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kay418

Meyer Lemon Tree newbie

Kay418
9 years ago

I've been reading posts in this forum for several months now, and am so very grateful for all of the helpful information. It's that information that saved my Meyer Lemon tree. First, let me qualify this post by apologizing if my terminology is incorrect or if I sound like a complete newbie. We purchased a tree from Costco -- not exactly the best source, but then we didn't know anything about Meyer Lemon trees. It looked like a Charlie Brown Meyer Lemon Tree. We transplanted it to a very large pot with good, loose soil, and I started fertilizing with something recommended at a local nursery. It was doing ok, putting on new foliage at what I thought seemed like a reasonable pace. It already had 5 little lemons on it about the size of golf balls. We started getting a few flower buds, but never had more than two or three clusters at a time, and almost as soon as the new baby lemons started emerging, they turned yellow and dropped off. I switched fertilizer to something else that came highly recommended, but the tree wasn't faring much better. I read that one problem could be root rot. So 4 months ago, we took the tree out of its pot. Unbeknownst to me, my roommate had potted it by placing 3-4" of leaves in the bottom of the pot thinking that would be good compost, then filled the rest of the container with really good loose soil. The leaves in the bottom of the pot were compacted and damp, so it appeared to me that the pot was not draining like it should. Also, as we were removing the soil, we discovered grubs. Lots of 'em. The roots of the tree looked ok though. So we got new soil and replanted the tree. It was not happy. I didn't think it would make it. Then I read in this forum about Foliage Pro, and started feeding the tree every time I watered. I only fertilized at one-half strength for about 2 months. The tree responded, but very slowly. Then about 2 months ago, I started feeding full strength. Within about a month, there was a noticeable difference. Not only was the tree putting on new foliage like crazy, but it also started putting on flower buds. At last count, there were 23 flower bud clusters (I stopped counting at 23), all much larger and looking much healthier than ever before. Anyway, I'm definitely a believer in Foliage Pro, and this forum. Woo-hoo!