Question
QUESTION: It is me again.  I am really concerned with my tree.  Now, even healthy leaves are falling off.  If I just touch one of the leaves, it will fall off.  I called the people I bought it from because you had said I was watering it too much, but their instructions said it needed watered a lot.  They said that if the top inch of soil is dry that I need to water it and let the water drain out of the bottom and then repeat.  It is planted in a sandy rocky soil so maybe this has something to do with it.  Regardless, healthy leaves are falling off now and I am really concerned about my little tree.  I found some white colored balls in the soil when I was looking for bugs.  I squeezed it and a white liquid comes out. Could this be a bugs eggs or something?  Please help me I am REALLY confused and worried.
Thanks again

ANSWER: Cale, first of all, citrus are indigenous to Florida, and during the dry season down here, they receive very little irrigation; so they do not require to be watered as much as they told you (whomever they are). Second, the balls you see are placed in the soil at the nursery to retain moisture in the soil, ( I am not sure why they chose to do that either); If it were my little tree, I would repot it in a light potting soil, give it a good initial watering, then only when the soil was dry halfway down the pot, make sure you put drainage medium along the bottom. The leaf drop is a sign of stress, my opinion, is a combination of too much water initially and the reaction to the oil, it should grow new leaves in the upcoming weeks, as long as the roots haven't been damaged because of root rot from too much moisture. The plant needs to be lifted out and checked to make sure what the roots look like, hopefully they aren't rotted. Nick

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QUESTION: In your opinion, what type of soil would be the best to replant it in?  Also, I have a 60 watt incandescent light and an 8 watt florescent light on it.  Is this enough light?  And my last question, Ive been told that these trees need lots of humidity and that I should squirt the leaves with water from time to time, is this something I should be doing? Thank you for your patience and help.

ANSWER: ..I would use any good quality potting soil, but not the type with additives, (miracle grow, or anything with nutrients mixed in); Can you locate it near a window where it can get afternoon sun? Humidity is a good idea, because of the arid conditions in most homes in the winter, however, under normal conditions this isn't as important, albeit it will discourage white fly reinvestation. Remember when you lift it to check those roots to make sure they aren't damaged, you will know because they will literally fall apart when you tug them. If the soil by the roots is indeed very dry then  when you repot, water it well then back off until you notice the drainage holes begin drying up. good luck, and I have all the patience in the world:)

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QUESTION: I want to thank you.  My tree has recovered nicely and is producing new flowers all over it and new leaves are popping up everywhere.  There is something funny happening and I have never seen it before.  As the little flowers grow, they begin to open up.  Instead of splitting at the top to make the 5 pedals, a few don't split and instead, pull the other pedals up and out of the flower.  So now there are 2 or 3 pedals only connected to the top of the other 2 or 3 pedals and they are sticking straight up in the air.  Of course the ones that were pulled from the flower die quickly, but do you know what this odd and funny looking phenomenon means?  
Thanks,
Cale

Answer
Honestly Cale, I never really paid much attention to the unfurling of citrus blossoms, there are usually so many that many fall by the wayside while others stay through pollination and form small fruit only to have half of them fall off as fruit; the remaining mature into full size. The usual amount of blossoms that make it to full mature fruit is a very small percentage. Again, I have never paid much attention to the blossoms, but now you got my curiosity up, so I will be observing my citrus....regards Nick