We have had our second lemon tree for a good few months now and it is
outside in a new big pot looking very perky.
It came from Aldi with three ripe lemons on (which we have gradually used)
and three reasonable sized green lemons.

These lemons don't seem to be getting much (or indeed any) bigger and show
no signs of ripening despite all the hot weather.

I am feeding with citrus food regularly, and keeping watered.

Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

Cheers

Dave R

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
We have had our second lemon tree for a good few months now and it is
outside in a new big pot looking very perky.
It came from Aldi with three ripe lemons on (which we have gradually used)
and three reasonable sized green lemons.

These lemons don't seem to be getting much (or indeed any) bigger and show
no signs of ripening despite all the hot weather.

I am feeding with citrus food regularly, and keeping watered.

Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

A long time, but it is quite hard to tell when they are. Despite
what the marketdroids tell us, and the experience of those who
think lemons grow in supermarkets, they do NOT usually show their
ripeness by going yellow. That's caused by ethylene (I think).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote:
In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
We have had our second lemon tree for a good few months now and it is
outside in a new big pot looking very perky.
It came from Aldi with three ripe lemons on (which we have gradually used)
and three reasonable sized green lemons.

These lemons don't seem to be getting much (or indeed any) bigger and show
no signs of ripening despite all the hot weather.

I am feeding with citrus food regularly, and keeping watered.

Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

A long time, but it is quite hard to tell when they are. Despite
what the marketdroids tell us, and the experience of those who
think lemons grow in supermarkets, they do NOT usually show their
ripeness by going yellow. That's caused by ethylene (I think).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

They look pretty yellow to me growing wild in Greece.

In article 2B2%n.160581$NM4.73454@hurricane,
stuart noble wrote:

Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

A long time, but it is quite hard to tell when they are. Despite
what the marketdroids tell us, and the experience of those who
think lemons grow in supermarkets, they do NOT usually show their
ripeness by going yellow. That's caused by ethylene (I think).

They look pretty yellow to me growing wild in Greece.

Sigh. Please respond to what I say, not what I don't.

Firstly, they don't grow wild in Greece - they are escapes, and some
varieties have been selected for going yellow easily (whereas others
have not). Secondly, I said that they don't show their ripeness that
way, not that they don't go yellow eventually - they are usually ripe
well before they go yellow, on the tree, and depending on the variety.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote in message
...
In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
We have had our second lemon tree for a good few months now and it is
outside in a new big pot looking very perky.
It came from Aldi with three ripe lemons on (which we have gradually used)
and three reasonable sized green lemons.

These lemons don't seem to be getting much (or indeed any) bigger and show
no signs of ripening despite all the hot weather.

I am feeding with citrus food regularly, and keeping watered.

Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

A long time, but it is quite hard to tell when they are. Despite
what the marketdroids tell us, and the experience of those who
think lemons grow in supermarkets, they do NOT usually show their
ripeness by going yellow. That's caused by ethylene (I think).


Any easy way to tell if they are ripe (but still green) apart from picking
them and tasting them?

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:


Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

A long time, but it is quite hard to tell when they are. Despite
what the marketdroids tell us, and the experience of those who
think lemons grow in supermarkets, they do NOT usually show their
ripeness by going yellow. That's caused by ethylene (I think).

Any easy way to tell if they are ripe (but still green) apart from picking
them and tasting them?

I don't know of one. Obviously, they should have started to soften
and, if they have fallen off, they are probably ripe (or wormy).
I wouldn't worry too much as they don't suffer too badly from
early rot, if kept fairly dry, but it's still guesswork. A citrus
expert might know better, but I don't.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"David WE Roberts" wrote ...
We have had our second lemon tree for a good few months now and it is
outside in a new big pot looking very perky.
It came from Aldi with three ripe lemons on (which we have gradually used)
and three reasonable sized green lemons.

These lemons don't seem to be getting much (or indeed any) bigger and show
no signs of ripening despite all the hot weather.

I am feeding with citrus food regularly, and keeping watered.

Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

I've had them take about 12 months to grow and ripen but usually if they
grow from a spring flowering they are ready late autumn/Christmas.
Has yours flowered since you had it? Larger/older trees tend to flower at
odd times throughout the year, sometimes even in the darkest winter, but the
insects are not about then so it's the spring/summer flowers that tend to
grow into fruit. Also don't let them try to grow too many fruit or it will
weaken the tree, I learnt my lesson by allowing our Tahiti lime to produce
32 full sized fruit one year and it has taken it two years to recover.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:41:23 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
We have had our second lemon tree for a good few months now and it is
outside in a new big pot looking very perky.
It came from Aldi with three ripe lemons on (which we have gradually used)
and three reasonable sized green lemons.

These lemons don't seem to be getting much (or indeed any) bigger and show
no signs of ripening despite all the hot weather.

I am feeding with citrus food regularly, and keeping watered.

Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

A long time, but it is quite hard to tell when they are. Despite
what the marketdroids tell us, and the experience of those who
think lemons grow in supermarkets, they do NOT usually show their
ripeness by going yellow. That's caused by ethylene (I think).


Any easy way to tell if they are ripe (but still green) apart from picking
them and tasting them?

A thin needle is all you need. You just stick it in the lemon and
taste the tiny bit of juice on the needle. Be careful you don't stab
your tongue.

Steve

--
Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. www.justnn.com

You also said you thought the yellowness was caused by ethylene ... care to comment on the levels of ethylene in the Greek air?

In article ,
kay wrote:

Firstly, they don't grow wild in Greece - they are escapes, and some
varieties have been selected for going yellow easily (whereas others
have not). Secondly, I said that they don't show their ripeness that
way, not that they don't go yellow eventually - they are usually ripe
well before they go yellow, on the tree, and depending on the variety.

You also said you thought the yellowness was caused by ethylene ...
care to comment on the levels of ethylene in the Greek air?

High, under conditions of still air, in the immediate vicinity of
the skin of a ripening lemon :-).

Except that it might not be ethylene. Lots of fruit give off gases
as they ripen that ALSO increase ripening or colouring in the same
or other fruit. That's why keeping a lot together in an enclosed
space has a different effect from keeping them separate.

And, as I said, a few varieties have been bred to go yellow very
easily.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...


"David WE Roberts" wrote ...
We have had our second lemon tree for a good few months now and it is
outside in a new big pot looking very perky.
It came from Aldi with three ripe lemons on (which we have gradually
used) and three reasonable sized green lemons.

These lemons don't seem to be getting much (or indeed any) bigger and
show no signs of ripening despite all the hot weather.

I am feeding with citrus food regularly, and keeping watered.

Anyone know how long lemons take to ripen?

I've had them take about 12 months to grow and ripen but usually if they
grow from a spring flowering they are ready late autumn/Christmas.
Has yours flowered since you had it? Larger/older trees tend to flower at
odd times throughout the year, sometimes even in the darkest winter, but
the insects are not about then so it's the spring/summer flowers that tend
to grow into fruit. Also don't let them try to grow too many fruit or it
will weaken the tree, I learnt my lesson by allowing our Tahiti lime to
produce 32 full sized fruit one year and it has taken it two years to
recover.


It is flowering more or less continuously and is setting fruit (even without
insects).
However the newly set fruit don't seem to be growing much.
Thanks for the timescale - I will cease my worrying :-)

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder