Wednesday, July 28, 2010

My Meyer lemon tree saga: part 1

So, despite my best efforts at neglect, a bout with scale, and some occasional munching by earwigs (I found one yesterday resting comfortably inside a curled leaf-as if it had made a little bed for itself) my potted Meyer lemon tree seems to be doing well and is growing three healthy looking lemons.

I really like this guy, but I just don't know where to put it. It doesn't really "go" with my courtyard perennials and trees- so after I re-potted it I stuck it in a sunny spot just off our city sidewalk only to realize it was in a pigeon poop zone. It's still in that general spot but the pigeons seem to have relocated. Will I be washing the lemons with soap before I use them? Yes.

I sprayed the plant with Neem oil this spring and that one spraying seemed to get rid of most of the scale. Not sure what to do about the earwigs-I don't like to spray in high summer because I don't want to burn the leaves. I could spray it and then leave it in the shade until it dries-but I probably won't resort to this unless the bugs start going nuts. I can take a little munching here and there.

In the meantime, grow little lemons, grow.

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