Rob, one thing that kills off a lot of home citrus here in Florida is known as "foot rot" and it usually occurs when a home citrus tree is subject to overwatering, often by sprinklers watering lawns. So maybe just gently clear soil away from the trunk and check for any cracks or weepy areas in the bark near the base. I hope that's not what caused the die-back event because if it was, it's probably going to do it again.

Going forward, (I was waiting to see your picture) my opinion is that for the size of the plant now, you don't need a bigger pot but Daisy's advice regarding drainage is good. Maybe just prop up the pot with stones or blocks of wood so that the bottom of the pot doesn't sit directly in the saucer? Then you can see how much water drains through the pot when you water in winter without having to clean up puddles.

I also agree that you need to get yourself some citrus specific fertilizer if that baby is to grow and prosper. We fertilize citrus in the ground here 3 times per year, February, May and late September. Your action to remove any fruit trying to start is also a very good idea - maybe let it grow out for at least another year before let it make another fruit. Those little plants have to put a lot of energy into making big lemons. Enjoy the flowers, then pinch off the button.

Other than that, keep doing what you're doing and keep that baby warm! Our winter temps here in Florida are pretty much as you described - 70's daytime and 50's at night. Any less than that is going to cause the plant distress. Even though these Meyers are described as "hardy to 20F" that doesn't mean the plant's going to grow and bloom and get big and lush if you regularly subject it to 20F. It might survive, but . . . that's not what you want here. That's the fatal flaw with the whole "hardiness zones" system. A plant tag that says "zone 4 to 9" means the plant will survive zone 4 and zone 9 but it really will only be happy in zone 6 or 7.

Btw, if you could give us a more specific location than your zone, that would help us to advise you going forward. Seems like maybe Alaska?? Even Alaska has microclimates though. Near the coast is a lot different than inland, right? So if you'd fill in your profile with the nearest city that will give us more information on your year-round climate.

FYI, preview button fixed!

Hi all-

Can't believe it's been so long since I started this thread (something about cramming autumn chores into our two weeks of the season ;)

Regardless, I wanted to give an update on the Meyer lemon and see what you all think...

First off, I went ahead and repotted it into the slightly larger glazed clay pot, using cactus/palm/citrus soil as the medium. I left the root ball intact and just set it in place inside the post, surrounded on the bottom and sides by the fresh soil. There's also a layer of marble chips in the bottom of the pot for added drainage. The pot is in a drip tray lined with the same marble to allow for water to seep through without either overflowing or soaking the soil from below.

As we're now down below freezing at night the tree is indoors exclusively, under a 4' T5 grow light hung horizontally, not just stuck in the side of the pot with bamboo sticks like the greenhouse had it. I'm assuming I'll get a more even light this way--at least it sure looks like it right now It's on a timer for 8am-7pm, and the whole shebang is on top of the mantel of my fireplace so it'll stay nice and warm without getting too hot.

And now, the best part: After the weather settled down from our usual late summer rain into the relatively dry autumn, I noticed new growth sprouting from all the branch tips, and some further down along the base of the leaves as well. Some is obviously new leaf, some is most definitely flowers. I'm wondering is I should ping off the flowers to let things grow further over the winter before letting it bloom in the real spring. I'm thinking the change from warm/dry to cool/moist to warm/dry has confused it into thinking it's been through an abbreviated 'winter' and I don't want any disappointments in mid-February...

It's been well-fed once, and watered with about a pint and a half of water a week that barely drains any through to the saucer; I figure this is about the right amount as of right now, anyway. More will probably be necessary once the winter humidity drops further but for the moment all seems well. So with fingers crossed...

Here's some pics of what it looks like today, including the new home as well as the new growth.

Thanks again to everyone for all the assistance, we'll see what happens as the winter progresses!

Rob

Its looking good. Enjoy the flowers but pick off any fruit that might set.

dyzzypyxxy said:Btw, if you could give us a more specific location than your zone, that would help us to advise you going forward. Seems like maybe Alaska?? Even Alaska has microclimates though. Near the coast is a lot different than inland, right? So if you'd fill in your profile with the nearest city that will give us more information on your year-round climate.

So, this is going to be a tough one to answer in a short post The closest town to where I am is Palmer, I'm about 15 road miles NNW of there at the foot of the Talkeetna Mountains. If you Google up a place called Hatcher Pass, look for a road called "Palmer-Fishhook" that runs due south out of the mountains through a cut in the ridge, and I'm on the east side of that close to the foot of the mountains.

The climate is for the most part similar to Anchorage (about 55 miles SW), but wetter because of the proximity to the mountains. It's also sunnier in the summer and cloudier/colder in the winter, especially in the depths of the season in January/February, when we get clear skies and rather furious winds that come off the glaciers to the east. One thing that throws some folks is that at our latitude the prevailing winds come from the east, opposite what you get in the Lower 48. because of the lower temps and the glacial effect it can be very cold, often -40F or so at the lower end of things, though -10/-20 is more the norm.

Palmer and it's surroundings is the center for most agriculture in Alaska, with lots of farming of very large and intensely flavored produce. And yes, the stories of the enormous vegetables are true, IIRC this year's State Fair winner for the largest pumpkin set a new world record at nearly a ton(!), so that's a lot of pie for thanksgiving ;)

Rob in AK

Yikes, that's a cold place to even imagine a lemon tree growing! Sending warm thoughts to you from Florida . . . for what it's worth.

Um, Rob I don't mean to complicate things but I'd deep six those marble chips outa there. They are quite alkaline and will leach calcium into your soil which your lemon tree doesn't need.

Also putting rocks or other coarse material in the bottom of a pot is an old idea that's been found to not work well. In fact it can do the opposite of aiding drainage by causing what's known as a "perched" water table in the pot where the water stays in the soil above the rock layer. Just use the same soil all the way to the bottom for best drainage.