To Remove Or Not To Remove Existing Back Yard Lemon Tree?

[edzone9]

Hello Gang;

My House came with a Mature Lemon Tree , trunk about 2 Inches Thick , It Bloomed but the Last NE Cold Snap Killed Off All Blooms.

My Yard Has Limited Space , and i was thinking of removing the lemon tree & Plant a 15 Gal Glen Mango.

Would You Guys Remove The Lemon Tree To Plant a Mango Tree Or Just Let The Lemon Tree Be ?
Also If You Guys would opt for the removal of the tree , what would be the best method Of removing the thick root system from the ground ?

Thanks Ed..

[SWRancher]

Hello Gang;

My House came with a Mature Lemon Tree , trunk about 2 Inches Thick , It Bloomed but the Last NE Cold Snap Killed Off All Blooms.

My Yard Has Limited Space , and i was thinking of removing the lemon tree & Plant a 15 Gal Glen Mango.

Would You Guys Remove The Lemon Tree To Plant a Mango Tree Or Just Let The Lemon Tree Be ?
Also If You Guys would opt for the removal of the tree , what would be the best method Of removing the thick root system from the ground ?

Thanks Ed..

Given the chilly winters at your location...My opinion is leave the lemon in place, enjoy it and also get yourself a container mango that can be easily protected when winter freezes hit. 

[edzone9]

Thank You , ...

[Tropicdude]

I agree, keep the lemon tree.   I am one of those people that believes that if you can only have two fruit trees in your back yard, it should be a lemon/lime and a mango.

[luc]

With the risk of Citrus greening ( HLB - Huang Long Bin ) pending I would get rid of it ( lemons are cheap to buy ) and replace it with some ' No problem " fruit trees .

[edzone9]

Tuff Choice , Ill see how she does next spring , Its in a prime spot for a nice size Mango Tree

[DuncanYoung]

Ed,

I would leave the lemon, probably a Meyers.  Very popular in this area.  I am just north of you and highly recommend that any mangos grown be kept in containers.  I hand truck mine into garage on cold nights. 

[bangkok]

I don't know how many and how cold your nights can be but christmaslights in the tree helps a little bit against frost. Or you can think of another way of heating/covering the tree for only some nights a year.

The choice of a mangotree or a lemontree is a nobrainer for me . I would make an indian tent (wigwam tent) from bubble-foil that you can put over the tree in 2 minutes. That foil let light through as well so you can even leave it over the tree for a cold period. If that';s not enough i would add some heating-wire over the tree or another small heater.

[edzone9]

I will keep the Lemon Tree , And put the Mangos In a Green House , ..
Thanks all , dont feel right taking down a fruit producing tree .
It was neglected for 4 years , i bought the house , trimmed & pruned it .. gave it some food & it bloomed !

But the Cold Snap Killed all the blooms , had many many flowers!
I thought for sure we was going to have a surplus of lemons !..

Ed.

[BluePalm]

I'd cut down the lemon tree and put in a small mango (Julie, Pickering...something that you can cover easily if it gets cold). Then maybe put in a good cold tolerant longan (Christmas might be a good variety). You might also grow an Emperor lychee in a big pot so you can move it around as needed. I wouldn't worry about digging out the roots of the lemon tree; I'd cut it down at ground level and then put weedkiller (undiluted) on the stump.

[Mark in Texas]

What do you like more, fresh lemons or mangos? Can you get quality fruit at a fair price at your local farmer's market or grocer?  How much of a slave to your plants are you willing to be?  These are questions I'd ponder.

It's kinda like veggie gardening.  I only grow what I know will get me quality produce with limited inputs that is either too expensive in the store or of poor quality.  Tomatoes comes to mind and  speaking of maters, I'm a variety research freak.  We have a new tomato that you need to get your hands on - BHN 602 aka "Rodeo".   Out of 4,500 tomatos trial, it was selected #1 at the 2012 San Antonio Stock and Rodeo.  Think of the richest, sweetest, reddest 10 oz tomato with a skin that is very resistant to cracking and catfacing but melts in your mouth, produces like crazy and that's BHN 602.   Much better quality than the current trend/fad back to heirloom tomatoes, which I think are of poor quality and taste.  Asparagus is another one that's worth planting.  Out of 9 crowns planted 2 years ago, I've picked so much asparagus we're sick of it!  I'm letting it go to ferns.

Regarding the lemon's root system - head down hiney up!  Sometimes I spray an unwanted tree like that with glyphosate to kill it and allow the roots to rot a bit, then yank it out.  Otherwise, you're gonna have to sever those roots and then dig it out by hand.  I cheat and use a chain and my tractor's bucket to yank stuff out too, but I doubt if you have that luxury.

