BTW, the store bought lemons are $0.75 each. The lowest price they've been, IIRC, is 3 for $1. The Bearss limes are just $0.10 each today.

Considering that I've been giving away lemons since November... That's a lot of equivalent $$$ given away. And they're not tax deductible!

Anyway, I have my second smaller crop of lemon "maturing" in mid-June. The price of lemons usually skyrockets after Memorial Day.

The Lemon - 6
Lemon juice contains a maximum percent of citric acid when lemons are grown on non-retentive soil having a relatively low moisture content. Small lemons contain a higher concentration of soluble solids, than large lemons. The water content of the lemon fruit is more than 70 percent of the fruit's total weight, and a large portion of the total solids are water soluble. - Millet

the total soluble solids of the juice is a strong determinant of the quality of citrus wine. The higher the TSS, the better is the wine. It is one of the parameters I consider when formulating a wine recipe from various fruits.

I totally agree with Joe about the continued growth after turning yellow in Dec. My juice content has more than doubled as well-- from 1/4 cup per fruit in Jan. (which I thought was a nice juicy lemon) to 3/4 cup the last time I measured. I have been picking mine from one side of the tree and moving around the tree as I depleted an area, so my clusters have remained intact, yet entire clusters grew. I have some lemons that are on interior branches without any leaves (at this time--don't know when the last leaf fell). I have one fruit left that is probably over 10 cm in diameter, most are like the one I measured the other night, about 8 cm in diameter.

It may be that leaving fruit on after flowering has started will reduce next year's crop, but it is not a localized effect. I have about the same new fruit set on both sides of my tree, eventhough the west side has been picked clean for months.

I do see the air gap like Joe. There is one other detail I have noticed as the lemons are getting older, the peels are getting a little "brittle"--that is when I squeeze the lemon they tend to crack and break. I have also had one or 2 that had seeds that were starting to sprout.

I have waited for a couple days to see if any more "additional growth" posts would be added. Now lets get back to reality. When researchers, universities, industry experts, commercial citrus processing plants, and packing houses provide expert information to the citrus industry, it is just that.....to citrus industry. When one of the foremost citrus authorities in the world, the University of California at Riverside says ....."after the lemon has turned yellow and has stopped or practically stopped growing," the University is not talking, nor concerned with, some back yard citrus tree's fruit that turned yellow sometime back in October to December, and then the hobby grower lets the fruit continue to hang on the tree for 4, 5 or 6 months until the middle of May or the first of June, then says, "my fruit has grown. We have to remember 99 percent of citrus research, is geared to the commercial citrus industry. No grower, anywhere in the citrus world, would ever let his lemons hang on the tree for six months after the fruit has become mature. In fact a great many lemons growing in commercial groves are picked before they every turn yellow, and are picked "green" or "silver". So when research says that growth has stopped or practically stopped it is economically, commercially, realistically in all practical terms true. - Millet

The REALITY is that majority of us in this forum are citrus hobbyists. A few of us are in the serious commercial production and perhaps statistifically significant numbers are in both camps or have plans to be in both camps.

That is why we need to test applicability of such information, share our own observations, coming from exactly how we grow our fruit crops given our specific situations and objectives. For example, good keeping fruits on the tree are the best types simply because we don't have space to store them inside the fridge. And one of those effects that we see by harvesting partially through time is the increased fruit sizes of the remaining fruits in some of the cultivars that we grow.

I would treat information geared towards the commercial industry as good starting points and can be made suitable for backyard growers. I take good notes of them, and there is more knowledge to be gained if we are able to reconcile contradictory observations, rather than treating those people with extreme skepticism just because they don't agree with the industry's book. It would have been much appreciated to take our word for what we have observed sans the pictures, and perhaps place more efforts to explain or discuss why we have these disparities.

