Dwarf lemon is a monster! Help!

[Trsix]

Henderson,NV. Have two meyer dwarfs. First is about 8 years old. Sunalmost destroyed it years back. Saved it by building an enclosure.
Second 3 or 4 years old. Was in a pot for a year then Into the ground. Built a 6x6x6' enclosure. Raised it twice now, 7.5'. Warm months 115 to 118 degrees some days, totally enclosed with shade fabric. Too happy. Branches are trying to escape. Thought about snipping them off. Was told it'd just branch out at the snips. Thought I might be able to put something on the snips ends to stop it. Just got it raised to 7.5' today. No more
Noticed buds today on both. Been low 60's, thinks it's springtime.

 

[Trsix]

The leaves never fell off the lemon so it'll be even bushier soon. The tree behind it is a plum, very old but still makes fruit.

 

[Meadowlark]

Howdy @Trsix

The lemon has to be one of the most discussed fruit trees on this forum. Suggest you use the "search" function...over 10 pages of threads for relevant info. I don't grow them myself but many here do.

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

What's the problem? You got to prune it?

Of course it'll branch where you prune it, but if you want it be smaller you'll prune it again after it grows back, that's the nature of plants. If they aren't growing they're decomposing

there are plant growth regulators you can look into, i know nothing about them.

"Paclobutrazol (PBZ) is a plant growth regulator (PGR) used on lemons to reduce vegetative growth, manage tree size, and potentially increase yields and fruit quality by inhibiting gibberellin biosynthesis. Applied as a soil drench or spray, it significantly shortens shoot/internode length and enhances flowering, especially in "Lisbon" lemons."

We had a fig that was heavily pruned and stopped flowering because it had too many roots compared to aerial branches, after pruning the roots with a shovel, it resumed flowering/fruiting. So if, down the road, you do keep it small, and it is growing really fast and never flowering, could be the issue

Beautiful plant btw, i miss meyer lemons

Also, it's not going to hurt to prune even 2-3 feet off the top branches

 

[cpp gardener]

Yes, lemons are very tolerant of pruning. It helps reduce crop size while increasing fruit size.

 

[DirtMechanic]

@Martin Mikulcik you display an uncommon knowledge! How do you come by such experience and technique? I came by to see if this was a meyer lemon post and it was, it's a plant that commonly creates questions on G-F. I do not grow citrus but am told satsuma orange could work here in Alabama.

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

@Martin Mikulcik you display an uncommon knowledge! How do you come by such experience and technique? I came by to see if this was a meyer lemon post and it was, it's a plant that commonly creates questions on G-F. I do not grow citrus but am told satsuma orange could work here in Alabama.

My grandfather taught soils science at different universities, my father studied horticulture to get his phd at Clemson University, but right when he wrote his thesis paper for the degree on a novel way of propogating hardy kiwi in tissue culture, his professors went on strike, so he did the work but doesn't have the paperwork

Then he started a modest nursery in murray ky, originally for the wholesale of Japanese maples, but shifting towards breeding for regional adaptability and always collecting more and trying new things.

So me and my brother have taken the reins, he's continuing the traditional nursery in ky and I'm in the early days of trying to share what we're good at online through seeds and hopefully rooted cuttings one day.

I grew up propogating a lot of different things and landscaping, and mostly enjoy growing plants you can use, i.e. not strictly ornamental, but I've done enough ornamental stuff to appreciate it.

Meyer lemon was my dads favorite and one we regularly got fruit of. We also did calamondin, kumquat, tangerine, mexican lime, a variegated normal lemon, poncirus (if that counts), maybe a couple more, all in the greenhouse in the winter. A lot of citrus are more hardy than you would think, 10-15F, which i looked up is your average low, so if you're not in town and don't get the warming effect of cities, you'll maybe have to cover it once every few years when you dip below that.

My dad has forgotten more than I'll ever know, but I'll regularly ask my brother questions, and wouldn't consider myself an expert on much. Horticulture is lifelong journey

 

[Trsix]

I'll get it pruned next winter, too late . Gonna be a lot of lemons this year.

 

[DirtMechanic]

My grandfather taught soils science at different universities, my father studied horticulture to get his phd at Clemson University, but right when he wrote his thesis paper for the degree on a novel way of propogating hardy kiwi in tissue culture, his professors went on strike, so he did the work but doesn't have the paperwork

Then he started a modest nursery in murray ky, originally for the wholesale of Japanese maples, but shifting towards breeding for regional adaptability and always collecting more and trying new things.

So me and my brother have taken the reins, he's continuing the traditional nursery in ky and I'm in the early days of trying to share what we're good at online through seeds and hopefully rooted cuttings one day.

I grew up propogating a lot of different things and landscaping, and mostly enjoy growing plants you can use, i.e. not strictly ornamental, but I've done enough ornamental stuff to appreciate it.

Meyer lemon was my dads favorite and one we regularly got fruit of. We also did calamondin, kumquat, tangerine, mexican lime, a variegated normal lemon, poncirus (if that counts), maybe a couple more, all in the greenhouse in the winter. A lot of citrus are more hardy than you would think, 10-15F, which i looked up is your average low, so if you're not in town and don't get the warming effect of cities, you'll maybe have to cover it once every few years when you dip below that.

My dad has forgotten more than I'll ever know, but I'll regularly ask my brother questions, and wouldn't consider myself an expert on much. Horticulture is lifelong journey

I am gonna like you. I won't quote the movie.