I have a Meyer Lemon tree that has lost all it's leaves. I hope it will come back and isn't completely dead. Here is it's story to help with any answers. I am new to this forum. I tried to be as detailed as possible, sorry for the length of the post.

I just got it in July and kept it in my sunroom. It did good in there until September and started to lose its leaves. I learned that it may be WLD or the fact that I hadn't fertilized it. I brought in inside since it was getting cold during the nights and added a slow release fertilizer, Citri-tone. I also noticed that it had some spider mites on it, not alot. I misted it a couple days a week and sprayed it with a insecticidal soap. I inspected the leaves daily and tired to keep the mites under control. I didn't notice any damage to the leaves. It still wasn't looking the greatest. I then flushed the tree in my shower to further kill the mites and to flush the soil as I have read about. I then started to fertilize with miracle grow ratio of 24-8-16. I did this ever time I watered which was about once a week, and misted a couple times a week. I tried not to over water it. It started to really look good and the leaves started to look greener and did not drop anymore. This lasted almost 2 months. It even started to develop buds for the first time. There seemed to be a lot of buds all over the tree. Then they started to dry up and fall off some even fell off before drying up. Once all the buds fell the leaves started at an alarming rate. I didn't do anything different at this point. I have it next to my bay window but not right in front of it. It doesn't get any direct sunlight but there is a baseboard heater in front of the window and I didn't want it to get too hot and dried up. Once I got down to 10 leaves I moved it to my kitchen window which is south facing but my kitchen tends to get cold, about 61F. I also re potted it using Miracle grow cactus palm and citrus soil because I read that regular soil is not good. I think the roots still looked good but I'm new to this so not sure. I also put in slow release Osmocote when I replanted because I read that citri-tone isn't that great. I live in NE PA so my choices are not that great. The last 10 leaves lasted a couple days then dropped. When the leaves dropped it seemed to only be the leaves and the stems were still attached to the tree. I have since moved it back to next to the window. Now the branches seem to be getting brown. It only took 3 weeks to go from looking good and budding to looking completely dead.

Here are pics. First is the current state of my tree, last is how it looked just a month ago.



Does it look like it will come back and if so does it matter where I keep it at this point because it has no leaves? I figure light is not going to matter at this point due to the lack of leaves. Should I just keep it where it is and keep it warm? My house doesn't get to warm in the winter, ranges from 63 -70F usually.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Put Christmas lights wrapped around the pot. I'm not some lemon guru but I did learn that citrus trees needs warm soil so the roots can stay active. So make sure you do that for starters. Also, maybe it was too dry in your room where it's at. I'm sure someone can give you some great tips here.

Don't feel alone. Almost every new grower has killed a tree. More growers have trouble with Meyer Lemons than any other variety. My guess is that your tree has a 35 - 40 percent chance of recovering. I would suggest that you invest in a soil thermometer, so that you can keep track of the root zone temperature. Keeping the roots at 64F during the winter months, will normally prevent leaf drop. If any further leaf drop occurs, raising the root temperature to 70F almost always bring it to a quick stop. As ChicagoRon writes, heating the container might keep the tree for dieing, but only time will tell. Good luck to you and this tree. - Millet (758-)

I'm not an expert so you might want to wait for a more expert response than what I'm writing.

(Edit: I see Millet responded as I was writing this so you got an expert response already.)

It looks like it's in one of those self-watering pots. That's probably not the best choice. You're likely to find a highly water saturated root zone with no room for oxygen especially with the Miracle Grow soil. I would lay the tree on its side and slide it out of the container to see how wet the soil is. If it's mucky wet, I would repot it in a more conventional container with holes in the bottom that's not too big using a more free draining medium. Remove any rotted roots. Don't leave the container sitting in a tray full of water. Dump the tray after you water the tree. Warm the container like ChicagoRon suggested. Don't fertilize when you water until the tree grows new leaves. Give it a moderate amount of sunlight. Branches that turn brown are dead. Hopefully, there's still some life left in the tree. My experience with a potted Meyer lemon is they can be a more tempermental than some other citrus trees. It is also possible that moving the tree from outdoors to indoors was enough of a shock that it dropped all its leaves. That happens sometimes but somehow I don't think that's what's wrong with your tree.

Thank you for all the advise. I think maybe in an effort not to over water it I may have under watered it. I waited till the soil finger deep was dry but it might have been too dry. As the leaves started to drop I watered it less still thinking it was due to over watering. I thought if it was under watered the leaves would get droopy like they do on my other lemon tree (not a Meyer).