Mark

[edzone9]

Thank Ali , You all make great points..

[BMc]

Coincidence - I am chopping up my lemon tree when I have a spare couple of hours. Its not that its not productive enough, but out of 3000 fruits it has produced in the last 2 years I have eaten none - fruit piercing moth and fruit flies sting every single one and use it as an overwintering base. I'm just weighing up pulling it out completely, as it is crowding a star of a tahitian lime, or cutting it back to a stump and grafting on a Eureka or Villa Franca as I think its a Meyer and a more acid/lemony lemon might not be targeted as much...

Ed - if a lemon wont fruit for you due to cold, how will a mango survive? You dont like Feijoa do you?

[fruitlovers]

What do you like more, fresh lemons or mangos? Can you get quality fruit at a fair price at your local farmer's market or grocer?  How much of a slave to your plants are you willing to be?  These are questions I'd ponder.

It's kinda like veggie gardening.  I only grow what I know will get me quality produce with limited inputs that is either too expensive in the store or of poor quality.  Tomatoes comes to mind and  speaking of maters, I'm a variety research freak.  We have a new tomato that you need to get your hands on - BHN 602 aka "Rodeo".   Out of 4,500 tomatos trial, it was selected #1 at the 2012 San Antonio Stock and Rodeo.  Think of the richest, sweetest, reddest 10 oz tomato with a skin that is very resistant to cracking and catfacing but melts in your mouth, produces like crazy and that's BHN 602.   Much better quality than the current trend/fad back to heirloom tomatoes, which I think are of poor quality and taste.  Asparagus is another one that's worth planting.  Out of 9 crowns planted 2 years ago, I've picked so much asparagus we're sick of it!  I'm letting it go to ferns.

Regarding the lemon's root system - head down hiney up!  Sometimes I spray an unwanted tree like that with glyphosate to kill it and allow the roots to rot a bit, then yank it out.  Otherwise, you're gonna have to sever those roots and then dig it out by hand.  I cheat and use a chain and my tractor's bucket to yank stuff out too, but I doubt if you have that luxury.

Mark

Hi Mark, i can tell you don't know your heriloom tomatoes. There are so many that are 10's that it would make your head spin! I worked one summer at Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa and got to taste about 400 varieties that year. Sorry to derail the thread.
About lemon vs. mango, i think it would all depend on how hard pressed you are for space in your yard? If it's the only space you have for a mango, then it's different than if you have a lot of alternate planting sites?

[Mark in Texas]

Hi Mark, i can tell you don't know your heriloom tomatoes. There are so many that are 10's that it would make your head spin! I worked one summer at Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa and got to taste about 400 varieties that year. Sorry to derail the thread.

What I do know I don't like regarding the heirloom tomato's growth habits, productivity, disease issues, tendency to catface and crack like crazy, blossom end rot issues and all the ones I've tasted have not come close to the richness, texture, juice, perfect round shape and skin-that-melts-in-your-mouth of the new 'Rodeo'.  It was developed in Florida for hot climates. http://www.plantanswers.com/Articles/BHN_602_Tomato.asp  Another one I love is "Big Beef".  Please start a thread recommending some varieties, I'll try anything.  For example, I've been growing Dutch bred greenhouse tomatoes since the fall.  Here's a great resource for seeds, catalog is a must have - http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

Regards,
Mark

[fruitlovers]

Hi Mark, i can tell you don't know your heriloom tomatoes. There are so many that are 10's that it would make your head spin! I worked one summer at Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa and got to taste about 400 varieties that year. Sorry to derail the thread.

What I do know I don't like regarding the heirloom tomato's growth habits, productivity, disease issues, tendency to catface and crack like crazy, blossom end rot issues and all the ones I've tasted have not come close to the richness, texture, juice, perfect round shape and skin-that-melts-in-your-mouth of the new 'Rodeo'.  It was developed in Florida for hot climates. http://www.plantanswers.com/Articles/BHN_602_Tomato.asp  Another one I love is "Big Beef".  Please start a thread recommending some varieties, I'll try anything.  For example, I've been growing Dutch bred greenhouse tomatoes since the fall.  Here's a great resource for seeds, catalog is a must have - http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

Regards,
Mark

I haven't tried Rodeo but would be willing to bet some of the heirlooms are as good or better. As i remember some of the best tasting ones of the heirlooms to my taste buds were the orange colored ones that were streaked with red inside. I don't remember all the cultivar names, there were 4-5 like this. One i remember was called Pineapple Pleasure, or something like that, was many years ago. I think seedsavers.org sells some of these.

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Hi Ed,
Keep the lemon tree...no fruit is as versatile as a lemon, in my humble opinion. 

