Orlando Lemon Ltd.
Season
Harvest timing for Orlando Meyer
Meyer blooms late winter into spring with other dooryard citrus. Fruit hangs. Store lemons are a year-round box, frequently California or Arizona. A rounder fruit at a stand is often Meyer. Taste it. The peel is the clue.
On the tree in Central Florida
Acid fruits in the home-landscape citrus guide do not follow the Hamlin-to-Valencia stagger. Meyer hangs. Freeze still decides whether the crop survives January. Lemon Growing in the Florida Home Landscape puts true-lemon time from flower to harvest at 4 to 12 months, with Florida flower-bud initiation in November and bloom from late December into March, plus later blooms. A tree can hold fruit at different stages at once. The home-landscape citrus guide Table 1 lists true lemon as July through December. It does not print a separate Meyer month row.
| Place | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Central Florida yard | Meyer as the home lemon. Tender. Fruit after bloom. Hypothesis: hangs late fall through winter; pick when it gives |
| Grocery | Year-round true-lemon box, often California or Arizona (HS402) |
| Freeze night | HS402: mature true-lemon fruit damaged at 28–31°F. Pick before a forecast night in the high 20s (hypothesis for Meyer) |
In the store
A long yellow lemon in July is usually not a local Meyer. A rounder, thinner-skinned fruit in winter at a produce stand might be. Origin stays on the sticker. Meyer is merch and the dooryard tree.
Questions
When does Meyer bloom?
With late-winter and spring citrus. The home-landscape citrus guide does not print a unique Meyer month table. UF/IFAS lemon guidance puts Florida flower-bud initiation in November and bloom from late December into March, with later blooms possible. Watch the tree.
Is bottled lemon juice Meyer?
Usually not. Bottled juice is typically true lemon. Read the fresh fruit, not the bottle.
When do I pick Meyer in Orlando?
Citrus ripens on the tree. UF/IFAS citrus guidance lists true lemon as July through December. Hypothesis for Orlando: pick when the fruit gives slightly and the peel is a deep yellow, almost orange, and pick before a forecast night in the high 20s.
How to read a month
The lemon people actually keep in Central Florida is usually a Meyer. The home-landscape citrus paper does not recommend true lemons for home use. It offers Meyer as the substitute, and it counts Meyer among the trees worth having for looks as well as fruit. True lemon in a grocery bin is often Eureka or Lisbon from somewhere that stays milder in winter.
Meyer fruit can hang through a long window once the tree is bearing. It is not a Florida packing season. A January freeze still matters. Meyer is more cold-tender than many sweet oranges. A pretty yellow lemon in July may be California. Read the sticker. The yard tree follows the paper, not the produce aisle calendar you remember from childhood.
If the tree is named Meyer, pick when the fruit gives slightly and the skin thins. Color alone will fool you. If you wanted a true lemon, the paper already told you that is a harder home tree here. Growing notes live on the grow page. The month split is yard Meyer versus shipped true lemon.