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adelae_gw

Dramatic Meyer Lemon Questions

adelae
10 years ago

Hello All! I recently moved my Meyer lemon inside for the winter (along with a calomondin and key lime). All three are in a sunroom with a E/SE exposure. Calomondin is trucking along like nothing happened, key lime dropped a few leaves but seems to have acclimated. My Meyer, however, is dropping leaves quickly. The leaves yellow and then drop (but I also noticed today it is setting new buds. It has been inside about one month.). I fertilize with a weak solution of dyna gro foliage pro. It has windows on two sides with bright S/SE exposures. It was in total shade for a few weeks before coming in. Is it just dropping leaves to put out new leaves more acclimated to new conditions? This is a four foot tree with many blooms and I ripe lemons and I don't want to lose it! I have not found any pests.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Comments (8)

  • johnmerr
    10 years ago

    Well, if you could post a photo, you would get a lot better advice; but short of that you have probably made some of the classic Meyer lemon errors. First, when you dramatically change the light conditions a Meyer will drop most, if not all its leaves, to replace them later with leaves better suited to the new light conditions. To move a Meyer from outside to inside without the leaf loss, you need to move it from full sun to partial sun for 2 weeks; then to full shade for 2 weeks; then indoors; reverse the process when putting it out in the Spring... and please DO put it out, if you can; you will be rewarded with a happy, healthy plant.
    Second, when you bring it indoors to a sunny window, the plant gets warm; but the roots generally stay cool; and citrus roots don't like to grow into cool soil... the solution is to put some sort of heater to warm the soil, or to put the plant a little further from the window. The thing to remember is first the roots grow; and then the leaves and branches.

  • adelae
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you for the heater advice! I did move the tree into shade for several weeks before bringing it indoors. It did fine last winter. An it definitely gets put back outside in the spring, it takes up too much space in my sunroom! Will try to keep the roots warm somehow. This room gets very cool at night (we like to sleep in a cool house.). I can't post any pictures since I don't know how from my phone.

  • meyermike_1micha
    10 years ago

    If the room is above 55 degrees, it would not need bottom heat..

    You have done your part when it comes to light..

    Have you checked your soil to see if it's compacted? Have you transplanted recently? Does it have a good structured mix?

    It could be from over watering or compacted soil since this can cause yellowing very rapidly...Just a thought:-)

    That kind of light is perfect and I wish I had windows like that for my Meyer...If it did well last year then I suspect the soil is giving up, or roots are damaged for some reason..

    Mike

  • adelae
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I figured out pictures! And what should I do about checking the roots? I did repot the tree last spring. I have the tree in a somewhat coarse mix because I don't like water to sit (I'd rather water more frequently). Thanks so much for all the help I'm getting, I really want to save my tree :(. And it actually gets a lot more light than pictures, the sun hasn't made it over the mountain yet this morning.

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    10 years ago

    Hello!
    First, that doesn't look like a slightly coarse mix...

    Secondly, why are you fertilizing with a "weak" solution of Foliage Pro? What does that mean? How weak, how often?

    Josh

  • poncirusguy6b452xx
    10 years ago

    adelae

    You have your zone marked Georgia 6 b. did you mean 8b

  • adelae
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    No mistake. I am at almost 3500 feet in extreme north ga.

    I use tsp foliage pro per gallon of water.

  • poncirusguy6b452xx
    10 years ago

    You are in the coldest of Georgia and I am in the warmest of ohio 6b and you are probably 300 miles south of me. Are you near the Appalachian trail. I hiked it from Maine to Georgia in 1990.

    Meyermike are you near Katahdin. I have hike that section from Katahdin to Hanover in 1990, 2001, and 2008. I know how short your winter days are and how low the anemic sun rises at max.

    Steve