I moved my two Meyer trees indoors for the winter when it got really cold in October.

Since then, the trees have continued to bear fruit and ripen. They produce anywhere from 18-24 lemons a piece. Beautiful fruit.

There has been significant leaf loss from the trees since bringing them inside. Last year, their first year inside, they did lose some leaves, but did OK. I expected them to lose some leaves. And when they returned outside they filled out once again and thrived.

This year, they don't look so well. One has some fruit left on it, almost ready to harvest, but NO leaves at all. The second has very few leaves left, and some fruit on it, again, not ready to take. No long for either or them though.

Will they be alright? Are they more dormant right now, or are they dead? I hope they'll be alright. They've been such wonderful plants.

I water & feed them as they should be and they get as much light as possible, being inside the house. They just didn't do as well this year inside the house this year as they did the previous year.

Will I only know when spring returns and I put them back outside, or is there something I can do now that might help them for the remainder of the time they have to be inside?

I'm in NC, Zone 7, and it does get cold here. What with no fruit (soon) and no leaves.....would it benefit them for me to return them outside and benefit from sunshine, yet cold weather. We're experiencing a warm winter so far, but we've a way to go yet, and it will get below freezing (as it has once or twice so far) before spring returns.

My Eureka tree is doing better. Some leaf loss, but not as bad as the Meyer's. The Eureka tree still has fruit on it ripening. The fruit taken from it has been great.

I have also a "Sambo", and it's done the best. Almost NO leaf loss. I believe that to be because outside, while it did get some sunshine, it didn't get an enormous amount. It's about 5 feet tall, very full, but didn't bloom at all this season. It has one unripened lemon on it, a little smaller than a softball, but I really don't expect it to ripen much for some reason. I've watched it, and there's not been a whole lot of change since bringing it indoors....no sign of the fruit beginning to ripen.

I'm sure one of the experts will chime in here today, But from what I have read on this site, is with Meyers, they are prone to leave drop. To minimize drop, is to get the plant use to it's new environment slowly. Don't just take it in from sunny days to partial sun. Do it slowly over several weeks. Really cut back on watering also. The single most beneficial thing I have done was to go to Lowe's and buy one of those inexpensive moisture/Ph/light meters. The cost is less than 15.00. Several times I have looked at the tops of the soil and it would be bone dry, I would shove the meter in and the lower part of the soil would be wet. I'm sure I would have killed these plants if it hadn't been for that meter. But yes your Meyers are probably dormant. They will come out of it this spring. Don't put them outside.

The previous post is correct...changes in environment should be gradual so not to shock the plant too much. Depending on the environment they are in now, watch watering. It may not be necessary to cut way back...watering has changed only very slightly since bringing mine indoors, they seem almost as thirsty as usual.

What is the humidity like? Put them on gravel trays if you can, and come to a decision as to whether you want to mist or not. You will get too many opinions on these forums to get a clear answer on misting lol

Meyers are famous for being fussy. Drop leaves if you look at them the wrong way. I have one that dropped its leaves after a transplant and hasn't grown a single leaf in 4 months.

Ensure the light quality is good, the temp in the root zone is above at least 60F and the air is humid and they should be fine indoors. Buying one of those meters is a good idea. I use a water meter, but always confirm it by pushing my own finger into the potting mix as they aren't always accurate.

Citrus are resilient. Give them the proper care and they will be fine

Thank you all for the advice. It's kinda late in that I most assuredly did the wrong thing. I didn't acclimate the trees for coming inside. Big mistake.

I don't think I've over-watered them. They sit in drip trays to keep from making a mess from overflow if it happens. Usually, water will come out the bottom (never more than 1/4" or so), but within an hour the plant sucks it all back up. Perhaps I will invest in a moisture meter, but I'm aware of their inaccuracies.

The two Meyer's just look like the deciduous trees outside right now. Hoping they're just dormant. They're getting as much light as I can give them and I'll just hope for the best when the season starts back here. I love my Meyer's.

If you need to use the drip tray,you can put something under the pot to raise the pot fron the suraface of the drip tray, so the water can drip out and miss the bottom of the pot still collecting in the tray but not waterlogging the pot

When you irrigate your tree, and the over flow drains out the bottom into the drip tray, that water should be quickly discarded. When the tree reabsorbs the over flow, the medium is retaining the soluble salts. When this is repeated with each watering, time after time, the concentration of salts in the root zone increases. This can itself cause leaf drop, as toxic levels are reached. However, I do not believe this is the total reason that the Meyer lemon has dropped it foliage. Over the years, working with containerized Meyer lemons, in cold winter regions, where the tree requires to be brought indoors, I have learned that to prevent WLD, a Meyer lemon's root zone temperature needs to be raised to a level higher than that of other varieties of containerized citrus. I raise my Meyer lemon's root zone temperature to at least 70F, this year I raised it to 84F by setting the tree on top of a 250 gallon hot water dye tank. The tree has not drop a single leaf, and presently is putting on a winter flush. If the tree has been left outside too late into the fall season, set the container into a bucket of 85F water for 5-minutes to raise the soil temperature before bringing the tree inside. Then maintain at least 70F. My guess is, that in the condition your tree is now in, I would give the tree a 25 percent chance of making a recovery. Meyer lemons can certainly be a pain, and I wish you and your tree the very best. - Millet

Thanks Millet. Well, I guess a 25% chance of recovery is better than none. I will do what needs to be done regarding the drainage situation and just hope for the best come springtime. Thanks for the advice.