Joe, every thing you say is correct, in fact everything said on all of the posts are actually correct. Personal observations provides much information that is never recorded in professional writings. I don't mean my posts as excluding other points. I only point out why UCR makes such statements, and why they are correct. This does not automatically nullify other perspectives. Anyway, thanks for your input, it has gladly broadened the outreach of information. - Millet

The Lemon - 7
The nature of the lemon is such that a picked fruit can be safely stored much longer than other species of citrus. Since lemons are usually picked according to size rather than color they may be green when put into the storage rooms. The demands of the market usually determine the length of time that they are kept in storage. if the demand is strong a portion or all of the green lemons picked and taken to the packinghouses are treated at once with ethylene gas which causes them to change from green to yellow in color within a few days, generally 5 to 7. They are then ready to be placed on the market. If there is no immediate demand, the lemons are placed in storage rooms where, after several weeks, they become yellow on there own without the ethylene treatment. - Millet

Even commercially, if you can double the volume of juice in 4 months-- that is the same as an additional crop that would take another 12 months. We are not talking about a small increase. I can see there being more demand for "normal" size lemons sold as fresh, but for juice markets, they may be missing a significant part of their crop.

As for a home grower, I agree with Joe, it is very convenient to leave them on the tree. I am happy that they stay good that long --the size increase is a bonus.

Skeet, good suggestion, but the problem is that the payment the grower receives for high quality fresh fruit is a lot higher than the payment for lemons sent for processing. The fruit that does not make grade, or small fruit that does not attain a saleable size, and therefore cannot be sold on the fresh market, is sent to the processing plant for juice, and the grower receives a lot less money for that fruit. Further, although I do not know for sure, I doubt that the processing plant would accept fruit that was over ripe. - Millet

Millet is right. Moreover, in most cases in retail, lemons (including limes, pummelos, grapefruits) are sold on per piece of fruit basis, not on per weight basis. Naturally, it does the commercial grower no good to increase fruit size more than what the public expects as the public has been accustomed to paying on per fruit basis, assuming normally expected average size (which in the case of lemon, is just slightly bigger than a Bearss lime).

Fruits like Mandarins, Valencias, Navels are usually sold on per unit weight basis. Whereas, Grapefruits, Lemons, and Limes are usually sold on per piece or item basis. So if the grower were to maximize profits for those citruses that are sold on per unit count, they would go for the best balance of meeting the minimum expected fruit size but with maximum number of fruits per tree. This could explain in part, the discrepancies of recommendations.

Joe, those are excellent points. Actually, I was not aware that the retail methods for selling lemons, limes, grapefruit was different then the rest of citrus. I almost never do the shopping for food stuffs, therefore was totally unaware of how they were marketed. - Millet (Drill ANWR).

The Lemon - 7
The oil of the lemon is used in greater quantities than the oil of any other citrus fruit. Lemon oil is located primarily in special receptacles (glands) in the surface layers of the peel only, regardless of the peel's thickness. The physiological functions of the essential oils are not definitely known. The following possible functions have been suggested: waste products, stored reserves, protect against fungus invasion, provide odor which will attract insects necessary to aid in cross pollination, and retard transpiration. Ninety percent of the composition of lemon oil is d-limonene. - Millet

I cut one of my biggest lemons last night and measured it. It was 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. Peel was 1 cm thick on each side. This lemon has been on the tree for about 14 to 15 months (bloom was Feb-Mar last year).

This year I am getting a small second bloom now-- just a dozen or so flowers.

The Lemon - 8 of 8 END
The chemical changes which occur in lemon fruits during growth and maturation may be very different from those occurring in the orange under similar growth conditions. The lemon fruit, unlike the orange, does not show an increase in soluble carbohydrates (sugars) with the advance of the season. The organic acids are the chief soluble constituents of the juice of mature lemons but the sugars predominate in the juice of mature oranges. As lemons mature, the free acids of the juice increase and the pH decreases, but as oranges mature, the free acids in the juice decrease and the pH increases. These are some of the commonly encountered physiological differences between the two species. (LEMON FRUIT THE END)
Millet