http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/citrus/

Hi Moonwolf,

Wow, citrus at Walmart..Your Meyer is fantastic looking.

There's no need to prune foliage.

Some people remove flower buds during the trees' first budding, but your citrus is fairly large, so I'm sure its flowered and probably fruited already.

Do you know if it's grafted? Toni

Hi Toni! Good to see you!

I do not know if this plant is grafted or not. There are no buds, blooms, or fruit on it at all. It's in a one gallon pot. I'm almost afraid to pot it up into the new pot for fear of losing the leaves. I love how vibrant and healthy it looks and I would hate to change that. I have read they are quite hardy in that sense and often bouncing back with new growth after the shock.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Hey, Brad, nice Meyer :-)
Fast-draining, porous mix, and frequent fertilization. Meyer Lemons are quite hungry, as Citrus go. If you fail to fertilize, you'll have yellow leaves (dropping) in no time. I have a Meyer, and it's the most tricky to keep green and lush. Also, Meyer's are very sensitive to changes in temperature and light, so it'll likely drop leaves Spring and Fall as it is brought outdoors and then brought indoors again. During the Winter, it'll need the sunniest window you can manage, and would be even happier with supplemental lighting.

Josh

Hi Josh,

Thank you! Meyermike and I were talking and he said that he got you into Citrus plants lol. What type of fertilizer should I use? I have a south facing window that I could place it in during the winter.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Yep, Mike is the culprit! haha!
Mike and I use Foliage Pro 9-3-6, but there are other good citrus fertilizers out there. I would choose a soluble liquid for maximum control. Mike has experimented with various fertilizers more than I have, so hopefully he'll pop in and offer some advice.

Josh

Thank you, Josh!

I use Miracle Gro Tomato Food on my flowering houseplants and they all seem to love it. They also get plain, good ol' rainwater, just like the other day after it rained here, I watered them with some. Anyways, I will see what Mike has to say more on the subject.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

That is a nice citrus tree.

Pots alot,
That link sounded kinda harsh. Citrus are often grown as houseplants and therefore be shown on this forum
Not everyone knows there is a citrus forum also

I bought a beautiful variegated eureka lemon from a greenhouse in AZ. so far its loving my northern climate! Awesome plant!

Hey Brad,

Wow you got that at Wal-Mart? Great find!! I bought my mom one last summer while I was in Florida at a Nursery. It had 3-4 Lemons last summer.
It's just starting to fill out good this summer. Glad you posted this I didn't know about it having a high fertilizer need. Good luck with it.

Thank you, everyone!

I was surprised to find these for sale at our Wal-Mart, and something inside me told me to get one, but I waited and finally broke down and got the Meyer Lemon. I wish I had room for the Key Lime since some of them were in bloom, but both plants are nice. There is some pelleted fertilizer on top of the soil in the pot that it came in (and still is in), so, I don't know whether to give it any additional plant food or not.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Hey Brad...regarding leaf drop, sure you're not thinking about Ficus??

The only time my citrus leaves fall is when I'm too lazy to water. My fault. Winter blues, etc, etc.

Don't fear repotting.

Perhaps while changing containers you can get an idea if fertilizer pellets are throughout the soil or just on top.

Toni

My little citrus has a few fried leaves from too much sun too fast(didn't adjust it slowly enough),but they're still hanging on.

Good point about the pellets Toni. Bare root then new mix and Brad will have more of a handle on the feeding schedule. :)

Asleep..Sorry about your citrus. Are the few leaves completely fried or sunburned? Red?

During winter, which direction does your citrus face?

Although I advise acclimation, when my plants are set outside, there's no room for shade to sunnier locations.
Normally, I haul plants out on cloudy days..when weather forecasters predict a rainy week.

Know what ya mean about the overcast days being a blessing,it's helped alot lately while moving the collection from the front(east)of the house to the back(west). All winter the citrus was in a terrarium by a window with western exposure but when I moved it outside with everyone else who went(I removed it from the terrarium by the way),it went to the east side,see? At first everyone was under the stairs where they were getting adequate shade to start out and the long and the short of it was that the little citrus was nudged out a bit more aggressively than the others. The "fried" part of the leaves that were affected is basically like light grey paper,an eyesore to some maybe but it doesn't bother me too much. The damage occurred on the east side of the house and now that it's been moved to the west side it(and a few ficus)are likely getting alot of help adjusting because of all the recent cloudcover. I have GOT to get a camera one of these days! ;)

Asleep. Yes, you need a camera...a digital camera is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity. :)

I still have the old instant camera..Wonder if they sell film? Whatever it's called. lol
To be honest, I'd rather take instant pics..Our printer went dead. I love viewing old pics on paper.
Memories..

Oh, your citrus is young? Not a tree? Duh, I thought your citrus was either bushy or standard tree.
Young, smaller plants should start off in a shady area, especially if it gets little light during winter.

Heck, one of my Euphorbias burned when placed on the front stairs..facing west..'about 5 yrs ago.'
One cactus, too. Same steps as the Euphorbia.

Just remove the burned leaves. Eventually, babies will sprout on bare branches.

Out of all my citrus, I think Meyer's is most-likely to burn in full sun. Don't know the reason, but it seems that way.

Can't believe the time..gotta hit the shower, lol..Sheesh, addicting GW. lol. Toni

Hey Toni,

Thank you! I'll be sure to get it repotted. My Meyer Lemon was already outside in the sunlight at Wal-Mart, so having it outside for the summer hasn't been a problem yet, lol. I'll be sure and check for additional pellets when I repot.

Brad AKA Moonwolf