After repotting my Meyer Lemon into CHC about 3 weeks ago, it decided to shed most of it's leaves. To my amazement, It didn't completely give up the ghost. Instead, it starting producing some blooms then more blooms and more blooms..... Now the 3 yr old has at least 85 blooms/buds on it with only a few leaves to support its metabolic needs. My question is, should I remove all the blooms right now or let them develop completely and then remove them? I don't want to damage the stem of the plant. Any thoughts?

Hello saugeyeguy2,
Meyer Lemons do a weird leaf drop trick at times- sometimes just a little bit of stress triggers a leaf shedding and a major blooming event.Many of the flowers may abort on their own-however I think that if you are very careful you should be able to remove a number of them without injury to the stem.You do not have to get rid of all of the flowers overnight My advice would to be patient with it-if a few fruit set you could remove them later or even allow a couple to stay on.

Thank You for the reply!! I also forgot to thank Millet for the CHC's.
I'll leave a few on, based on the number of new leaves that develop. Also, I learned another valuable lesson in that you need to watch soil temps when plants are in darker colored containers at this time of year at this latitude. My soil temps were approaching 110 deg f. I have painted the containers white and lowered the temp to a max of 80-85 deg f. Thanks again for the advice

That's right. The soil temp should be no more than 90 deg F for optimum growth.

The first question is why did your Meyer Lemon become stressed to the point of dropping its leaves. The stress must have developed due to your transplanting, probably as a result of the destruction of the fine root hairs. What type of "soil" was the tree originally planted in, and did you remove the original potting soil? If so were you EXTA EXTRA careful. The actual optimum growth temperature for citrus roots is 86F. At temperatures above 95F root development is restricted. The next development that you have to watch out for is a die back (usually from the top) of the branches. Because the tree does not have many leaves that will transpire water, the soil will not require ANY irrigation. Do not water the tree until the soil becomes rather on the dry side. I also would not put the tree in direct sunlight. Lastly, it is very difficult to see clearly when your picture is enlarged, but it looks like the lower trunk and branches might be infested with scale. I would give the tree a 50/50 chance.