Is my lime tree salvageable?

[dvlucke]

This summer I bought a small key lime tree and put it in a 14 inch pot and kept it outside until the weather started getting cold (I live in Michigan). It looked good, good amount of leaves for its age, flowered and set tiny fruit. Then I brought it inside and kept it under a T5 grow light. It continued doing well, but my kitten took great interest in it, rubbing against the plant and digging up the soil. I'm pretty sure she used it as a litter box once (I hadn't watered that day ). I moved it to a higher location so she couldn't get to it, but that meant it only got what little light came through the window. Still it did well.

Eventually kitty grew big enough to access it again, and over the course of 2 or 3 weeks she had knocked off all the fruit and all the leaves. I had bought some citrus potting soil and was planning on changing the soil when I came home to find the last of the leaves gone. I removed the tree from the pot and put it back in the same pot with the new soil. I watered it down well. I added a layer of pine bark on top, because that's all I had on hand. This was last Monday, I was preparing for a short vacation to Florida. My cat went to a friends house, and my leafless lime tree went back under the grow light. It was well watered, and I was only gone 4 days, so I didn't worry too much about it. The light was positioned just an inch or two above the tips of the branches and was on a 12 hour timer.

When I came home, the nude branches had all gone brown, while previously they were a bright, pliable green. Attached is a pic of how it looks now.

Should I bother trying to save this poor guy or is he done for? If there's still hope, what should I do to increase the chances of the tree reviving?

[imafan26]

when there is that much browning and not signs of new growth it is hard to save.

[dvlucke]

I kinda figured as much. Thanks for the reply. Guess it's time for a new tree.

[imafan26]

I am surprised the cat bothered the lemon tree. Cats don't like the smell of lemons but they do like dangling ornaments and to dig up soil in pots. That is why I don't have houseplants. My cats would dig out an orchid seedling if I put it on the microwave overnight. The cats I have now though have not bothered any plants I have brought in the house and I only caught one cat counter surfing and I haven't seen him do it since. He does surf the window sills though.

Most citrus trees in pots grow very slow and the small roots are fragile they don't take much shaking to break them. The only exception has been the Meyer lemon which went through the pot and into the ground. The kaffir lime has gone to ground a couple of times but I managed to cut the root before it got too far (that one has been in the pot for 18 years). Most of the other citrus trees are behaving. I found some dead ones after I cleared the weeds. They weren't getting any light or water with the competition from the weeds. Citrus trees need a well drained acidic soil. They will lose their leaves if they don't get enough water or light.

[ButterflyLady29]

Looks like the cat killed it. I'm sorry. It sure hurts to lose trees like that, especially ones that are in the process of trying to produce fruit.

If you try again make sure the cat can't get to it.