How do you know when it is time to pick the fruit from a lemon tree? The tree is a Meyer lemon.

The fruit turns yellow pretty early on in its growth but they seem to get larger and larger. When is good enough? When is it too late?


If that isn't tough enough, how about a lime tree - the fruit stays green, so how do you know?

The fruit starts green and stays green but does grow in size. How do you know when they are ready for picking?



I have the luxury of picking individual fruits when they are ready. I don't need to harvest the entire fruit production all at once.

These are my first citrus trees and my first season.



You can tell I've lived in the city my whole life, right?

Most fruit including citrus will pull from the branch fairly easy when ripe. They will
also have a slight give when you squeeze them. Lemons will usually have a very
light greenish tint out from the stem for about an inch until ripe. Limes are more difficult
to judge....you'll have to do the pull-test..

You may want to check with your county's ag.dept.. They may have more suggestions and
possibly some hand-outs to help you.

Thank you.

I'll remember "the pull test".

I was going to say practice, trial and error, ask your neighbors.  You can get fruit year round some areas on some of the dwarf trees

I'm sure trial and error will work but the trees are new to me and small with only a few fruits that are anywhere near ready (my first year).  I didn't want to waste them by picking too soon when sampling them for ripeness.  


The variety is Meyer Lemon, so they have a slightly different appearance than the commercial lemons you buy in the store.  They are dwarf and are only about 18" to 24" tall so far.

I think most of our citrus is ripe about now here in Northern Cal. The oranges may be a little behind but the lemons and mandarins are ready. The Mandarins can hang on the tree for a while if it doesn't freeze, maybe through December into January. We pick lemons as needed into early summer.

Tom