Hey guys great site you have here, I have learned a ton from reading through all the old posts and decided to make my first post to say hi and ask a few questions. Hopefully the pics come through

First off I live on Long Island and both trees will be kept indoors all year long. They Are sitting next to a SE facing bay window and above them I have 2 55w cfl (one 6500k and one 3000k) bulbs in a reflector. The small one is a persian lime I got from Logees and the other is a Lisbon lemon I got from rio grande nursery. Right now I have a bag of dr earth organic 9 fruit tree fertilizer and have them in miracle grow cactus media mixed with some perlite and some orchid bark I had (westen fir bark)

Does everything I have sound all right or do you suggest anything diffrent? One question I have is with the lime, I have had it about a month now and it is growing alot but just the one branch. Should I top it to get it to branch out? I read alot of dont top it, it will slow the growth, but I want it to fill out. I have had the lemon about 2 weeks and it hasnt grown any new yet, but I just supplemented the lighting 2 days ago so I hope that gets it going.

thanks
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Sounds like you are doing things right for the most part--I just don't believe in organic fertilizer for citrus especially. As for topping your lime, many growers recommend pinching out the top of a single stem plant at about 2 ft in height to promote branching and yet develop a strong central stem.

Read lots about WLD (winter leaf drop) and indoor pest.

Personally, I would leave the lime alone. The Lisbon looks to have a very weak trunk structure, that cannot stand on its own without being attached to the stick. This is not your fault, it is due to the culture that was provided to the tree by the Rio Grand Nursery. The method that nature uses to develop a strong straight trunk is sun and WIND. It is the flexing back and forth in resistance to the wind that develops a healthy strong tree trunk. Trees properly grown will have a stem taper like a good deep sea fishing rod. A tree will not get such stem development without leaving on the lower limbs AND allowing them sufficient light and space to function. Tree height is not a criteria to use when evaluating young tree quality. Trunk diameter, or taper is far more important, then tree height. Plus tall slender trees always have poor root systems, because roots cannot grow without energy, and the energy for good trunk growth comes from the lower limbs. As the tree grows there is plenty time to remove the lower limbs. With you seedling lime, put the tree out doors in the wind, or indoors use a fan, so that the resistance provided by the moving air will develop a strong tree. - Millet (487-)

I took the stick away and the tree does still stand, but it is kinda crooked and thin, I dont think I would be buying again from that nursery but with proper care hopefully it will strengthen itself. The lime looks more like a cutting to me than a seedling, its one branch is coming out of a thicker stump that seems to have been cut about an inch above the soil, I will try to upload another photo that shows that better. The one new branch is growing a ton but it is not growing anywhere else.

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this is how they propagate them , once the cutting have roots they cut it above one leaf node and repeat the procedure of rooting cuttings and so on

Did the lime also come from Rio Grand Nursery? - Millet (886-)

no I got the lime from logee's in CT.

Ive got to jump in to defend RGN, I bought a tree from them recently and it had weak trunk too, within a year of outdoor environment exposure the trunk has beefed up quite a bit and is now strong like bull. Get that tree outside!

you can still steak it but do it loosely so there is room for the trunk to move a little, eventually allow more and more room for the trunk, over a year or two the trunk should be able to support the weight of the tree by itself.

Ryan, your defense of Rio Grand Nursery, sounds more like another story of poor nursery practices by RGN resulting in another tree with a weak spindly trunk. A buyer paying money, should never have to take a year or two to correct a tree grown poorly by a "professional" nursery. -Millet (483-)

Just wanted to give a quick update, I had contacted Rio Grande NUrsery and told them I got a very weak and crooked tree that could hardly hold itself up and they sent me another. This tree wasnt so crooked, and the trunk was a bit thicker, but it was planted in a 5 gallon container at about a 80* angle. I will be able to straighten it out when I repot it, and it is much stronger then the other one but shouldnt a profesional nursery be able to plant a tree straight?

Maybe they have their greenhouses on a slope ,