I would say a shock to that poor tree put in your hot DRY sun like that? I would of covered it for days with some sort of shade cloth until it took, but then I am not and expert with in ground.

The good people whom know their trees well will be by:)

Mike

The sun is not the problem, nor is the heat as long as you water it a cupla times a week during the hot summer. Your tree is suffering from transplant shock; it is especially hard on trees this size or bigger. I think you are doing the right thing; you might give it spritz of water during the hottest part of the day... and get that thing that looks like a can off the bottom of the tree; it will only serve to cook the roots and the trunk. If you want to protect the trunk from sunburn until the canopy fills in, paint it with white paint; buy the cheapest white latex and dilute it 1 to 1 with water. And last, as much as you are going to hate to do it, take off the fruit; so the tree can put all its reserves into new leaves instead of into the fruit. The fertilizer you have is good; it should be applied 3 times per year or 4 if your soil is sandy according to label directions; put the fertilizer at the drip line of the tree, or in a circle whose diameter is equal to the height of the tree. After you do these things and the tree begins to recover, watch it for signs of Iron, Magnesium, or Manganese deficiencies... I am assuming you have a high pH soil; and you may have to use chelated minerals to get the tree to absorb them.

Do not prune your tree, as its carbohydrate reserves are stored in the trunk and limbs.

Good luck and keep a good thought; Meyers are quite resilient.

Thank you John for the detailed feedback! It is a huge help~

I tested the pH when I took the photo today and it has a 7.5 reading. I will take off the fruit like you said and continue the watering schedule of 2-3 times a week. And get the paper cover off that came with the tree and get a little bit of white paint on the trunk.

Thanks again! I will come back and post progress when the tree start to recover from the shock.

John. That is what I meant. Thanks

I am sure once that tree comes out of shock, if it doesn't die from that extreme heat, if will be find

I think the tree will recover; but for a Meyer that size is pushing the limit for transplant shock. pH 7.5 is about the upper limit where non-chelated minerals will be effective. Since it is a garden tree and not a commercial operation, I would still use chelated minerals once a year to have a better effect. I even use chelated mineral application on my commercial trees; I don't think it is really necessary, and costs a little more, but for me it is an insurance policy.

Your tree put into the ground with that kind of heat and intense sun until your tree gets use to its new environment is shock to me. Exactly what I said. Therefore I would use a shade cloth like all my friends do in your type of HOT sun climate until they see their trees perk up, because that is what would happen.

Now I have a question for John? If it were not for that hot sun and intense heat , why wouldnt his tree do fine as my dad's do in the Islands or like my aunts in Florida?
None of them experience transplant shock if done correctly. . They all gove their trees time adjust to that amount of light right after a transplant unless they do a transplant in winter or in the coolest months of the year.
Wasn't you that said light changes, never mind hot sunlight causes leaves to drop? A bit confused.

Thanks.

The best source to help you with your citrus growing problems will most likely be the Cooperative Extension Master gardeners in your area since they will be intimately aware of your specific environmental/growing challenges.

Take a look at the enclosed citrus problem guide from U of A and consider calling the Cooperative Extension number provided, or ask for your nearest office.

Also, hopefully someone living near you who's successfully grown Meyers/citrus in general will chime in shortly. Where exactly are you located?

Tim

Here is a link that might be useful: University of Arizona citrus help

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the info you have posted. I am located in Tempe, AZ. Based on the PDF fro U of A and what John said, I might have to get some chelated minerals (iron?) and hopefully that help the tree a little.

I just went out and took all the small fruits off the tree and removed the cone from the trunk. It looks like the cone was also help preventing water from touching the base on the tree when I water/soak. So I will have to move the soil around and away from the base of the tree to avoid standing water there.

Now I am also getting ready to plant a 5 gallon pot of Temple Bamboo in this area of the yard. We will see if it survives...

Mike,

Do your Dad and Aunt transplant Meyers of this size... from pots, with such relatively small trunk size compared to the tree? Yes, light change is also a factor; but my experience tells me that only the strongest of trees at this size will make it. Okay, we all can agree Meyers are sensitive; too much water, they drop their leaves; too little water, they drop their leaves; let them get too dry and then water, they drop their leaves; radically change the light conditions, they drop their leaves...BUT.. they recover from all these, if treated properly.

Tim,
This is a Meyer we are talking about; and I doubt the AZ Extension service has much, if any experience about growing Meyers... oranges? Grapefruit? Lisbon/Eureka lemons? your advice is spot on. Meyers? You better look to someone who actually has experience growing Meyers in the ground.

Jacqdavis,
Not all plants are as sensitive as Meyer Lemons; the bamboo will need a ton of water in your climate; but if you give it that, and a little Nitrogen, it should do fine; it is a tropical plant, so it likes heat.

