Saw this lemon tree in a hobby store today. Looked like it had been dry for a while, leaves were all hanging limp and curled up. Some were shriveled very dry to the touch (beyond rescue I'm affraid). Told the store salesman I'd be interested to buy it if he knocked something off the price (€35). He said he'd let it go for €17. I took it home and watered religiously. There's one lemon left on the tree but it looks rather miserable.



Also I can't believe the type of soil they plant these things in where it came from. It seemed to be composed of clay for the most part. Very dense, hard and heavy. When I started watering it took a very long time for the water to start running through. Also there are lots of roots exposed. When (if) I get this tree back on its feet I'm going to repot it in Millet's CHC/peat mix.

Is that dish it is sitting on filed with water? If so, remove it immediately, because you are killing it. Citrus must never, ever, ever sit in trays of water. What this tree needs now is some tlc. Give it plenty of good light, high humidity and warmth at the roots - the roots should be about 70F if not more (this is the temperature in the pot, not the air temp). Keep it away from that radiator. You should let it dry out a few inches down in the soil before watering again, and when you do, water deeply so that a good portion of the water drains out of the bottom. Avoid fertilizers until it is showing signs of good health again.

So, be vigilant in watering, learn about watering citrus, put it in good light, keep the roots warm and give it heaps of humidity

As for the potting mix...I don't know whether I would repot it now. It might be stressed, but if the soil is really that appalling, repotting now might be worth the risk. Let an expert chime in first though before you do.

I admire you for buying the tree in its run down state. I for the most park buy healthy plants, but I also enjoy buying the more sickly ones, just for the joy of nursing it back.

One other thing to do is check the tree THOROUGHLY for pests and diseases. Every stem and leaf needs to be inspected.

Oh, and clip the lemon off. Let it use its energy for regaining health instead of fruit. If it has some seeds in, plant them

Hey aesir22 thanks for the feedback! Don't worry, I don't leave any water in the tray. Once the water has drained through the soil into the tray I remove the excess water. I just leave the tray there so I don't make a mess in the living room (well... it is kind of a mess already).

The tree is placed so that it receives direct sunlight from noon till night, at a safe distance from my other citri wich just had a small spider mite problem. I thoroughly checked the entire plant and apart from its dehydration it seems to be in fine shape. I just checked the tree again and many leaves have risen up and seem to be un-curling. I've been misting it every hour since I've watered it in the hope that maybe the leaves will absorb the moisture directly.

I wasn't going to repot it right away. If most of the leaves remain on the tree and maybe there's some new growth I'll get to it.

Good tip about clipping off the lemon, hadn't thought of that. I will post pictures when (if) the tree gets better.

It is absolutely true that you shouldn't leave a potted citrus sitting in water.
However, if the growing medium is totally dehydrated it can be extremely difficult to re-wet right through. So water won't permeate to all the roots but just trickle around the outside. In this case, you do need to leave the whole pot submerged in warm water for about 24hours. It is the only way to re-wet the compost and won't cause root rot as long as the process isn't extended.

I've been watering and misting the tree regularly but always remove the excess water afterwards... however the day after I posted the leaves started falling. I guess the tree has been without water for too long and the leaf cells were too damaged. The good news is that new leaves are already on their way.



Now that the tree has barely any leaves I noticed how big those thorns are. My lime has a few thorns too but compared to these there's just no contest.