I'm looking to buy a lemon tree. I haven't seen much selection other than Meyer and Eureka around Home Depot, Lowe's, and local nurseries.

I'm going to use the lemons to season fish, chicken, and maybe for making lemonade.

I heard Meyer grows faster than Eureka, while Eureka has better flavor. Which do you prefer and why? And what are other uses for lemons?

Meyer. Its a little sweeter (less acidic) which is better for cooking in my opinion and definitely for lemonade. Also it's a smaller, less vigorous tree, depending on rootstock of choice obviously. Good looking tree.

But the best argument for Meyer is that they are not readily available at the store but Eureka are. If you want Eureka go the the store, if you want Meyer, go to your tree. Grow something different!

For the first time I have lemons on my Meyer.
Very disappointing.
I don't like it as a lemon and will try in a lemon pie as recommanded.
For me, the issue is not that it is slightly sweet or less acidic than the regular lemon. It is that the taste and fragrancy of lemon is not there.

I process a 100 pounds plus Meyer lemons each year for freezing. Right off I can tell you hands down Meyer's makes the best lemonade ever with its lemon-orange flavor. It is excellent in tea as well. Lemon pies, lemon bars, Meyer's lemon fall short of a common lemon. You can compensate by increasing the amount of lemon juice and zest some but not 100%. Meyers, makes great barbecue sauce and steak sauce.

Like already posted, you can get common lemons everyday, so try a Meyer's.

I posted my lemonade recipe in the recipe section. I freeze the lemon-sugar syrup in quart sized bags so when ready to make I just add water. A wonderful treat all year long.

Randy

As Gene Lester says, if you can easily purchase a citrus variety in the store, why grow it. - Millet (730-)

Avocado, not that this is a issue for you but the Meyer lemon is quite cold hardy compared to the Eureka. They Meyer is apparently a natural occurring cross between a regular lemon and some sort of mandarin orange. On tree that I have grown in the ground for the almost 5 years it has produced a wide size range of fruit. They have been anywhere from the size of a kumquat to a large, baseball sized fruit. Sometimes the peel has been thick , lately it has tended to be very thin... Perhaps this is due to climate and growing conditions or the fact that it is a young tree??? perhaps all are factors? Additionally I find the rind quite edible , I am hoping to make some marmalade someday.

My cousins live in Mission Viejo California and have a large Meyer lemon tree - perhaps about 35 years old - it has been a prolific barer of fruit. This tree got me me into growing - or least trying to grow citrus.

Meyer is my choice.

Greg

It is unfortunate when you get less-than-excellent fruit at the store. This year's freezes have caused real problems with fruit quality, so I think that's a big part of it with this season's crop.

I just bought some Cara Cara's from a store that had some of the best I've ever tasted last year. This year they are sour and lacking sweetness. They don't even resemble the fruit I bought last year.

Another reason to grow common fruit if you use a lot, is price. Prices are getting insane and we love our lemon and limes.

A friend was in Morocco a few years ago. He was really taken by the excellent oranges there.