Hi
After looking at many citrus forums, it seems that a lot of people have experienced the dread Winter leaf drop for Lemons in general

Recently my Lemon tree put out new leaves and then dropped them all after I placed the tree on a newly purchased heater mat ( soil temp =80).


In any event, I would like to hear from anyone that hasnt lost all their leaves for thier Meyers and what they have done (direct light, heating, watering) so that the rest of us can learn

thanks!
Frank

Hi Frank,
My Meyer did fine this winter. It lost a few leaves, but not a bad amount. I just set it outside on the back stoop yesterday evening and noticed it had a lot of flower buds ready to open soon. May need to bring it back in as the weather's cooling back down this weekend. I kept it in the back room (unheated) upstairs all winter. It got natural morning light, but no lights or heating pads -- only water occasionally. I didn't check the temperature of the room, but would guess low 50s. Other than this, I don't know any secrets.

cheers,
Gene

Frank, I've had my Meyer indoors since October and it, as well as my other 3 small citrus, has experienced very little leaf drop. I have them in a southeast facing window with supplemental lighting (150 watt metal halide), and a small humidifier which is run overnight. I relatively new at this, but my guess is the humidifier made the difference. The soil temperature was only around 65 - 68 for most of the winter, but I'm happy with how the trees have performed.

CanesFan any soil temperature above 64F should be high enough to prevent WLD.

Millet
Happy Saint Patrick's day

Thanks everyone for the response, I am still stratching my head on this WLD. I wouldnt have thought that the temps dropped below 64.

Recently I lost all the leaves on a lemon. It was a few days after I placed it on a heater mat.....

Is it possible the roots drying out would cause this?

Frank

Most 'Meyer' trees in central and south Florida drop their leaves every winter, no matter what you do. It's not a problem. And in our case, it can't be soil temperature, since that never goes lower than about 74 F. The plant seems just to be genetically programmed to do it. The tree always recovers fully (if that's the right word -- I don't really think it's a disorder) and bears heavily afterward.

Malcomm

thanks! ........

I have 2 Meyers growing side by side. This winter and the arctic blast, one of them lost almost all of the Meyer lemon leaves while the other one did not drop a single leaf.

Here's the major difference and I don't know if there is any relevance. The one that did not drop a single leaf, I have grafted Tarocco and Vainiglia on the top canopy, but of course it has several original Meyer branches that are protruding away from those covered or protected by Tarocco and Vainiglia Sanguigno. But it is amazing to note that the tree is dark green overall, with only very few yellowing on the very tip of some of the Meyer lemon leaves.

The Meyer lemon that dropped about 99% of its leaves, I only grafted nothing but other lemon types on it. I also grafted Sudachi on the topmost part, but the Sudachi did not drop a single leaf, nor the other lemon grafts (new grafts). It has yellowing in all of its leaves, including the grafted ones. Last couple of winters when it is just a monografted Meyer lemon, it dropped only a few leaves and always become yellow green after the first frosts.

But then again, this winter, we have arctic blast, but the other Meyer with oranges grafted to it, is dark green all over and not a single leaf dropped. So am scratching my head.

Eversince I owned these 2 Meyers, I've been scratching my head.(duh).
Like Patty said " I don't understand this plant". Neither am I. It is the most finicky plant I know.