Hello.

My Meyer Lemon arrived Saturday all the way from CA to GA via FedEx.

The tree is about 30” tall and the foliage is spread about 18” wide. The scion is grafted to a root stock that is about 6 inches high. Seems rather tall for root stock but I'm new at this.

The tree has about a half dozen little emerald colored lemons, the largest about the size of my pinky nail. I’m not sure if I should remove these or leave them. I’m interested in a healthy tree first and getting fruit second. Priorities.

The tree was in a 10” diameter container. Using some light weight potting soil that I mixed with pine needles I repotted into a slightly larger container (about 12” across) that has very good drainage. I placed some gravel in the bottom to ensure the drain holes do not become fouled and the container rests on some 1x1 blocks I cut to keep the container from sitting flush against the cement patio of my swimming pool. I was afraid to be very rough on the root ball even though it came in some very heavy soil. The original soil is very black and sandy. The potting soil I mixed seems to be feather light in comparison. I gave the tree a very good soak.

There was only one very small branch that had a break from shipment. Nearly all the leaves were all curled under with some having yellow spots but I think this is normal for shipping that far in the heat. I did not find any leaf drop inside the shipping box and as of today, no leaf drops still.

There are several examples of bright new leaf out crops that seem to be doing fine. Still only been 3 days since I got the tree and repotted. I checked the soil about 3-4 inches deep this evening and it is still moist (not damp) so I'm refraining from watering. I very much fear over watering. I also fear adding anything but plain water until I think the tree is stable. Maybe keep this up for a few weeks. I honestly don’t know what is best but seems to reason that simple is best till the tree looks ready for more.

I've never actually grown anything in my life so this is a new learning period for me. I don’t have any rain water to use and have used tap water. From what I understand tap water is typically very hard (lots of minerals and salts) and has a high Ph. I think hard water and high Ph (base) are both bad for citrus. Should I look into distilled water? I don’t want buildup on the roots. Also at some point I’ll need to look at lowering the Ph (acid) but I’m not sure when or how I should go about it. I added pine needles to the potting mix because I’ve heard they are acidic.

I keep expecting some leaf drops from stress but so far none. Some of the leaves looked a bit torn or possibly chewed. I looked fairly closely for pests but have not found any. Except for one small leaf that was curled oddly in a roll. I went to open and dozens of teeny tiny spiders streamed out on invisible webs. I'm hesitant to kill them since I'm not sure if spiders are a good bug or bad bug. I've never seen a spider feed on a plant so I assume it may be a good idea to let them be.

I have the tree in full southern exposure sunlight. I’m keeping an eye out for sunburn. I don’t now if the tree was acclimatized to full sun or not. Is full sun good for a tree that may be stressed or should I keep it in shade for a few weeks first?

I think I may have asked too many questions in this over-long post. Thanks for reading if you made it this far down.

I'm very happy that I have this forum as a resource. If I've done anything foolish I hope someone will set me straight. Any advice is much appreciated. I'll post some pictures in the near future if that is appropriate.

Hi Bo, and welcome to the citrus forum.

I will only comment on one aspect of your post since many others here have more experience with citrus per se. Placing gravel in the bottom of a pot does not improve the drainage in the pot.

When soil is watered, it is first saturated, then some portion of the water drains out by gravity. The amount of water that remains in the soil is what is known in soil science as the "field capacity." When a container is at "field capacity" the adhesive and cohesive properties of water result in a portion of the mix near the bottom of the pot remaining saturated. This is known as the "perched water table." Within the PWT there is no aeration of the roots and root problems develop. The lower the PWT, the better.

The finer the mix, the higher the level of saturation of the medium in the bottom of the pot and the higher the perched water table. The coarser the mix, the lower the perched water table. The nice part about CHC is that they hold a lot of water yet containers of CHC have a neglible perched water table.

Another thing that lowers the PWT is increased height of the container. (That's one reason you see citrus and other trees grown in these 4" x 14" containers.) Gravel in the bottom of a container doesn't effectively contribute to the growing medium space. All gravel does is shorten the effective height of the container and raise the PWT.

I hope this is helpful. Others will comment on this and other aspects of your post.

SB

Congrats on your new baby!

New trees will self-thin fruits if its too loaded. If you only want a huge tree first, then you can trim them all off, but it wont make it less healthy keeping them on. if keeping it in a container, you may not want it huge... I let my new potted trees fruit (only have 3 of fruiting age)

I keep mine in the shade for a few days now- after accidentally frying a Pummelo. It came back, so did my parched Calamondin, but I personally think the first few days after a re-pot is safest in the shade.

Happy fruiting!