My local nursery suggested I use the aqua globe to keep my indoor Meyer Lemon watered properly...from what I've read this seems like poor advise. I'm currently in this configuration and the trees are in full bloom. Can anyone provide information on if this is a good or bad idea and any suggestions on how often/and how to water?

I also mist the leaves 3-4 times a week.

Brian, I cannot help you with Aqua Globe, as I have never heard of it. . However, research by Purdue University has found that hand misting of citrus trees is generally ineffective. - Millet (1,167-)

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/citrus.html

Thanks for the link. The Aqua Globe is a self watering system consisting of an inverted vessel which exchanges oxygen from the soil for water...it keeps the plant watered as it needs it (so goes the theory). Here is a link for it...

https://www.buyaquaglobes.com/

But you can do that with any bottle for free!

Is it an effective way to grow lemon's though or do I risk root rot by not letting them "dry out" between watering.

Brian, it is not the amount of water that kills a trees root system, it is actually the absence of available root zone oxygen supply that damages or kills the roots. If the tree's growth medium has EXCELLENT drainage a tree could be watered five time a day with out suffering a problem. When a citrus tree is growing in a compact medium with poor drainage, and is over watered, what happens is the soil oxygen is driven out and cannot return because all the pores are filled with water, therefore the roots die from suffocation. Therefore the proper thing to worry about is not the amount of water applied to the container, but to insure that the growth medium used has excellent aeration. In response to Aqua Globe, I personally do not like ANY type of automatic watering system. - Millet - (1,167-)

I have never used an aqua-globe either, but have seen the gadget on TV. I would think that the fast-draining soil required for container citrus would cause the aqua-globe to immediately loose its contents, since the high oxygen level in the soil would cause "premature evacuation". Sorry, had to. Barbara

"Premature evacuation". That's funny.

I think Bastrees is correct. I never used the actual aqua globe but when I went away this summer I used 20 oz. plastic water bottles in much the same way. I watered the plants thoroughly and then filled up the bottles and basically just screwed them into the soil. When I came home almost a week later the bottles in the dense miracle-gro soil (tomato plants, jalapenos, etc.) still had some slight moisture in them, but the bottles in the chc for my citrus were bone dry, as was the chc. I got home just in time since the citrus leaves were just starting to dry out and shrivel.

So the bottle added maybe a day to the citrus, I would water every 5 days or so when it was out on the balcony and it started to shrivel after 6 with the bottle in. The aqua globe may hold more than 20 oz., but like Bastrees said the soil type prevents any real advantage.

Hi,

I started to grow citrus trees inside 1 year ago. I used to kill lots of plants in the past due to my erratic watering (most of the time I forgot about it), so I did not want my precious citrus trees to suffer the same fate and bought the aqua globes. I use a special citrus tree soil so I think drainage should be very good. The trees did great all winter on the aqua globes. I just refilled them when they were empty or close to empty. It took about 4-5 days for them to be drained. Did the same in summer and underwatered. The trees lost leaves every day. At first I cut back on water because I thought I am overwatering. Then I talked to the nursery and they told me it is the opposite. Guess the trees just needed more water in summer than the globes alone could provice. Since then I give them additional water in between and use the globes only as a backup. The trees are doing fine now, one of them is blooming for the first time since I bought it.

Sorry if that was lenghty but I hope there is some useful info.
I would generally recommend the aqua globes, but use two in summer or add water the old fashioned way in between.

Oh, I forgot to mention: I am not using the aqua globes but a similar system called Plant Nannym see http://www.amazon.com/8105-Pale-Colored-Glass-Watering-Globe/dp/B00164DXEO/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1258055722&sr=8-13