We're now several days after the winter storm and temps have moderated. My overnight temps where around 19F and not above 32F for the better part of 3 days. Dispite those nasty conditions, my lemon tree has managed quite well. No protection other than the overhead canopy. There appears to be minimal damage to some of the extremeties. Real damage doesn't appear for sometime I can assume (like many other plants), so I won't know the extent until Spring. It does however appear to be much better than I ever expected. Fingers crossed.

Cheers, Barrie.

lemon tree (Dec 03,2006)

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Barrie: Great news! So far anyway. I'm certainly no expert, and damage might still appear, but your worst fears seem to have not come to pass and the tree certainly looks to have survived quite well.

As far as mine goes it was if anything too warm with the lights on day and night for the three days of cold weather. The temperature in the greenhouse varied between 14C and 20C with the lights on and it was enough to push out a couple of flower buds. I think I'll remove a few of the lights if it gets cold again so as to keep the temperature below 13C (55.4F), which I understand is the temperature above which growth will result.

It's currently 7C (44.6F) outside and 9C (48.2F) under the greenhouse without the lights. The temperatures over the next week or two are expected to be normal for this time of year (lows of 5C or 41F and highs of 10C or 50F in the greenhouse without the lights). I wonder if the flowers will survive?

Anyway, I have two lemons that are almost completely ripe (deep yellow with a hint of orange). They should be ready to pick in a week.

Are the yellowest of these ready to pick?

Hi leapfrog. To me they get an off flavor when they start to turn orange. I always pick them when they still have a slight green left in the peel.

Thanks, for the advice Laaz. I picked three this morning and tried one of them. Nice and juicy and very flavourful.

Here's an update. As expected the worst always comes on later. The leaves look toasted from the freeze damage from nearly 3 weeks ago. I now expect that a vast majority of stems will die back as well. If more winter freezing comes, this one will be finished with no time to recover. I think this lemon is on it's last legs.

Cheers, Barrie.
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Barrie: So sad to hear the news. Do you think there a chance it will survive if we don't see another cold spell this winter?

leapfrog...it's anyone's guess really. I personally don't hold out much hope. Traditionally we get a cold snap (of one degree or another) between early and mid January. That alone should be enough to finish off what's left of this lemon. So anything short of a miricle...

Cheers, Barrie.

Barrie Meyers will normally come back from the roots. I have seen them frozen to the ground & sprout right back up the next spring.

don't snip off the dead branches until there is no more frost. these dead leaves and branches help to protect whatever is still alive on that tree. snip off only in spring when there's no more chances for frost.

I like the comment by Laaz. That is one of the advantages of growing
a tree from a rooted cutting and from seed. Once the scion dies on a
grafted or budded plant all we may end up having left is the rootstock.
There was a time when some of us thought in terms of using a good
fruiting form as our rootstock in known cold areas just in case we did
lose the scion. It is not out of bounds to have a Bearss Lime used as
a rootstock for other Limes as an example or the old form Meyer
Lemon more so than the Improved Meyer Lemon used for the Eureka
and Lisbon Lemon forms.

Your Lemon is still in the game. I see no open splits in the wood yet
which is a good sign. No obvious severe wilting to the branch tips yet
either. Usually after this kind of damage I would go in and give the
tree a solid irrigation. Root rot is not your biggest evil now, the
continued cold is and if the roots stay moist you have a better chance
of this tree bouncing back for you later. You can look at it that the
top growth is gone but leave it alone for now. It is too early to prune
back any of the wood damage as you will then expose the underlying
wood that is somewhat protected by the density and canopy of the top
growth.*

If you know you are going to experience a severe cold spell
again water the tree well the day before and cover over the tree
with a dark colored blanket, sheet or anything that can retain
some warmth to the tree underneath. You can leave the blanket
on the tree all day if need be in extreme conditions. I've left a
blanket on the tree for a week at a time before. I've also removed
the blanket during midday when the sun was out and as soon dusk
was to come, placed the blanket back on the tree.

Jim

*I did not see your post Joe as I was writing this. J

Well there's no problem keeping the root system hydrated. It rains nearly everyday from Nov to March here. Drainage is very good so no standing water issues. The biggest hurdle is January. Thanks for the pointers and maybe I can dedicate some attention to this lemon if we get another cold spell.

Cheers, Barrie.