Thanks for the advise about the self watering pot. I don't use it as a self watering pot. I used this pot because it had a lot of drainage at the bottom and was raised up from the bottom collecting pan. I read that citrus don't like to be water logged and need good drainage. I never keep water in the collecting pan. It's just useful to have a collecting pan attached to the pot so water doesn't go all over when I water. With other similar pots I pour out any remaining water from it. This one actually had a crack in the bottom and I didn't realize it until I first potted my tree when I got it. I never got a new one because I didn't want to stress the tree by re potting it twice, it came as a bare root tree. So this pot never even collects water in it. I think it is pretty much dead at this point it seems as though all the stems are brown and dry. Only one greenish looking one left. I will try to keep it warm and keep it watered until spring and see what happens though.

Thanks again for all the good advise. I am very sad about the condition of my tree but I did try very hard, maybe too hard. My family thinks I'm crazy because of all the time, effort and sleepless nights over my tree. I may try another one in the summer, hopefully I am wiser due to this experience. I'm afraid to try again in fear of killing another innocent tree.

The fear of over watering, and therefore not applying enough to sustain the tree, has been posted on this forum many time before you. The correct method of watering a container citrus tree. is to water it thoroughly and deeply, until approximately 10 percent of the water applied drains out the bottom. Then do not water the tree again until the top two inches of the medium feels dry. Under watering a citrus tree can cause many problems, ESPECIALLY with Meyer Lemons. I killed two container Meyer Lemon trees before I finally successfully grew one long term. Actually, the tree that was successfully gown was eventually tossed onto the compost pile, because I planted a Meyer Lemon in the ground, and it produces more lemons then I need. Anyway, get back on the horse quickly, (meaning purchase another citrus tree, and plant it in a fast draining medium, with at least 25 percent of the medium's volume containing free air space.

Thanks Millet you made me feel better. I think I will try again in the summer when it is safer to ship a tree. I was looking on the website where I purchased my Meyer Lemon tree and saw a Meiwa Kumquat Tree, a Calamondin tree or a Clementine tree. Do you know if one is easier than the other to try as a container plant? I don't think I want to try another Meyer right away until I get my confidence up. I am also going to try a key lime from seed but would like a more mature tree right away. Hopefully in a couple years I will have several healthy citrus trees.

Most any citrus tree can be successfully grown *if* they are planted in a fast draining medium containing a high level of aeration --- and the root zone is maintained between 64 & 70F during the winter months. Kumquat is not difficult to grow, however it is another cultivar that must not be under watered. Clementine, in fact any mandarin or Satsuma, are easy to grow in containers. You can start growing citrus again tomorrow, by purchasing a few Key Limes at your store and planting the seed. Key limes do VERY WELL in containers, and can fruit in just a couple years. Between 86 and 90F is the ideal temperature for seed germination. The best to you. - Millet (765-)

Thanks. I went to a local grocery store and they didn't have any Key Limes in stock but they plan on getting more with their next shipment. So I should have them in about a week and a half. I have Miracle grow soil for cactus and citrus. Is that ok for now? I was looking for coconut husk chips that are mentioned a lot in this forum but can't find any. I may have to order some online. I think I also read that someone used soil for orchids, is that ok? I have seen that in the stores around here.

Various mediums sold for the growing orchids are generally OK to use with citrus. Most orchid mixes are a blend of bark chips and perlite. Depending on the percentage of large chips, you might have to add a little peat moss to the mixture. It has been quite a while since I looked at the cactus and citrus mix, but if I remember correctly it seemed to be mostly peat moss. However, I could be remembering wrong. - Millet (756-)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906 - 1945

dolphin2, I had luck finding chc at a pet store that sells reptile supplies, because it's sold as a substrate for reptile tanks. It comes in a potting soil sized bag too, so it's perfect if you only have a couple of trees. Just be sure you get the chips and not coconut husk fibers. Also, I like to rinse and drain the chc about 5 times before I use it.

Thanks I will check that out.

Before I was able to find CHC, i used the Miracle Grow orchid mix. I actually have some citrus still in the mix that are doing wonderfully. I didn't want to repot since they where doing so good.

I found a bag of western fir bark used for orchids, would that be ok to use? Should I mix it with the citrus soil I already have or I sphagnum peat moss or a combination of the three. I think I saw previous posts that use a 4/1 ratio of bark and peat moss. I was just wondering if I need to mix soil as well or just bark and moss?

A lot depends on the type and size of the bark you have, how rapidly it absorbs and holds water. For commercially grown container nursery trees, the number one potting soil mixture used is 3 parts ground pine (or other conifer bark), plus 1 part peat moss, and 1 part concrete sand. Never add actual soil to container plants. Soil is a mix of aggregates and very fine particles. If a small amount of soil is added to a container growth medium, the fine particles erode to the bottom of the container and complicates drainage. - Millet (745-)