The Ponderosa lemon, sometimes called the American Wonder, is actually a hybrid of a citron and pomelo, which are two of the original citrus species. As such, the Ponderosa lemon rind is thick like a citron and the fruit are large like a pomelo. The juice is more acidic than your typical lemon. While I like those gosh darn big lemons, I have to admit that the foliage is probably the most drab in my collection. But hey, citrus foliage sets a pretty high bar in terms of attractiveness, so it’s not like it’s ugly to look at.
Some decently sized fruit have formed on the Ponderosa in mid-July. There’s still a lot of growing to be done. Ponderosa lemons on a young tree will still reach up to a pound or more in weight. It looks like a couple of lemons might get that big by fall 2018.Some scarring showing on Ponderosa lemon. This is normal and does not impact the quality of fruit underneath the rind.Buds
This lemon is starting to ripen and so is the one behind it!Two Ponderosa lemons remain in mid-August 2018. They’ll be twice the size or more in a couple months.
My Notes
A lesson learned from the 2018 summer:
There will be a point when a young tree has a few fruits on it a couple months after blooming. Out of these few fruit, you’ll notice that a couple will really take off and eventually the growth on some will outpace the others. The laggards should be removed once identified. The tree will naturally drop them, but by pruning them sooner you shore up resources that can go into making the good fruit better or for new foliage.
