Squeeze the day

Brighten your space and enjoy fresh, home grown citrus with a potted lemon tree grown by you – perfect for any garden or your balcony!

Growing a lemon tree has never been easier. Dwarf varieties, specially bred for pots, produce full-size fruit and flourish with just sunlight, water, food and minimal care. A potted lemon tree brings fresh citrus right to your doorstep, rewarding you with a plentiful harvest season after season.

How to pot a lemon tree

1. Gather your supplies

• Lemon tree (we chose Dwarf Meyer from Engall’s Nursery)

• 500mm pot with good-sized drainage hole

• Flyscreen mesh

• Pot feet

• Premium potting mix orcitrus mix

• Seaweed powder

• Watering can

Note: Water the lemon tree the day before planting. This will make it easier to remove from its pot.

2. Here's how

STEP 1. Position pot in a spotwith full sun and set on pot feet to facilitate drainage. Place a piece of flyscreen or shade cloth mesh at the base of the pot to prevent soil from escaping or clogging the hole, while allowing water to flow through freely.

STEP 2. Part-fill the pot with potting mix. Remove the plant from its original pot and loosen the root ball. Position in centre of the new pot, ensuring top of the root ball sits below the rim.







STEP 3. Back fill with potting mix to the level of the root crown, where the roots meet the stem. Gently compress the soil around the roots with your hand.







STEP 4. Dilute the seaweed solution in a watering can and water in well.







 

Growing healthy citrus

1. Choose a healthy lemon tree from your garden centre. Check the roots to make sure they are not crowded, or pot bound.

2. Select the largest pot you can fit in your space. Your container should hold 100 litres or more of potting mix; this will allow good root development. We chose terracotta because it ages gracefully, but there are endless possibilities. Make sure your container has a large or ample drainage holes as citrus trees are susceptible to root rot.

3. Position your pot in full sunshine. Citrus trees need six to eight hours of direct sunlight every day.

4. Citrus are hungry plants, so use a nutrient-rich, premium potting mix or a citrus-specific mix.

5. Watch closely for damaging insects such as citrus leaf miner and bronze orange bugs, which suck the sap and can weaken your tree. Spray your citrus tree every week with OCP's eco-oil as a preventative measure. If you notice any pests, spray with Multicrop's Eco Bug Organic.

6. Nutrients leach out of potted citrus with every watering, leading to deficiencies that affect fruit development and growth. To counter this, feed citrus regularly (we love Neutrog's Gyganic).

As fruit matures it becomes suspecticles to possum, bird and rat attack. Wire mesh bags will deter these pests.

Graham's Tip 

During the first year, remove all fruit to direct energy to new growth helping develop strong branch structures.