Meyer lemons are prized as gourmet lemons. Amazingly enough, they are easy to grow as house plants. I have had one for over 4 years now and it has consistently produced lemons–this year it made 20 lemons despite a trunk diameter of no more than 3/4 of an inch!
From November to March it’s inside in front of a sunny window and we enjoy its fragrant blossoms in late winter. On warm early Spring days we move it outside for the day so the honeybees can pollinate the flowers. Tiny green lemons form and grow all summer long and can be harvested in late Fall once fully yellow. During the warm months of the year we have it outside in full sun on the deck. From a permaculture point of view this is an ideal house plant–it serves many desirable functions. We are so enamored with this tree that we eat the lemon rinds too by candying them in just honey (1 Tbsp. honey with chopped rind of 1 lemon simmered with an occasional stir in a shallow pain until rind is soft and has absorbed all the honey–keep in refigerator). If you decide to try your green thumb with a Meyer lemon, be sure to foliar feed it once a week with an organic liquid fertilizer (such asSpray’n grow). Give it a try!
