Question
Meyer lemon
Hi Kathy,
Need your help before it's too late for my tree.
We bought this tree this year in early spring, full of blooms. We actually only have (had, one just dropped) 4 lemons. They aren't a whole lot bigger than a golf ball and the skin is sort of rippled looking. They are completely yellow now.
About a month ago we started to leaves dropping. By the way, the lemon is in the same container we purchased it in and inside the house, where it has been most of the time since we purchased it. Leaves usually drop 2 to 3 at a time. They are still green when they drop. They are dropping from the leaf stem and not from the actual tree limb. I can't see that there are any kind on insect, brown spots, sooty mold or actually anything, even with a magnifying glass. Once all the leaves have dropped from a limb, the limb starts to dry. I thought my moisture meter might be bad showing the moisture was good. I dug down into the soil about 2" and it did not seem to we moist so I watered the plant. Had no leaf drop for 3 days, then it started all over again. Watered again but it had no effect this time. I do not know how long the plant has been in this container but really want to repot it NOW in hopes this will help, but I afraid I'll be putting addition strain on it.
We live in South Carolina, I have the plant facing a North window and also have a plant light for additional lighting that is on until late evening.
Please help before it's too late.
Thanks, John
AnswerHi John, Sounds like you may need to move this tree up to a larger container as it may not have sufficient soil to keep it moist. If it is grafted it will grow faster than a patio type on its own roots. Also if you have a container under it to collect water it must be emptied 15 minutes after watering as not to cause root rot. Cut off your dead branches, is usually all a citrus needs. You could apply Atomic Grow to help push the new leaves back out and promote a healthy root system again. It is organic so perfectly safe for inside the home. kathy
