I go to a goat farm periodically that's north of Houston and they had a Ponderosa Lemon tree. Supposedly, the lemons are huge, like 2 to 3 pounds each! Say no more - I had to have one, so I started searching. After a couple of months, I found a company in Connecticut that had them in stock! Only, they don't ship to Texas! What? The biggest, baddest, greatest state in the union and they don't ship here? 
 Hmmmmph.  As my momma says, "that's no hill for a climber". So, I have a friend at work who goes over to Louisiana to visit her mom all the time, so I had it shipped there, she picked it up and brought it back to Houston.  It was about 18 inches tall and arrived in a cardboard box.
I put it in a pot and BABIED the thing for a couple of months.  It sat on the kitchen table in cold weather and went out onto the deck when it warmed up.  Success!  I had blooms!

I had visions of my tiny little lemon tree producing a crop of lemons.  I would pick them and juice them and put the juice in the freezer..... sigh, my fantasies died a quick death.

From all those blooms, here's what I got, one lemon.  This picture was taken in the spring when all of the pine trees are producing new growth and EVERYTHING you own is covered in that lime green pollen.  Your car, your deck, your porch, your house.....you get the idea.  So that's what's covering the leaves in the picture above.  

Well, for a first year tree, that's not bad.  Although, I have attended fruit tree classes that said the first year you're supposed to strip off the fruit and let the tree concentrate on setting it's root structure.

Kill my baby??  I think not. I only have one tiny lemon, what kind of strain could that be on a plant?

Well, around June, here's what my Baby Huey looked like.  And just get over the picture being sideways - I tried to fix it already.  It's hard taking a picture with your cell phone with one  hand.  

This week, I took another picture.  It still grows!  I've had to angle the plant so that the lemon sits on the chair arm propped up.

I've attached one last picture to show how small the plant is compared to the fruit.  We laugh at this silly plant all the time.  So now, how long does it take for this lemon to ripen?  It's hard as a rock, but still growing.  The leaves have gone from green to pale green.  (remember what I said about 'what kind of strain could one lemon put on my plant'?)   I googled that and it seems I need to add Zinc to the potting soil.  I'll pick that up this weekend.

It's kind of like being pregnant but not knowing your due date.  I am assuming vast knowledge about lemons will suddenly fill my brain and I'll know what to do at just the right moment.

I'll let you know if that happens.