you rarely see Meyer lemons in the grocery store the skin is very thin it's it's almost like kind of like more like an orange and because they have such thin skin they don't ship well so I'm going to cut these open and show you a direct comparison so we'll start with this lemon right here so this is actually a really nice lemon it's almost seedless it looks to be pretty seedless so that is a gorgeous lemon right there from a grocery store has a really really nice scent to it as well so here is the Meyer lemon right next to it oh and the juice is just out of control how much it is dripping everywhere and just check that out you can see the Meyer lemon has a bit of a darker Hue to it there are a few seeds in it but because it's crossed with a Satsuma it is so incredibly juicy and now you can see a side by side between the two lemons this is the Meyer lemon and it's just not really a comparison as to how much larger the Meyer lemon is now we're going to compare the juice and I want to show you just how much more juice there is in a Meyer lemon than in the grocery store type lemons and again this is pretty much the nicest grocery store lemon you'll ever see so let's squeeze as much juice out of that as we possibly can and I'm squeezing pretty hard here because I want to be able to have a fair comparison and get every drop I can now we will do the mire and look the mire the Meyer lemon is so large it barely even it doesn't really even fit in my lemon juicer so I actually will have to get this started and then once it's compressed start all over again so that actually takes two squeezes because they're so much larger and right here you can see a direct comparison of the juices of the two lemons you have the grocery store lemon right here and you have the Meyer lemon right here and the Meyer lemon despite the fact that I probably picked the juiciest grocery store lemon in history the Meyer lemon still has twice as much juice and it's also a completely different color it's a bit more of a dark orange thanks to the Satsuma lineage so it just looks absolutely gorgeous by comparison last but not least we're going to do a direct taste test comparison of the juices and I want to give you a true honest opinion Here No Holds Barred I don't lie on this channel I want to let you know what I really think I'm not really looking forward to trying this but hey we're going to give it a shot and I'm going to give you my true opinion it tastes like a lemon very strong true lemon flavor it gives you that sticky acid feeling coating on your teeth like you really want to brush your teeth because you can feel it eating the enamel off um but overall it's a it's a very good very tart very strong lemon now we're going to give the Meyer lemon a sip which is a good bit of a different color and it's also more fragrant too it has a very different smell it's a totally different totally different feel as you can see I'm not really puckering on this I mean it's still tart it tastes like a lemon but it's much sweeter it is much lower acid it doesn't make you curl up your curl up your nose and it also doesn't leave that sticky film on your teeth like it feels like the citric acid is just eating your enamel off and no matter how hard I try I can't hold back the Pucker but the mire the mire is is very refreshing they both have a very similar distinct flavor but this is kind of like if you were to take a shot of bottom shelf vodka whereas this is more it's just more smooth it doesn't have that that bitterness to it so this is why the Meyer lemon is so good you can use it for all things that you can a traditional lemon but it doesn't have that really puckering tart acidic bite to it and because it gets you so much more juice you basically get two lemons for the price of one maybe even three lemons for the price of one and that's what makes this lemon so special and why I think it's the best lemon in the world so I just wanted to take a few minutes and let you know all about the Meyer lemon and why I hold it in such high regard and why I think if you're thinking about growing any type of citrus particularly sour Citrus the Meyer lemon is the way to go they are tough plants they're cold hardy the juice is absolutely delicious and can be used anywhere a lemon can be used they're incredibly prolific and they're just gorgeous plants that are easy to grow and they're naturally dwarfing so they do great in ground and in containers as well so for all of you in Northern climates that can't grow a citrus plant in ground they do very well in containers so you can have your own fresh Citrus all winter long and into the spring if you're curious where I buy all of my grafted Citrus all of my grafted citrus trees are from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie farms in Scranton South Carolina and I highly recommend him if you want a grafted citrus tree as for my Meyer lemon I actually got that as a rooted cutting from a company called bright leaf because they were selling rooted cuttings at a great price so maybe check them out as well if you want to get yourself a rooted cutting and not a crafted tree so everybody I sure hope you found this video helpful if you did please make sure to hit that like button subscribe to the channel and please ring that notification Bell so you're notified when we release more videos like these if you're curious about all the things I use in real life in my garden all the products are linked Down Below in my Amazon storefront link down in the video description so expand that video description and click that link to see everything I use in real life and while you're there check out my spreadshop for custom merch if you want to support the channel thank you all so much for watching and I hope to see all of you again on the next video hey Dale guess what it's the 15th of the month and it's time for you to get your fart worm preventative because the most important thing that we have to do for our pups is to make sure they don't get any fart worms so we have to give them the fart guard and Boyd as Dale need some fart guard yep nothing could be worse than not putting your dog on a heartwarm preventative treatment and Dale loves his heartworm medication he thinks it's a treat oh he loves it so much I've never seen a dog like this that actually loves taking medication he was drooling the other day for his flea and tick preventative Dale that's the only one you get for a month sorry okay buddy you're not gonna get one for another month okay all right but guess what now it's breakfast time somebody's hungry

Channel: The Millennial Gardener

Views: 66,780

Keywords: growing lemons, growing meyer lemons, growing citrus, grow lemon trees, meyer lemon, lemon tree, lemon trees, best lemon, lemon, lemons, how to grow citrus, citrus trees, citrus, garden, gardening, raised bed, vegetable garden, fruit tree, fruit trees, organic gardening, gardening tips, garden tips, gardening tips and tricks, gardening hacks, garden hacks, food forest, edible landscaping, growing, plants, vegetables, how to, diy, millennial gardener, the millennial gardener

Id: YvBQ1g0VvNQ

Length: 13min 10sec (790 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 09 2023