can a meyers lemon...

Be a bonsai?

I don't see why not. Hope you like big leaves and big fruit.

Beginners are usually drawn to citrus trees, since they are amenable to pot culture. However, as Russell points out, the leaves don't reduce well, and of course the fruit won't reduce at all. Besides, despite their rustic look, citrus have an awkward growth habit and are very hard to train. You wind up cutting off most of the flowers.
If you really want a citrus-like bonsai, try kumquat or jasmine orange. I've never grown jasmine orange, so I can't comment on it. Kumquat works but is very, very slow. Therefore, starter trees are expensive.
Iris

Hi

I have a kumquat, I always mention to people that it is NOT a bonsai, it's a potted fruit tree that I care for using bonsai techniques.

The biggest problem with citrus is that they are usually grafted, lemon rootstock being the standard locally.

I bought the tree long before I started with bonsai, but once I did the wish was there to turn it into a bonsai.

In all the years I've owned it the trunk hasn't put on much girth, and the location of the graft is such that I will likely never get the correct width/height ratio to make bending down branches to hide the graft worthwhile.

With kumquat the fruit are on scale, but the leaves unfortunately do not reduce. Mine grows like crazy and is very generous with blossoms and fruit, seriously cute when they ripen.

Kevin costner's lemon tree in Waterworld is my main reason for having this tree.
Gin & Tonic with kumquat quarters goes down well!

Cheers
Gerhard

I agree with all who have replied regarding citrus...as Iris wrote, beginners are drawn to them, as was I many years ago....I still have my first tree (see attached)...I can say from experience that this cultivar (Citrus aurantifolia) has been forgiving over the years after all the restyling I have subjected it to.

Regards,
Tom

GerhardGerber wrote:Gin & Tonic with kumquat quarters goes down well!

Yep, gin and vodka are two of the best things that ever happened to a kumquat.

Hi Tom

Is that the graft about 2/3's up?

I was considering something similar with my kumquat the other day, tilt it to get the nebari level and loose one of the two branches that start from the graft and rebuild.
Then I remind myself it's not a bonsai, and never will be....

Russel - for some or other reason even small amounts of vodka explosively leave my body the way it came in!

i have a calamondin that i grow in a pot as a bonsai. i suppose it depends on what size you think a bonsai should be. mine is 90cm from the ground. at that size the leaf size is not a problem and fits in fine. if you want a small tree then look elsewhere.

they are extremely heavy feeders - so they will need heavy fertiliser weekly in sterile soil. im growing mine in biozorb ( generic fired clay stuff ) and i cant get enough food to it.

in my experience over the last 5 years - in the pot it will grow about 40cm a year and add 40% to trunk diameter. where you cut it back you will be spoilt for choice with new shoots.

the fruit are a first class addition to a gin&tonic and the orange blossom fragrance is lovely in the house.

Yeah that's what I figured, I bought one anyway for my wife. Just doing bonsai ish things to it. I love the fragment flowers

One on the right

I have three types of citrus, my favorite is Poncirus trifoliata (Flying Dragon). It's the one that the citrus industry uses to make dwarf citrus trees. My two others are Chinoto Orange and Hong Kong Kumquat. These two I started from seeds last fall and are now only about four inches tall. They're kind of 'back burner' trees, as they're slow growers, so it's good to have something else to do while they come up. My Poncirus is about two feet tall (shorter when trimmed up) after twenty some years.

I have a calamondin orange (Citrus microcarpa) in the ground hoping that it will bulk up some. The fruit is wonderfully small, about an inch across, but the leaves are... meh.

Of course, I haven't done anything "bonsai" to this at all. So the verdict is still out.

Ed

RKatzin wrote: My two others are Chinoto Orange and Hong Kong Kumquat.

Can you tell me any difference between 'Chinotto' (sic) and Hong Kong kumquat?
Iris

Hi Iris, Are you suggesting that there's no difference? I'm new to both, but I think one is a dwarf orange and the other is a kumquat. They are still seedlings, but I can see a distinct difference in the leaves. The chinotto leaves are narrower with pointed tips and the kumquat leaves are more rounded. The seeds themselves were distinctly different also. The chinotto seed looked like any other orange seed (white) and the kumquat was a green rounded seed. I got my seed from a friend in Fla., who has some nice bonsai of both. I really don't understand a question like this from someone of such obvious education, a wellspring of knowledge from what I've been reading on this forum. I respect you very much for that, but I get a sense you're just jerking my chain here, forgive me if I misjudged your intention.

Oh, dear. Misunderstandings abound in cyberspace. I am perfectly aware of the botanical difference between the two. 'Chinotto' is a miniature cultivar of Valencia orange, Citrus aurantia. Hong Kong kumquat is Fortunella hindsii.
I should have been more specific. I wanted to know if there is any difference in their bonsai behavior. The reason I asked is that I have a Hong Kong kumquat, and it is coming along, but SLOW. Molasses in January in Antarctica. I wondered if 'Chinotto' is any easier.
Iris

Well, you got me busting a gut over here, at myself of course, happens quite a bit I wish I could say more on the chinotto, mine are only seedlings started last fall. I can see that they seem to be more robust than the kumquats, all factors equal, the chinottos are sporting leaves from the ground up, you can see they want to be little bushes, while the kumquats only have a few leaves at the top of the stem, indicating, to me anyway, that they will grow more tree-like. Both have the same vibrant green waxy citrus leaf. My Floridian friend has been keeping chinotto for quite some time and showed some nice shohin size trees. I'll see if he would be pleased to post his info on this forum.

Bonsaisr

I live in South Florida zone 10 and grow bonsai trees indoors and outdoors. My bonsai passion is growing fruiting trees. The chinotto orange grows faster for me than the Hong Kong Kumquat. The chinotto orange and the Hong Kong Kumquat seem to be less affected by the citrus leaf minor which is good thing in my area. Unfortunately my meyer lemon and calamondin (Kalamansi) tree really receive a lot of damage from the leaf miner in spite of my use of sprays and systemics. For me, the chinotto orange creates a fatter trunk faster than the Hong Kong Kumquat.

Thanks. I'll have to try one. Mrs. Meehan sells them. http://www.meehansminiatures.com/
Iris