New Meyer lemon tree- need advice!

9 years ago

Hello everyone! I purchased a Meyer lemon tree from an online nursery in September, and I am looking for advice to improve its health. It had no buds, flowers, or lemons when it arrived, and I want to learn how to get it to bloom and grow. I am new to citrus and houseplant care, so any and all advice is welcome!

To begin, when I received the plant I put it in new plastic pot using most of the soil it came in and just added Miracle Grow citrus mix around it to fill up the rest of the space in the pot.. I have since learned from these boards that this is not optimal and plan to repot with the 5-1-1 mix soon. Will this be too much stress on my tree? It is December in Michigan..
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Second, many of the leaves at the top of the tree have yellow spots, with a brown residue underneath where the spots are (see pictures). Is this scale? I have looked on the internet to try and diagnose this but I am unsure.
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Third, my tree has recently dropped about a dozen new leaves, mostly small ones at the bottom of the tree. I assume this is probably from too much water/poor drainage, but again I am unsure.
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The tree is by a east-facing window- should I supplement with a grow light through the winter? It is not very sunny in Michigan during the winter.
I also just bought the DynaGrow Foliage Pro and gave it a dose according to the packaging (1/4 t in 1 gallon, but only used about 1/2 gallon to water). So, one dose of fertilizer so far since September.

Any advice is tremendously appreciated!

Beth

Comments (4)

limeinqueens
9 years ago
Citrus needs bright, direct light and plenty of it. It probably wouldn't hurt to put some supplemental light on it, if it gets less than 6 hours full sun. I used to live in Michigan and not only are the days short from the northerly lattitudes, but it's the second-cloudiest state in the the US. So I think more light is a safe bet in your case.

I'm also a newbie myself so I don't have much to say about the leaf yellowing. It could be the result of soil that's too wet and soggy at the bottom, in which case changing the soil would solve that... Hopefully someone with more experience can chime in.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
9 years ago
The tree looks fine at the moment.

Wait to re-pot into a coarse, porous bark-based mix until the Spring when the sun's light is stronger.

I can't tell what the brown is on the leaves. Could be old damage. Could be pest. Since there's no fruit, you could always treat with a good systemic pest killer.

One 1/4 strength fertilization since September is not enough; thus the yellowing leaves. Mix up a 1/2 strength dose and fertilize today.

In a heavy mix, I'd aim to fertilize at 1/2 strength every 1 - 3 weeks, depending upon visible growth/blooms. Flush the mix once a month to mitigate salt build up in that mix.

Josh
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citrusweekendwarrior
9 years ago
schulerbeth,

That's a beautiful tree! The yellowing leaves dropping is due to lighting being changed. The tree came from the nursery were it was likely getting ideal lighting. So the tree might be cutting back a bit to adjust to its new home. Once the tree has adjusted to the spot, it'll stop dropping leaves.
The symptoms of over watering are very similar to under watering. Slight leaf curl, and may also droop. I do not see the with your tree.
You shouldn't be too concerned with the browning on the back of the leaves yet. Like Greenman28 said, looks like old damage. It'll never go away until the leaf is replaced. So if it doesn't worsen I wouldn't take any action.
You'll find that Meyer lemons would rather make lemons then make new leaves. So don't worry about trying to make it bloom.
Because you say you are new at this. And I see the tree is at a sliding glass door. Come spring time. You may be tempted to put the tree out in the morning on a nice day. You will want to be careful not to burn the leaves. Citrus trees need to acclimate (about 3 weeks) going into full sun from only a few hours of sun.
schulerbeth
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you all very much! :)