Need help with Meyer Lemon!

[TJAnonymous]

I have a 3 yr old Meyer Lemon. It was repotted into a larger, self-watering container in Aug 2020. It was also fertilized at that time. I kept it outside until November when the temperature started to drop. The tree was flourishing...

I brought it inside for winter and it has been downhill from there. I noticed in early December that it was losing a few leaves. I thought maybe the water reservoir was low... I filled the water reservoir and also gave it some Osmocote slow-release fertilizer. It seemed to get a little better for a week but then started losing more leaves again.

I went online and started doing research into what might be happening. I found two possible culprits -

1) overwatering
2) winter leaf drop

I immediately bought a hygrometer to check soil moisture. It pinged off the chart. I tried to dump as much water as possible out of the container which is far too big for me to really lift. But I did try to drain as much excess as possible from the overflow drain.

As for the WLD, I put a heat lamp on the soil to try to warm up the roots. The tree is inside in my south facing sunroom. Room temperature is consistently around 68 degrees. I also turned on a warm mist humidifier.

Despite these efforts over the past month, the leaf loss has greatly accelerated. But despite the leaf loss, there is also new growth.... So I don't know what to think?

Considering the stems are still attached to the limb, I'm thinking the problem is WLD. But the soil is warm so I don't know what else to do? I put my finger down in the soil today... It is bone dry for at least the top 3 inches. It does get a little moist about 4 inches down but not "wet" by any means.

My tree back on December 30th

My poor tree as of today...

New growth

More new growth

 

[TJAnonymous]

This thread does not seem to be showing up in my threads. When I try to look for it under 'Fruits & Vegetables' it isn't showing up there either.....

Can someone please confirm that others can see this post?

Eta - nm. Just realized there's a small note at the top of my thread that says "awaiting approval...." Hope I get a thumbs up soon. I'm a bit anxious about my poor tree

 

[TJAnonymous]

Bump.... Anyone?

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Sorry can’t help with the tree I know absolutely nothing about citrus and houseplants in are my kryptonite. I can see the post though. So I figured I’d let you know.

 

[BeanWonderin]

I have a Meyer Lemon tree that I've grown in a pot for a few years. Like you, I've moved it outside for the summer and inside for the winter and I have lost leaves each time I bring it inside. Actually, I think mine looked worse than yours in that respect but it did get a few baby leaves last winter and recovered well when I set it outside last summer. My conclusion was that I either waited too long to bring it inside and it had a bit of thermal shock or it got too wet. I've been careful to take it easy with watering through the winter.

I think you're on the right track and the new growth seems to show that the tree is rebounding.

One quick story on leaf drop - I bought a small "dormant" potted kumquat tree from a big box store years ago thinking it would be fun to grow. After it didn't leaf out for the first month I did some reading and realized that citrus trees don't usually go dormant or loose their leaves during the winter. So no kumquats, but it was a pretty nice pot!

 

[ninnymary]

I have never grown a meyer inside but I do have one outside. I am guessing that for some reason it did not like being indoors. The fact that it is starting to come back with new growth tells me it may have adjusted to the new environment. I would not worry about it seems it seems to be getting healthy again.

I grow some things in huge pots and they are still hard to maintain. My meyer in one never seemed to do well so I finally transplanted it to the ground. Same thing for my lime tree. Once I transplanted the lime into the ground it just sat there for a year doing absolutely nothing. Finally last year it got enough new leaves where you can't see through it. It is also starting to bear fruit.

I would suggest that next year you gradually start acclimating it by bring it in for 4 hours for a few days then increasing the time.

Mary

 

[flowerbug]

I have never grown a meyer inside but I do have one outside. I am guessing that for some reason it did not like being indoors. The fact that it is starting to come back with new growth tells me it may have adjusted to the new environment. I would not worry about it seems it seems to be getting healthy again.

I grow some things in huge pots and they are still hard to maintain. My meyer in one never seemed to do well so I finally transplanted it to the ground. Same thing for my lime tree. Once I transplanted the lime into the ground it just sat there for a year doing absolutely nothing. Finally last year it got enough new leaves where you can't see through it. It is also starting to bear fruit.

I would suggest that next year you gradually start acclimating it by bring it in for 4 hours for a few days then increasing the time.

Mary

after transplanting it can take trees a year or two before they really get established and put out more growth. i wish i could have citrus here but that won't be happening - tonight is possibly going to get down to the single digits F and this has been a mild winter for the most part so far. just have to admire them from a distance.

 

[thistlebloom]

@TJAnonymous I had the same experience with a Meyer lemon. Every year I would bring it in and every year it would defoliate. Then grow lush new leaves when it went back outside. I eventually bought a grow light to keep on it thinking the light boost was what it needed, but it still shed every leaf. It did bloom though, smelled wonderful.
I finally rehomed it, too much aggravation and I'm not a house plant person, other than one hardy Alaskan fern that I keep going.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I

after transplanting it can take trees a year or two before they really get established and put out more growth. i wish i could have citrus here but that won't be happening - tonight is possibly going to get down to the single digits F and this has been a mild winter for the most part so far. just have to admire them from a distance.

My poor tree is nearly defoliated but did send off about 6 inches of new growth on 1 branch. I thought that was weird because of how badly the rest of it is defoliated. You'd think it would put energy into new leaves instead....

Anyway, the first 4-5 inches of soil is bone dry. since the hygrometer says it is over watered, I haven't watered it in nearly 2 months. Remember that it is in a self watering container with several gallon jugs in the bottom of the container. (If you are curious about this method, look up Leon the gardener from Oklahoma on YouTube. He has gained a big following!) Anyway since it has lost nearly all its leaves, I went ahead and LIGHTLY watered the soil around the top of the plant just to give the shallow roots I could see a drink. The hygrometer never even budged... So now I'm wondering if the hygrometer is bad? Cheap Chinese Amazon JUNK.... Grrrr....

 

[TJAnonymous]

I have never grown a meyer inside but I do have one outside. I am guessing that for some reason it did not like being indoors. The fact that it is starting to come back with new growth tells me it may have adjusted to the new environment. I would not worry about it seems it seems to be getting healthy again.

I grow some things in huge pots and they are still hard to maintain. My meyer in one never seemed to do well so I finally transplanted it to the ground. Same thing for my lime tree. Once I transplanted the lime into the ground it just sat there for a year doing absolutely nothing. Finally last year it got enough new leaves where you can't see through it. It is also starting to bear fruit.

I would suggest that next year you gradually start acclimating it by bring it in for 4 hours for a few days then increasing the time.

Mary

I'm in Zone 7B but on the edge of Zone 8. We rarely get snow but usually get Temps at night below 30 degrees AT LEAST a few weeks (adding up individual days in total) in January and February at night. For most of the winter, daytime temps are in the 40s and 50s.

I have about 5 lemon seedlings that I started a few months ago. They haven't gotten very big either being in my sunroom. I was going to transplant them outside in the spring in a south facing location that is right next to my husband's shop in order to protect the trees from the north. I have some pomegranate seedlings to put out too... I was going to use these seedlings to see if the lemon trees would survive the winter weather here before transplanting this tree since it is 3-4 years old and I have yet to get a single lemon from it. I had high hopes THIS would be the year....

Forgot to add... I have also toyed with the idea of putting a removable greenhouse with cow panels around the seedlings I'm going to transplant outside in the spring. They would only be covered in the winter to protect from frost.