Thanks again John.

Hi Jacq,

Take a look at the following link from AZ Master Gardeners (even better than the prior link) that was put out in 2011 and has really good info on most citrus grown in AZ; there's even mention of the Meyer so you may yet want to search out your local experts. Besides, Meyers are still citrus, so their advise should still be generally relevant.

Best of luck!
Tim

Here is a link that might be useful: AZ Master Gardeners citrus guide.

Tim,

A Meyer is a unique variety; you can keep it alive with "general citrus advice"; but it will not thrive.
When I started my project I couldn't even get the citrus gurus at UCD or UCR to help me because they just didn't have any experience. The folks in CA who do have experience (Sunkist and Limoneira) will NOT help because they consider people like me to be competition.
I am impressed that the AZ Master gardeners "mention"the Meyer... not exactly the same as knowing how to grow it.
Here's a foto of the possible reason Sunkist considers me competition; these are selling in Montreal at $4.50 per pound and in CA/OR at $3 per pound. I will make a lot of money if I sell my lemons for 10 cents. BTW, by the end of July I will have 10 times as many trees as the largest Meyer grower in California. No brag, just fact.

Hi John,

I do agree with you that the Meyer is unique, which may be why of all the citrus in my garden it's doing the best, LOL. I do like the above link (particularly for jacq) for the detailed guidance it gives on watering citrus (generally) in the much warmer AZ climate.

The costs for commercial Meyers are truly amazing, indeed! I've paid about $7 for 2 lbs from my local Costco for them. So much better to grow & pick your own, I say...

Best,
Tim

Tim,
You need to come to Guatemala to see the "Meyer lemons at work" I am a good host for visitors and friends.

www.visitguatemala.com

The world will happily pay 2-3 dollars for pound for Meyers; chefs would pay double that; someone just has to supply them... Our 5 year plan is 50,000 trees producing 15 miilin fruits. c'mon down!

Tim,

Thank you for the second link. It is definitely helpful to have instructions related to Arizona's climate.

Jacq

Jacq,

Glad to hear you found the site helpful. Please do keep us posted with how your Meyer comes along. Especially since it's such a relatively new citrus in warmer parts of the SouthWest, I'm quite keen to know how they grow and produce in your area!

John, you are too kind. I will definitely take you up on your offer one day. Would love to see your Meyers in person and Central America is one of the few regions in the world we've not yet explored. Best of luck on your Meyer endeavor!

Regards,
Tim

Just by removing the fruit, and a bucket of water yesterday, the tree is already looking much better. I am getting the white latex paint to to paint the trunk today. I am feeling really good about it now and will keep you all posted with the progress!

Thank you all for your help, you guys are awesome!

Now. Add to the mix giving it a bit of shade and it will thank you for all the wonderful help you got here. A good bunch of people you met and that I have gotten to know too

Mike.

Thats awesome Johmerr, when are you going to go into selling them, or are you already?

Our first marketable fruit will be harvested in November. We have had fruit from previous trial plantings and from the current plantings that have only been used for promotion or post harvest testing. We plan to begin shipments before Christmas by air to London, Paris, and Amsterdam; we won't make much if anything on those due to the air freight cost; but it will allow us to do promotions, TV and chef/cooking show placements, and otherwise build the market.

Wish you could ship some to Canada. Myer here is rare to find, if there is anything, I am paying around 5 dollars a pound. Bu t I do love them for their unique fragrance.

Yellowthumb,

See the picture above; that is Montreal. We are considering transshipment to Canada from Wilmingtion, Delaware; but that won't be for another year.

John

Figure I would report with update. My meyer lemon tree is looking much happier and there is no real signs of leaves dropping!

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Here's a close up of new leaves growing too!

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You've done well, grasshopper; I think you can be confident it will make a full recovery and maybe even make the secondary bloom around August. If not, it has plenty of grow time before the Spring bloom. When you see some new growth starting, I would give it a light fertilizer and then maybe August start a regular regimen of 3-4 times per year of balanced citrus fert. applied at the dripline according to label instructions.

Thank you John and everyone who was here helping me. Just wanted to give you an update on how the tree is doing.

{{gwi:594967}}

There are some pretty good new growth on the branches.

A week ago, I sprinkled a little bit of Kerex Chelated Iron and sprinkled a tiny bit of The Garden Guy's Extreme Citrus Blend fertilizer.

Two days ago, I added some compost mix around the base of the tree to help retain some moisture.

I lightly shower the tree with water every other morning and sometimes really hot afternoons, and sprinkled water on the ground around the tree a little to give it moisture to help it through the dry hot days here.

It is definitely looking much better now.

