Pull the lemons off. You MUST treat for spider mites. If the leaves fall off a touch, they're goners to start with. So, treat, treat, treat. Water appropriately, fertilize appropriately and provide as much light as possible, including supplemental full spectrum grow lights if needed. And then hope for the best. And, you should really just post to your original thread, to keep the thread going, rather than start a new one :-)

Patty S.

the twigs are green and can produce enough food to keep the tree going for months if not a few years. There are some trees that get everything from their chlorophyll stems. your tree will come out next spring. Make sure she gets light so the stems can do their job.

Steve

Dear Patty and Steve:

Thanks for your responses and encouragement! I won't give up hope just yet...

I've pulled the lemons and ordered some Neem Oil. If knocking the rest of the leaves off doesn't matter, I might go through and try to get some mites off with a damp paper towel in the meantime...

And Patty, thanks for the posting tip! I'm still working out some of the posting mechanics :)

Cheers,
Liz

Definitely do not give up hope. Citrus are amazingly resilient. The roots are trying to recover. The leaf drop is from a combination of damaged roots and transplant shock, completely expected, and the damage, frankly, was probably done prior to your repotting, even, and you're now just seeing the fruition of the damage. Stressed trees are targets for bug infestations, so treat, treat, treat. Spider mites are very persistent, and if you have other houseplants, you'll have to treat those as well. I would first off, take your plant outside if the day is warm enough and hose it off with a hard spray of water, to knock off as many spider mites as possible. If you can't go outside, take it into the shower and hose it down. Treat. Repeat this process at least 6 times, about once or twice a week. Continue to lightly fertilize until you see new flush. Once you see new flush, you can increase the strength to 1/2 strength. Provide more light if possible. And just for future reference - you want to try to pot your tree up higher in the pot, than so far down. Not really enough room for root growth having it so deeply potted.

Patty S.

Thanks so much, Patty! (Sorry for delayed response, have a houseguest at the moment.)

My neem oil arrived today, so I'll give the little guy a rinse and some spraying this evening. Will continue to treat and monitor for little beasties, but am hopeful that this will help!

As for the re-pot... I recognize that it should be sitting a lot higher. This is my only houseplant, so I tried to order only as many gritty components as I would need for this pot, but vastly underestimated how much I'd be throwing away in the screening process and didn't have nearly as much as I thought I would. But the plant was doing badly enough that I wanted to do the repot immediately rather than wait 'til I was able to get more components together, so I went ahead. Rookie mistakes all around, I'm afraid! If the meyer makes it through this ordeal, I will endeavor to give him a much better repotting in the future.

Does the meyer normally produce new leaves year round? Or should I not expect to see any new growth until spring (assuming it lasts that long)?

Thanks again, and hope you're having a pleasant evening!
Liz

Yes, Liz, if you provide your tree with enough light and nutrients, and the correct amount of water. You'll see more growth in spring, but citrus will grow all year 'round.

Patty S.

All right, here's hoping for the best! Thanks again, will report back with any good news :)