I've had a meyer lemon the past 3 years, I've re-potted 2 times and this last time when I repotted I took out all of the old soil (miracle grow palm&citrus) and replaced it with a mix of pine bark mini nuggets, soil conditioner and new MGP&C... I did this to improve drainage and root compaction in the pot. I also added a heater to the soil (like you use in a terrarium). I moved it inside to the same south facing window I always moved it to and almost instantly leaves curled up, shriveled and dying. This past summer I had lots of blooms but no fruit while my calamondin bloomed and fruited twice.

I did these same exact things to my calamondin and it seems to be ok other than a few leaves dropped. I hope I didn't kill the lemon...

any ideas? or should I start looking for a replacement lemon?

Well, for sure the plant is stressed from either the move to new soil or the change in environment going indoors or both. I also would not advise installing a heating cable in the soil - it will be too hot when in contact or close proximity to the roots, you would want the cable run circular on the outside of the container instead. A photo of the tree would help in this case as well, if not what container size and how old is the tree? Many times curling leaves indicates over fertilization (tip of the leaves turning color first also indicates this).

What I would do if this was my tree:

Re-pot into fresh high quality medium. Try again with your mix if you like. or if you would like a recommendation, try something called Pro-Mix, and add a little sand,(50lb sand per bale) Every tree I have (15) is currently in this mix - it never fails, much better then the commonly recommended CHC, epically in our area of NC. scratch in 1/4 strength organic fertilizer to top 1-2 inchs and cover with soil, water thoroughly and not again until top 2 inches are dry. Remove heating cables from soil and affix to exterior of container. Provide as close to 50%-60% humidity as possible for the duration of the indoor stay. Fill a spray bottle with water and a few drops of liquid organic kelp, spray once a day to help keep humidity up, this will also help with the tree stress.

tullymars, reading your post, my understanding is that you totally removed all of the old soil. Whatever, by the stress immediately shown by your tree, you surely must have damaged the root system in your efforts to dislodge the old medium. Therefore the roots are no longer able to adsorb enough water to fulfill the needs of the foliage. As quickly as the foliage curled and collapsed, the damage must have be quite extensive. The entire root system of a citrus tree is capable of absorbing water. However, the older portion of the roots, absorb very little liquid. It is the young root ends that absorb most of the water. Personally, I would think hard about once again putting the tree through yet another transplanting at this time. The tree is weakened, and badly stressed. As a guess I would give the tree a 30-40 percent chance of survival. Keep the soil moist but not wet. As your tree presently is having difficulty absorbing enough water required to fully support the tree, I have always wondered if placing a clear plastic bag over the entire scion would help compensate for the loss. Personally, I have never had to try it, however that is exactly what is done when attempting to root a cuttings, if one does not have a heated propagation table with a misting system. The reason that a plastic bag is placed over the cutting is to reduce the cutting's stress, and to keep the cutting from dessication t until it develops it own roots. Best of luck to this tree. - Millet (787-)

should I yank the heat cables out and apply them to the outside?

I also trimmed the roots back, but not a lo at all... I didn't think it would react in this manner

I placed it on my porch now so I could flood the pot and not the house!

The growth of citrus roots are retarded, and finally completely checked by either too low or too high temperatures. All growth of a citrus tree (both roots and foliage) is completely stopped with temperature at or below 55F. Normal growth occurs at temperatures of from 68F to 86F, with the optimum somewhere between these points. At higher temperatures the growth is slowed, and at 95F (35C) it is decidedly inhibited. Therefore, for good root growth try to keep the root zone at a temperature around 80F. If the average daily temperature on your porch at this this time of year is < than 70F, the trees root system will have a hard time recovering. As Ryan advised, it would be much better if the heating cable was wrapped around the outside of the container. Lastly, you write that you trimmed the roots back, but not a lot. Unfortunately the "little" pruning you did probably cut off all, or most, of the active root tips. Now you will have to wait and watch, hopefully the stems will not start to turn brown and die back. - Millet (788-)

well it appears that I may have brought death to the MI lemon. My calamondin is doing fine though. The bare branches on the lemon have become brittle

anyone know of a good place to order another?

I bought my meyer lemon tree from Bayflora.com. They will answer questions also if you email them so good customer support.

I've also looked at http://meyerlemontree.com/ but I didn't buy from them since Bayflora contacted me first.

These are just suggestions so feel free to order from any place that you feel will suit you.

thanks, I'm checking out the sites now.


anything else thats tasty (or easy) to grow?

I want another lemon for sure but might be interested in something else as well

Fig trees can be a good plant to own but I've often heard that it's better to grow them in pots. With the roots somewhat restricted you can get good crops and teh roots won't burrow in your yard.

Pomegranate trees could be worth looking into also. Some varieties can survive down to 15 degrees F. They can taste good and when established they can grow a lot of fruits that I personally like.

You could grow a lychee or longan tree indoors during the winter but it can be difficult since it's a subtropical plant. I mention them mainly since they taste really good.

These are just suggestions for good plants to look into.

Grow a dwarf mango like Pickering. they stay about the same size as dwarf citrus and have alot less problems