Welcome, Mr Meyer!

People who know me would tell you that I have a strange habit of naming inanimate objects. My bicycle is named 'Sylvia', our car is called 'Karo'.. the trend extends to plants too. For instance, the jasmine growing on my balcony is nicknamed 'Jazzy'. So it seemed only natural that I christen the latest addition to my balcony garden - my very own dwarf meyer lemon tree. Introducing, Mr Meyer...

I purchased Mr Meyer from Gardens 'r' Us in Kingsford last week. Having unsuccessfully attempted to grow citrus on my balcony in the past, I was a bit worried about trying again, but I had heard great things about the dwarf meyer lemon, particularly the 'lots a lemons' variety I found at Gardens 'r' Us. My balcony is north facing and gets a good amount of sun, but it also gets quite windy at times. I interrogated a horticulturalist before buying the tree, and he assured me that this variety is very hardy indeed! So I decided to give growing citrus another shot :)

I planted him in a terracotta pot with a high quality organic potting mix for fruit and vegetables and he is in a sunny position. Of course, I have been talking to him everyday as well giving him lots of words of encouragement!

I have been hearing a lot about meyer lemons since I got one of my own.. maybe I am just taking more notice now! For instance, Sydney food blogger Not Quite Nigella has just done a post relating to meyer lemons. What a wonderful looking pie :) http://www.notquitenigella.com/2009/08/31/meyer-lemon-meringue-pie/.

Hopefully it will not be long before he is producing lovely juicy lemons for me to use in the kitchen... lemon cupcakes, lemon meringue, homemade lemonade... the list is endless!

If you are successfully growing a dwarf meyer lemon tree I'd love to hear from you! Do you have any tips or tricks? Any dos or don'ts? For example, I've heard you shouldn't feed citrus trees while they're in flower.. is that true?

Love,

Ladybird x