We have lemons!  Tiny, just-getting-started lemons. Aren’t they cute?

Objects in this photo are smaller than they appear

It’s been a long time coming, but our dwarf lemon tree is beginning to bear fruit.

More lemons

According to Wikipedia:

Citrus × meyeri, the Meyer lemon, is a citrus fruit native to China thought to be a cross between a true lemon and either a mandarin or common orange. It was introduced to the United States in 1908  by the agricultural explorer Frank Nicholas Meyer, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture who collected a sample of the plant on a trip to China.

The Meyer lemon is commonly grown in China in garden pots as an ornamental tree. It became popular as a food item in the United States after being rediscovered by chefs such as Alice Waters at Chez Panisse during the California Cuisine revolution.

Popularity further climbed when Martha Stewart began featuring them in her recipes.

I didn’t know any of this.

Dwarf Lemon Tree

Two years ago, our tree started producing thorns. I assumed this was a sign that it was ready to bear fruit. Further reading proved otherwise. True lemons have sharp thorns, but the hybrids do not. Any thorns found on a Meyer Lemon are apparently the product of the original rootstock.

This article say that: article,

If the thorns are on branches sprouting from below the grafting union  the best thing to do is to prune them off. Those branches won’t produce Meyer lemons and your tree is wasting energy growing them anyway.
If the thorns are on the Meyer lemon portion of the tree and the tree is otherwise healthy, the best thing to do is ignore them and protect your hands with gloves when you harvest the lemons.

I went back and checked all the branches with tiny fruit and most of them have thorns.

This early in the game, I’m inclined to leave the thorns where they are.  Since the tree is producing fruit it seems best to leave well enough alone.  They won’t ripen for several months, so I can keep my eye on things and see what plays out.

What do you think? Would you remove the thorns?

Thorns