[CoPlantNut]

I haven't tried Rodeo but would be willing to bet some of the heirlooms are as good or better. As i remember some of the best tasting ones of the heirlooms to my taste buds were the orange colored ones that were streaked with red inside. I don't remember all the cultivar names, there were 4-5 like this. One i remember was called Pineapple Pleasure, or something like that, was many years ago. I think seedsavers.org sells some of these.

I think a lot of tomatoes are heavily influenced by the climate/soil they are grown in.  I've tried "Pineapple Pleasure" and "Hawaiian Pineapple" in my yard and was disappointed with both; some of my favorite, most productive and reliable, crack-resistant varieties here would probably fail miserably in the tropics-- but it's taken me 10 years of experimenting to find the best varieties for my area.

There's a lot of variety available in heirloom and hybrid tomatoes for a reason- often what performs great in one area doesn't do so well in others.  Disease resistance is an issue though- this year I tried grafting many of my tomatoes onto disease-resistant rootstocks after I had a partial crop failure last year due to fungal diseases.

   Kevin

[Jsvand5]

Hi Mark, i can tell you don't know your heriloom tomatoes. There are so many that are 10's that it would make your head spin! I worked one summer at Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa and got to taste about 400 varieties that year. Sorry to derail the thread.

What I do know I don't like regarding the heirloom tomato's growth habits, productivity, disease issues, tendency to catface and crack like crazy, blossom end rot issues and all the ones I've tasted have not come close to the richness, texture, juice, perfect round shape and skin-that-melts-in-your-mouth of the new 'Rodeo'.  It was developed in Florida for hot climates. http://www.plantanswers.com/Articles/BHN_602_Tomato.asp  Another one I love is "Big Beef".  Please start a thread recommending some varieties, I'll try anything.  For example, I've been growing Dutch bred greenhouse tomatoes since the fall.  Here's a great resource for seeds, catalog is a must have - http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

Regards,
Mark

Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Green
Neves Azorian Red
Eva Purple Ball
Black Cherry
Sun sugar ( Hybrid cherry that is really good)


I grow Big Beef sometimes. It's a pretty good tomato, but all of the above blow it away. I'll give Rodeo a try next season.

[fruitlovers]

I haven't tried Rodeo but would be willing to bet some of the heirlooms are as good or better. As i remember some of the best tasting ones of the heirlooms to my taste buds were the orange colored ones that were streaked with red inside. I don't remember all the cultivar names, there were 4-5 like this. One i remember was called Pineapple Pleasure, or something like that, was many years ago. I think seedsavers.org sells some of these.

I think a lot of tomatoes are heavily influenced by the climate/soil they are grown in.  I've tried "Pineapple Pleasure" and "Hawaiian Pineapple" in my yard and was disappointed with both; some of my favorite, most productive and reliable, crack-resistant varieties here would probably fail miserably in the tropics-- but it's taken me 10 years of experimenting to find the best varieties for my area.

There's a lot of variety available in heirloom and hybrid tomatoes for a reason- often what performs great in one area doesn't do so well in others.  Disease resistance is an issue though- this year I tried grafting many of my tomatoes onto disease-resistant rootstocks after I had a partial crop failure last year due to fungal diseases.

   Kevin

Yes, absoutely right.
That is why there are so many thousands of heirloom tomatoes. About 30 years ago the count was 40,000 types of heirloom tomatoes (don't know total now). So you can bet there are some that are well suited to your area!

[puglvr1]

Ed, if you don't mind protecting another Mango tree...I vote for removing the Lemon tree ( and grow a dwarf Meyer Lemon in a pot) and plant a Mango variety instead. But I LOVE mangoes so for me its a very easy choice,lol...

[Pancrazio]

Would You Guys Remove The Lemon Tree To Plant a Mango Tree Or Just Let The Lemon Tree Be ?

I would keep the lemon tree and topwork it with several other citrus.
With citrus on a single tree you can have  several different kind of fruits; with mango, you can have several different varieties, but they still are mangoes.

[fruitlovers]

Would You Guys Remove The Lemon Tree To Plant a Mango Tree Or Just Let The Lemon Tree Be ?

I would keep the lemon tree and topwork it with several other citrus.
With citrus on a single tree you can have  several different kind of fruits; with mango, you can have several different varieties, but they still are mangoes.

That's not really correct because you can also graft other species onto mango, like kuini, (Mangifera odorata) castur Mangifera kasturi)i, etc.

[edzone9]

Man all you guys make good points ! .. i like the idea of top working it with different citrus , but iv done only 1 Avacado graft , so i am by no means a pro grafter like you guys !.

I will let the lemon stand for 1 more season & see what she does as far as fruiting , i also like fresh lemons for the cleansing of the liver !.

Thanks all. Ed.