Thank you Laaz, I appreciate the encouragement! I think I'm finally starting to settle on what variaties I might get right off the bat. I am a little worried to attempt a Meyer Lemon, but I love them and am going to give it my best shot. I might just get a one year old Meyer to play it safe. I was also thinking about a 2-3 yr old Owari Satsuma, a 2-3 year old Bearss Lime and a 1 yr old Tarocco. I'm not 100% on any of those selections, but am leaning in those directions.

Anyone have any suggestions for a mandarin? I hear good things about Owari Satsumas but have been overwhelmed by the choices out there (Four Winds alone has about 10 or so to choose from).

Also, am I being rediculous for wanting to start out with a Meyer Lemon? All the nursery sites say they make great container trees, yet so many folks have problems with them. Would a Eureka, Ponderosa or something else be a better choice? I might just be stubborn and get the Meyer...

Joe

Satsumas are very good quality mandarins. There are many different varieties, but all taste similar. I have some variegated Owari satsumas that I grafted to Trifoliata that will be available later in the spring. Very nive variegated foliage & fruit.

Meyer lemons are the hardiest of the lemons, but are not true lemons. They should do well for you. They are said to be a cross of lemon & mandarin. I have some rooted cuttings that are already pushing flower buds.

I will have a few variegated Lisbon lemons available in about a month. These were rooted from cuttings from my mature tree. They do very well in a container and produce fruit very good quality fruit with a striped skin and variegated foliage.

Laaz,

I think you have convinced me to go with an Owari Satsuma. I have heard lots of good things about them tastewise as well as being very hardy. I wish Four Winds offered a varigeted variatey but unfortunatly I don't think they do.

As for the lemon I think I may be getting cold feet reguarding the Meyer. I keep reading about so many expert growers having nothing but difficulties with them, but must admit I would love to try one out. Do you have any experiance with the varigated pink Eureka variety? My girlfriend got a kick out of the whole pink lemon thing when I showed it to her a few minutes ago and am seriously contemplating getting one. Do they taste different than the classic Eureka? I know very little about the varigated varieties so I think I am going to spend some time on that section of this forum soon.

Thanks!!!
Joe

I haven't had too much of a problem with my Meyer lemon. It wasn't too happy when I first bought it a few years ago middle of winter, and it lost most of its leaves. However, it's quite happy these days and is currently overwintering indoors near a south facing window and is covered in hundreds of blooms.

Yes ... as Laaz has pointed out, growing citrus in mildest Canadian climate, can be a challenge. This was driven home rather hard this past winter. Proper siting (micro-climate) is essential and overhead protection from frost and snow loads are required.
It's a big learning curve as there's very little info or experience regarding citrus growing here on Vancouver Island or other favored mainland locations. We network amongst ourselves and compare notes.

Cheers, Barrie.

Don't let ppl discourage you from growing Meyers. I have a grafted one & a rooted one & ate lemons off the rooted one. It seems to do better. This winter I had a problem with most of my citrus because they got too much direct sun for the temps in my sunroom. No heater in there so temps got to low 40's at night & a high of upper 50's -60 during day. They suffered WLD (winter leaf drop). Room temp in a south window should do well. I bring everything out in summer.

I am starting to finally zero in on which plants I want to get! I think I am going to get a a bearss lime, varigated pink lemon, gold nugget mandarin and a tarocco blood orange (hopefully all 2-3 yr olds from Four Winds). I say hopefully because they are currently out of 2-3 yr old taroccos (only have 1 yr olds) and for some reason it is actually more expensive to order three 2-3 yr old plants and one 1 yr old ($228 w/ shipping to Chicago) than it is to order four 2-3 yr olds ($212). This is a significant chunck of money for a 25 year old college student that works at a coffee shop so I considered only getting three 2-3 yr olds but even then it only brings the price down to $189. At that price it is worth it to me to spend the extra $20 and get another 2-3 yr old plant which means I might have to suck it up and get something aside from the tarocco. I emailed four winds today to see if there was any chance more would be available anytime in the near future but I doubt it and have not heard back yet. If they do not I might just get a cara cara navel or an oro blanco grapefruit instead to keep the cost a lil more reasonable.

Joe

Check with Stan McKenzie first. He is a seller and member here who is very good on prices.

I'll have to make sure that I get ahold of him! I did get a reply from Four Winds today and I must say that I was quite impressed w/ their customer service. I asked if they had anymore 2-3 yr old Taroccos and what was up w/ the shipping pricing dilema I spoke about before. I was first told that there actually was possibly one 2-3 Tarocco that they could hold for me and explained the whole shipping situation (which actually made sense after the explanation). The customer service rep then made it a point to give me tons of pointers on citrus and suggestions on possible selections. The reply was literally 4 or 5 paragraphs. It was quite possibly the best customer service experiance I have ever had and I did not even buy anything from them yet.

Joe