When I go lemon shopping to the grocery store there are different 2 lemons to choose from. One is larger and has thicker skin, the other is smaller with thinner skin. Both taste pretty much the same but the smaller one seems juicier to me and for that reason I prefer it.

Now my question is: Which lemon belongs to eureka and which belongs to lisbon? Because I would like to buy a lemon tree to so I can enjoy a traditional cup of tea with lemon.

Lisbon has a smoother rind then Eureka's pitted rind, and Lisbon generally has a bigger nipple. Both a Lisbon and Eureka are generally the same size. - Millet

My home grown Lisbons are Big! Twice the size of store lemons.

Thanks guys, I this is helping me, I will check the rinds and points of both lemons closer.

I would like my preferred lemon to be a eureka cause they are more readily available. Stan will have some available mid June and I'd like to get one of his.

Theresa

Pomona Sweet Lemon has good responses from various friends. It is just simply sold as Sweet Lemon by Menlo Growers in Gilroy. The Pomona Sweet Lemon is available from the UCR CCPP budwood program from their screenhouse materials.

Another one that is recommended by Gene Lester to be really good is Liudmila lemon. The rinds are aromatic and sweet as kumquats but is not related to kumquats.

Yuzu and Sudachi are another aromatic lemon types. They are also excellent, but very rare to obtain as fruits. The fruit trees are common amongst hobbyists now, and are also showing up in retail, but the fruits are not sold here in California Grocery stores. And if they do sell these, it would be in the $6-$10/lb.

Still another one that is really good to add in your drinks are the Bergamot orange. Not a lemon, but tart as lemons and truly the most aromatic of them. Problem with this for me is that it is not cold hardy in our area. But there are techniques if one has the will.

I grow Yuzu. A huge problem with Yuzu's fruit is that it is all seeds. - Millet

I use Yuzu primarily for the peels. The juices are just secondary, a simple straining, should be enough to get a few drops, LOL.

The other very common homeowner's lemon (not usually sold at stores due to shorter shelf life) that some people really liked is the Improved Meyer Lemon. Thin skin, mild lemony flavor, mild tartness, very juicy.

Joe, never heard of most of those lemons except for the Yuzu. I have meyer lemon, key lime, limquat, and persian lime and use all of them in my tea, but I do like the traditional lemon taste that I am most familiar with.

Meyer is very juicy and if picked when the rind is orangey it even tastes kinda sweet.

Joe, you must use the Yuzu peels as a flavoring in cooking or a flavoring in wine? We never cook, as my wife and I eat every meal out. How exactly do you use the peel? - Millet

I am curious about the Ponderosa 'Lemon' - I recently purchased one and would like to plant it outside with one of my Meyer lemons in a protected spot. I am wondering how sensitive they are to the cold and what do they taste like???

Thanks, Greg

Greg, I wouldn't think they'll survive even if protected outdoors in your area, short of a greenhouse. I have ponderosa lemon, grafted in the lower canopy. They have survived the arctic blast, about 20 deg F for prolonged period, but they are the worst looking of my lemons after the ordeal. They have yet to recover fully. They are one of my most cold sensitive citruses, along with Key Limes. If you can grow Key Limes outdoors, you should be able to grow Ponderosa lemon.

The ponderosa has the tartness of a lemon with a bit of astringency, but the aroma has some sort of etrog or yuzu smell to it. It has plenty of seeds, but they are clustered towards the center of the fruits.

Thanks, Joe. Do you have any insight on how the ponderosa lemon evolved?
I understand it is some sort of citron cross. I have been able to over winter Meyer lemon (fruit) and fruitlelets with out loosing them so I wasn't sure if this environment would work for the ponderosa variety.

Thanks,
Greg

Greg,

Meyer Lemon is quite cold hardy compared to other lemons. The Ponderosa is as cold sensitive as Key lime by experience in the colder north.


Here's info from my database:

Huge grapefruit sized lemons, some have renamed it as the 'Five Pound Lemon' . Intensely fragrant flowers producing loads of these huge lemons. Self-fertile Very large, bumpy skinned lemon usually weighing 2-4 pounds. Flavor is typical lemon-like. Ponderosa' is not a true lemon although its fruit are much like citrons and lemons. It originated as a chance seedling during the 1880's. 'Ponderosa' trees are rather small and somewhat thorny; its fruit are very large and seedy, with yellow, thick, bumpy-textured peel. 'Ponderosa' is more cold sensitive than true lemons.

Also known as rough lemon, this is ever-flowering and ever-bearing. Used for lemon pies and juice, it's thick skin and large size make it a novelty. An extremely large lemon-like fruit.

Also known as 'American Wonder Lemon'. This lemon citron hybrid grows well in containers and has a shrub-like appearance. The fruits are the size of grapefruits and are abundant on the tree nearly year round. Of all varieties listed, Ponderosa has the largest flowers. A citron-lemon hybrid, this ponderous choice is a novelty. Fragrant blooms produce gigantic lemons with many seeds. Tree tends to be rangy and open; needs pruning to control shape.

The American Wonder lemon, or what is now known as the Ponderosa originated about 1886 or 1887 as a chance seedling grown by George Bowman of Hagerstown, Maryland. The earliest published reference to it now known appeared in the nursery catalogue of Schmidt & Botley, Springfield, Ohio for the spring of 1900.

The Ponderosa in general most nearly resembles the lemon, but the size of the fruit, the number of segments, the character of the tree, and the foliage suggest relation to the citron. It is propagated rather extensively as a pot plant in the northern United States. In my opinion the fruit is of inferior grade for use as either a lemon or a citron.

Ponderosa is one of the lemons that I used to grow (it was one of the trees that I tossed out ), and does produce very large sized fruit. I would describe the lemon taste as "OK", but not as clear and defined as Eureka or Lisbon. However, as a novelty tree, the size of the fruit is impressive. I would have two comments about growing the tree in Vancouver = (1) can you see any lemons growing in the area (that should tell you something), (2) I will take a LOT OF PROTECTION to survive in the beautiful city of Vancouver Canada. - Millet