Now that you are treating your Meyer with the pampering that it loves; and it is adjusting to the soil and climate, it is possible you may get flowers in August-October. If you get flowers, leave them until they set fruit and then I would recommend you take off most all of them to encourage the tree to grow; if you take off the flowers before they set, the tree will only make more flowers. Given the care and the size of the tree, you should get a major bloom next Spring; and by then, you could leave more fruits. Be sure to keep us posted; we all love success stories.

Thank you John. I will remember to do as you recommended when it starts flowering.

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to post some updates. The tree is doing well, I think... the leaves are still pale green, and it did not put out flowers during August-October last year.

However, it did start putting out lots of flowers this month!

I think we might get a good crop of first harvest this year!

I still hope someday I can figure out why the leaves are still pale green though~

Hi, great to see the Meyer is on the way back! I am in NorCal and have had this happen to me (oranges, lemons, and limes) last August (when it hit 102F a few days in a row). I (over)fed them and failed to keep the soil wet.

If the Meyer is showing any signs of dehydration even through you are watering / and / or Unless you have definitive proof (soil analysis) of nutrient deficient soil, I'd not add any fertilizer until you get 3-4" of new branch growth. Heavy blooming is a classic stage of recovery from drought and shock.

It is much too easy to over-fertilize. A dose of fertilizer raises the salt level of the soil and can quickly dehydrate the plant if you do not keep the ground wet. Just like your lawn, you cannot let it dry out after dosing it with fertilizer. Burned / damaged roots cannot absorb nutrients and by adding more fertilizer you will just more roots.

I have a Sanguinelli Orange that looked far worse from two years of steady dosing of organic fertilizer... i stopped the feeding last August, flushed the soil, and transplanted 2 months ago it to fresh soil (without adding anything). Lo and behold it is just starting to push loads of buds.

I have a Valencia that suffered through multiple transplants and aggressive feedings. It has about a dozen leaves and is (finally) starting to show nubs of new growth, but looking dehydrated even though its been watered. i think it will pull it and replace the soil this week.

Good luck!

I have found it very hard to over fertilize inground Meyers, unless you are really trying. I have done it in fertilizer trials; but never in my garden trees. Most likely the combination of cold temperature and high soil pH means the Meyer has a hard time absorbing enough iron to make nice green leaves. It will improve as the soil temperature increases; but if it were mine, I would still give it a shot of chelated iron.

HI, I found these postings VERY helpful. As of tomorrow at 9am I'm having a 15gallon Meyer Lemon Tree, 15g Evergreen pear and 15g Pomegranate delivered and planted in my backyard I gotta say I'm nervous NOW about my choice of placement. My husband and I decided to place the Meyer in the North West Corner of our backyard. It will get morning sun but the hottest sun of the day 2pm-5pm it will be shaded from. I wonder if this is a good choice???? The pomegranate will be getting the most sun all day as well as the Evergreen pear. I was told that upon planting to add bone meal, sulfur and 1/2 local soil and 1/2 garden soil mix. I was told NOT to fertilize my trees for the first year as to allow them to focus growing strong root systems rather then strong branches. Are there other suggestions? I did get tree paint for both my Meyer and Pear but wonder if the pomegranate will need it now too? Geez, i'm just stressing out over this and could use some advise. If I need to cover the trees as they adjust from my local nursery were they have been in the heat to my soil, I will. I do expect some transplant shock I just can't afford dead trees. That's expensive. Any suggestion and advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I have a meyer, eureka and lisbon.....obviously I like them, along with a mature pink grapefruit that everyone I know's love.....I do too, they make a great grayhound!......in addition a couple of oranges *naval, blood, and valencia for juice), I have begun with great return on increased production to feed 3 times a year....valentines day, memorial day and labor day. They like it and heck don't we all like a good meal on occasion?

Can Myer Lemon Tree's be grown in a container in AZ?

yes

My greenhouse tops 100F almost every day. You will need to use a soil mix much more water retaining that the 5-1-1 mix every one talks about. You will need to up size your pot size in steps to ensure that you get the most fibrous roots possibly and you will need to water very deeply and sometimes very often. You also need to ask this same question in your own thread so that many others in the dessert can see and answer.

I live in Tempe,AZ and I recently acquired a six foot tall Meyer Lemon by a local nursery and planted in the north east corner of my back yard. It had Miracle Gro palm and citrus soil planted around the root ball. I haven’t painted the lower trunk yet,waiting for advice on that . I’ve watered it every day ,now I’ll water it every other day or what the experts suggest. It has blooms and small fruit all over it. All help appreciated!

Max McLeieer

50 % water 50% white interior paint and brush on.

Steve

Any reason exterior paint won't work?

chemical additives it exterior paint will kill your tree