Hows My Lemon Tree Doing?

[Trickerie]

Hello All,

Very new terrestrial gardener here (Aquatic gardening is another story!!), and one of my first trees I got was a Meyer Lemon Tree. It came as a seedling with 3 or 4 large leaves. I planted it in miracle gro citrus potting mix in a container, and have a grow light on it in my room (75F ambient temperature). After a few weeks of no activity, the plant shot out a ton of new leaves, about 12-15. Then, growth stopped and those leaves matured to what they are now. One of the original, larger leaves has fallen off, and another has discolored spots, but the rest look good, though are much smaller. One thing that concerns me, is the trunk is green and not growing. Its very thin. I guess the tree is still very young, and this could be the reason? Here are some pictures I took of it, let me know how I'm doing:

[img]https://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh532/Mark_Torsiello/F1541D14-4B30-4E58-9ECE-5CC83AFD2A92-8334-00000A6A51F98F0E.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh532/Mark_Torsiello/DC904708-3F5B-41C5-9875-A42D4CFADD2C-8334-00000A6A560BA922.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh532/Mark_Torsiello/A82EC9AF-B082-41AD-9809-CDD4BC8FC434-8334-00000A6A58D1593D.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh532/Mark_Torsiello/56B75F37-54D7-4D6B-9A87-C3636621B963-8334-00000A6A5C316ACC.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh532/Mark_Torsiello/3CF72C66-44A8-4C1D-B402-2FEF2EF3C33C-8334-00000A6A5F2C78BF.jpg[/img]

[ReptileAddiction]

The light needs to be about 2-3 inces off the top of it. Other than that it looks fine to me. I want to warn you though it will be years before you get fruit.

[Trickerie]

Thanks for the tip. I actually moved the light higher last week thinking it was too close, but moved it back. Its now about 3 inches from the top leaves.

The fruit thing is ok, I got it for only a few bucks so I wasn't expecting fruit any time soon lol.

[PunkRotten]

What kind of light are you using and bulb? The tree looks pretty good to me. You may want to add some trace minerals periodically. Fruit trees especially Citrus need it. Also what is the pot size?

[Trickerie]

Got the light from home depot, its a t5 with 2x14w 6500k lamps. Not sure of the pot size, but its large, I figured it would give it ample room to root.

[PunkRotten]

Pretty good lighting. Only thing I can say it try to give it fertilizer and trace minerals periodically and try not to have the soil soaking wet all the time. If this is grown indoors I would water maybe once a week or twice at most. You just don't want the soil wet constantly.

[ReptileAddiction]

I never thought of that. It does look like it is being overwatered.

[Trickerie]

Hmm.. I havent been watering unless the soil is dry about a finger tip down. This is probably once every 2 weeks, if that. I have it in Miracle Gro citrus potting mix and have used some slow release fertilizer with trace once a few weeks after I got it. The green Dynamite bottle, found it at Home Depot.

[mscratch]

Don't worry about the green stem, its normal..it will grow "bark" as it matures.

[Greywolf]

I would put it in a much larger pot as quickly as possible. Any retardation of root growth due to space limitations will slow it down terribly...
*DEPTH of soil, not width, is the main concern. One thing you could do is re-pot it in the same container, but fill it with soil to bring it up to within an inch of the top of the planter I see in your picture. If you find the roots have already reached the bottom of the soil they have, it would explain everything - in my opinion.

My Mom (no longer with us) had an Orange Tree in a small container for many years, and it never topped 6 inches until one year we moved it to a waste basket (about a four gallon container) and it shot up three to four feet that very first season!

~We were living in Maryland at the time, so it was a definite 'House Tree', kept in the living room next to the sliding glass door to the balcony as I recall.

Mine I keep in five or six gallon laundry tubs. I have a Meyer Lemon, Key Lime, and an Orange grown from a seed in honor of Momma

[img]https://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh502/Dutch_J/25oct2012meyerlemon1.jpg[/img]
This Meyer Lemon is now on it's second year!
~But then, it was 24" tall when I received it from Park's Seeds

[img]https://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh502/Dutch_J/2012oct26MeyerLemon2.jpg[/img]

PS: Don't spare the "Mist Bottle"! They love to be misted...

[PunkRotten]

Pretty nice. My tree is about 4 foot right now and has about 8 lemons growing on it.

