Our Meyer Lemon tree is having problems. It has been relatively healthy and just flowered recently and had three fruits growing. We recently brought it inside for the winter. We have owned it about 6 months, I forget how old it was when we got it (but it came with its first fruits just starting).

We are careful not to over water it. Once or twice a week. The medium is about 60% pine bark, 30% soil and 10% pearlite. (Not ideal, we should use less soil). PH is a bit high at around 7, but we are using vinegar to try and lower it to at least 6. We fertilize it with a 5-2-1 fertilizer about once a month. It currently gets as much light as we can give it, which is probably less than ideal.

The tree has been putting out new growth, leaves and flowers. The problem is some of the leaves are turning brown at the tips. Why is this? Could it be salt buildup? Soggy soil? I have included some pictures.

Also with the water meter readings, a section of the pot is reading "Wet" even though we last watered a week ago.

Please help!! Should we repot to new potting medium asap?

Maybe the wrong kind of food, wrong kind of "soil", wrong kind of water???

By any chance are you watering your tree with water from a water softener??? you would be surprised how many people make that mistake. Water softeners replace damaging minerals with table salt (Sodium Chloride), which burns plants.

We are just watering with regular tap water, so that rules out the water softener possibility. It seems like it may be the potting soil we used, as it seems like our fertilizer is not the problem either.

Looking at Mike's questions to Gro-nut in another post, here are some answers to those questions which may be helpful:
- House temp is around 68 degrees
- Fertilizer is Growers Secret 5-2-1
- We let the water drain freely, but less than a gallon of water
- Since moving indoors, watering is once a week

Any recommendations if we decide to repot? (We would have to repot indoors as winter has finally hit New England...)

If you decide to repot, I would use 60% bark, 10& soil or peat, and 30% perlite.
You understand why, right?

I would also agree with John in that it could be some sort of salt burn. Tap water can be a culprit in which it does not easily drain out of the pot rapidly.
There is plenty of salts, metals, chlorine in tap water not to mention salts in fertilizer alone in my area.

I'll bet that if you started using rain water and flushing that mix out, the problem would be reversed.

Spring is best to do a repot, but if you feel it's a must now, use a much more porous mix and you and your plants will be very happy.

Welcome to growing in Mass!

Mike

Sadly, most of the leaves have developed brown tips. I'm going to gather some rain water right now. (At least there is something good coming out of these cold, rainy days!) When you say flush, how much water is a good flush? How would I know how much is too much -- especially if this soil mix seems to be retaining so much water already?

So would you recommend flushing and repotting? Or just flushing and waiting to see what happens? If we are to repot, Walmart is selling the Timberline Pine Mulch (looks like the only Pine Bark in stock around Boston this time of year). Is that a good product?

Thanks for helping out! We have been avid readers of this forum since getting the tree (whom we've named Harold). Too bad we're writing our first post when our tree is in its worst shape! :(

It should get better as you use rain water and or once you change the mix to a very porous one.
Once the mix dries, run rain water or distilled water until it runs through the bottom for at least a couple of minutes. You can use tap too, if you allow it to drain for a while. It will still help with any deposits in your mix.
Do you have a shower head?
Sit your plant in the tub and let it get showered for at least 5 minutes. This is good too.

Hold back on fertilizing until the spring, until you are able to water throughly, or until you change your mix.

I would use a wick or two and push it into the bottom of your pot so that any perched water is encouraged to drain out and away from the roots. Let the wick dangle by elevating your pot. This will encourage your mix to dry out faster until you change your plant into a better mix come spring.

Do you have an Agway anywhere close to where you live? I do. They are all over my area. Let me know.

Nice to meet you and please pray for a sunny day soon.

Mike:-)

So far it's looking alright, leaves are still intact and the browning seems to have come to a halt. We showered it for 5 minutes in the tub two times this week. Should the amount of water always be that much or is that just to flush out the salts? The soil seems dry already, after 3 days.

Also, can we start applying fertilizer now?

I hope you got the same stuff I was thinking..:-)

Harold, did you use perlite and the infamous peat and lime?

Did you bareroot it or pot up?

I am keeping my fingers crossed that you did:-)
We can talk about that, fertilizing and the watering once I know:-)

Mike

Insert one into the root zone and leave for awhile then check it. Best way is to press it against your cheek to judge the moisture.

Mike is right, there's no end to what you can grow in it! Almost dangerous stuff to have around, you will always be looking for a way to use it. lol..

JoJo

When re-potting it, we used the same pot, and massaged out as much old soil as we could before planting it in the 5-1-1 mix. I think we did that part right! :)

It's been really easy to lift the plant to and from the bathroom with how lightweight the mix is! Also, when watering, we're adding a teaspoon of white vinegar to the water.

Looking forward to hearing the watering & fertilizing instructions... Many thanks again!

Given the amount of soil in your previous mix, I would say overwatering/saturated mix.
Fertilizer burn is a possibility, I suppose, but it wouldn't be my first guess.

With recently re-potted plants, it is important to keep the mix uniformly moist -
so don't let the upper layers dry out the way you would with an established Citrus plant.
If you let the upper roots dry out and die, especially this time of year, your plant is
in for a sloooooow recovery....or a hasty decline.

Fertilization should resume 1 - 2 weeks after re-potting. If heavy root-pruning occured,
give the plant the full 2 weeks to get some new roots under it for water/nutrient uptake.

Also, stabilize the tree in the pot - this will help the roots establish faster in the mix.

Josh

Hey Josh!

Harold received an emergency soaking and has not had much leaf drop since, however, most of the leaves remain wilted.

How should we proceed from here? Should we continue on the same water schedule or should we give less water since we've lost some leaves? I usually run the shower for 4-5 minutes and let it drain for half an hour. Watering has been roughly every 4 days since putting in the 5-1-1 mix.

Thanks!! I hope it's not too late for recovery.

Typically after a harsh period like that, extreme drought, there is always lot's of root death and die off if the roots which do the bullwork of feeding and drinking.

What you usually experience is leaf droopiness, pest invasion, especially mites, and branch dieback.
Watch for the pests since they can be handled.

The best you can do for it is to treat it as usual. Make sure it's getting good light and don't over or under water.
I would not feed until you notice a difference in leaf health and or growth.

There is always hope it will pull through, and they usually do on themselves, but it may take time. It might even show off during the warmer months especially after being outside. So don't give up.

I have saved a many that have been through this just to end up with a healthy specimen within a year or two with patience. I have bought many from stores that have been through this for a buck or two and glad I did.

I wish your tree well.

Mike