[Greywolf]

Fasten your seatbelt then, is all I can say PR! Once they get going, you'll need to grit your teeth and trim it much as you'd rather not...

Mine is about my own height now, and putting out new green everywhere

The roots are everything, the entire twenny-seven feet, all nine innings, etc.
A root bound citrus tree will just plain stop - and become a sort of Bonsai

[Green Mantis]

Oh now I want to try growing an orange tree and a lemon tree.
I have learned a lot from your posts, thanks.

Sure was interesting to find out they like a nice big "deep" pot, plus lots of misting. Never would have thought much of the pot depth.

Thank you. Hopefully I can find some small, or biggish trees at a nursery.

[PunkRotten]

GreyWolf, how many fruits do you get/have you got from your tree? My pot looks to be deeper than yours. I think mine is a 15 gallon pot. I also have a lime tree with the same size pot. I keep both outdoors in full sun. I am learning that potted trees and plants might benefit from some shade during the day. I also learned Citrus have lots of pests. Leafminers and swallowtail butterflies/caterpillars just love my trees. I don;t mist my trees but occasionally during watering I will spray the leaves. I am cutting back on watering though since it's a lot cooler out now. During the summer I watered atleast twice deeply.

[Green Mantis]

PunkRotten....What kind of fertilizer and trace minerals do you use?

I am Sooooooo Excited,

Called a nursery in Calgary ( canada) to ask "if" they had any meyer Lemon Trees, or Calamondian Orange Trees. They have BOTH.

Everytime I have called they are "always" sold out or don't have any in.

Not this time, I bought one of each over the phone, our son lives in Calgary, and is going to pick them up for me.

I am thrilled!!!! Also Wal-Mart has the big pots on sale right now. So getting 2 tomorrow. Might not transplant right away, but want them, so I have them when I do.

Any special soil??????

[PunkRotten]

I think regular potting soil is ok. I also add some cactus soil in with it but I don't think it is critical. Also add some compost if possible. I use Citrus Tone fertilizer and I add azomite for trace minerals. What size pots are those at Walmart and what is the cost? I have a Goji berry tree I want to up pot.

[Green Mantis]

PunkRotten, The pots at Wal-Mart are $8.00, look to be the same size as the one shown in the den, in this forum posting. By Grey Wolf

Haven't got any compost, but do have cactus soil. But probably wouldn't transplant now. I think it's the wrong time of year now, isn't it?

Would really like "not" to kill them right away..

How much of the trace minerals and fertiler do you use?

[PunkRotten]

On the bag of the Citrus Tone they have instructions for fertilizing. I think it is about 3 cups for a 2 foot tree, and it goes up in 1 cup increments for each additional foot. I give them slightly less than what is instructed, sometimes I give the dose listed though. For the azomite I add some when I fertilize with the citrus tone and I usually give about a half cup or so. I also add trace minerals if the trees look like they need it and sometimes add a little here and there randomly too. Sometimes I fertilize with a liquid fish/seaweed fertilizer and I will add about a heaping tablespoon inside the mixture. Really, all you need to do is add some periodically and if your tree shows signs of deficiencies then give it a little bit of azomite. You can also use epsom salts too, but azomite has like 60+ trace minerals, and epsom salt is only magnesium sulfate.

[ReptileAddiction]

I would use cactus soil and a home improvement store will probably have some compost to mix in to plant it in.

[applestar]

I'm pretty sure reptile addiction meant cactus SOIL.

[Green Mantis]

Finally got a chance to pick up the Meyer Lemon tree and the Calamondian trees from our son today.
He was worried they weren't getting enough light, which they weren't.
The orange tree is loaded, Lemon tree,has two big lemons on it.

This is Soooo exciting. Where they are now they have lots of light, and warmth.

Now to get some fertilizer and azomite, etc. for them. But just want them to get used to being in a different house.

I got the big pots from Wal-Mart, so when they aren't producing, I can transplant them.

Can you save seeds out of the lemons and little oranges, to grow? Will they grow? How do you save them for planting???

This is really going to be a fun experience. So happy we were able to get some. Usually all sold out.

So some winter fun coming up now. Watching these beautiful plants.

[ElizabethB]

Wow - I am impressed by all of you growing citrus indoors. Do they produce for you? I have a satsuma that I planted in March - outside. I removed the tiny fruit when I planted it to give the root system a chance to get established. I am looking forward to fruit next fall.